Boys soccer: Surprising Elgin stuns St. Charles East
An already fast start to the season got a whole lot better for Elgin's boys soccer team Tuesday night.
Behind the pinpoint marksmanship of junior forward Omar Lopez, the Maroons improved their record to 5-0-1 by knocking off longtime nemesis St. Charles East 3-2 at Norris Stadium.
Lopez, who didn't play soccer last season, notched a hat trick as the Maroons began Upstate Eight Conference River Division action on the right foot.
“The monkey is off our back,” said Elgin coach David Borg. “It has been a few years since we've beaten St. Charles East. We told our kids that if you want to be where they're at, you've got to beat them. It was exciting for us.”
Lopez provided the lone first-half goal with a 25-yard blast from the center of the field.
“He's a striker,” Borg said of Lopez. “He's just a pure striker. He's got a great foot.”
After the Saints tied it at 1-1 on a rebound goal from junior Luke Schnitker midway through the second half, Lopez tallied the eventual game-winner nearly 2 minutes later.
Saints senior keeper Zach Kennedy came out of the net and attempted to clear the ball only to have it land on the right foot of Lopez, who converted the rebound for a 2-1 Elgin lead.
Three minutes later, Lopez received the ball with his back to the net, spun around and buried a shot from 20 yards out for his third goal of the game to make it 3-1.
“It doesn't matter where he is on the field — short or long,” said Borg. “He's a special talent and we're extremely lucky to have him. He's a good kid, too.”
“I've worked hard for this since I was like four years old,” said Lopez. “It's a great feeling.”
“On that third goal, we didn't deny that extra pass to (Lopez) and he punished us but that was probably attributed to us pushing forward trying to chase the game a little bit,” said Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo.
St. Charles East (1-4-2, 0-1) made things interesting when Schnitker converted on a rebound of a Grayson Biddle shot to close the gap to 3-2 with 1:52 remaining but the Maroons held off the late charge thanks in part to the play of keeper Martin Estrada (9 saves).
Two minutes earlier, Estrada made a sliding kick save on a penalty.
“If you look at the bounces and the way the game went, it just didn't go our way,” said DiNuzzo. “They got the win and we'll move forward.”
Playing without injured forwards Colin Coine and George Maridis, the Saints also lost the services of Kennedy to an injury following his diving attempt on Elgin's third goal.
“Now we're missing three key pieces to this team and we've just got to find a way,” said DiNuzzo.
Meanwhile, the Maroons look to continue their winning ways after recording one of the biggest victories in recent years.
“There's a few teams on our list that we said at the beginning of the year if you want to turn that corner and get some respect, those are the teams that you've got to beat,” said Borg.