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Boys soccer: Hoffman Estates deals Elgin first loss

Two goals just two minutes apart would do in highflying Elgin Saturday afternoon as host Hoffman Estates (2-3-0) stunned the previously undefeated Maroons 4-3 in a nonconference boys soccer match at the Hawks' home park.

The Maroons (6-1-0) began chasing the game early on after Lisandro Sanchez found the back of the net before teammate Sebestian Cajiao converted his spot-kick which started a chain reaction of events that forced the visitors to play a man down for nearly the next hour.

"It's always a tough call when the referee has to red card the keeper, when as the last man he takes down an attacking player, but credit Elgin for battling back in the second half when they put all sorts of pressure on us, and we didn't respond very well until later when we finally got back even, then took the lead for good," said Hawks head coach, Matt Sriver, whose coaching counterpart, David Borg, was shown a red card after his keeper, Edgar Rodriguez, was sent off after his last man tackle.

The Maroons, who were coming off a memorable 3-2 victory over rival St. Charles East in their Upstate Eight River Division opener last Tuesday, fired back after their disappointing first-half effort to draw back even on goals from Cesar Gomez and Jesus Lopez, and actually took the lead just after the hour after another Gomez strike, thanks in part to a helper from Alex Kunicki.

Yet, despite now on its back foot, the home side was able to rebound in style, equalizing in the 65th minute on an Edson Orantes goal, then celebrating the game-winner shortly thereafter when Sanchez drove his upper right corner blast in from 22 yards.

"We sure were a different group out there today after a not so pretty effort the other night against Hersey, but it was good to see the guys bounce back after going down in the second half to come away with a nice win," said Sriver.

The Maroons will take nearly a week away from the pitch before they take to the road next Friday afternoon to face Batavia.

The Hawks will be at Fremd this Tuesday evening for another MSL West match.

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