Boys soccer: Streamwood upends South Elgin for regional championship

ROCKFORD - For the second straight game, the Streamwood boys soccer team flipped the switch after the intermission.

While the Sabres' second half performance against South Elgin in Saturday's Class 3A Guilford regional final wasn't quite as explosive as Wednesday's 7-goal outburst against Hononegah, it was equally effective.

Senior Oscar Chavez and junior Alex Chavez notched goals in the 53rd and 56th minutes, respectively, to lift the third-seeded Sabres to a well-deserved 3-1 victory.

Streamwood (13-5-2) earned the right to defend its home turf against Hampshire in Wednesday's sectional semifinal.

"It was like déjà vu of our semifinal game against Hononegah - we were tied 1-1 at the half," said Sabres coach Matt Polovin. "I had a nice little speech with them again at the half reminding them that we're playing for a championship and we came back out and really took it to them."

Streamwood defeated No. 10 seed South Elgin 2-0 during the regular season and seized a 1-0 lead in the 8th minute behind a wicked strike just outside the box from Oscar Chavez.

The Storm (8-10-3) regrouped nicely and recorded the equalizer at 27:11 when Chris Stanczyk got behind the defense and buried a shot into the left corner.

"We were outstanding in the first half considering the wind and the difficult conditions. We sat in and hit them with a counter attack," said Storm coach Simon Brinklow.

The Sabres rose to the occasion after the break and went ahead to stay on a well executed play. George Bracamontes found Alex Chavez open on the left wing, who made a strong run before lofting a perfect cross into Oscar Chavez for the goal.

Aldo Lazaro and Rafael Gil teamed up minutes later to set up a key insurance goal by Alex Chavez.

"We were shocked at halftime. We talked about our mistakes and how we needed to pressure more," Oscar Chavez said. "We finally connected in the final third and got two good goals."

After a solid opening 40 minutes, South Elgin mustered just one shot on goal in the second half.

"They're a good team and their pressure probably tolled at the end. When that third one went in that was a little too much," Brinklow said.

The Sabres savored their moment receiving the regional championship plaque after being upset by Dundee-Crown in last season's regional semifinal as the No. 1 seed.

"They worked hard and deserve this," Polovin said. "When they do things very well and honest, it's fun to watch."

"We're excited we get to have another home game. It's going to be good," Oscar Chavez said.