Wheeling's got plenty on the ball
They went as far as the 1994 supersectional and followed up the next season with a division championship in the old Mid-Suburban North and regional title.
However, if you throw in division titles in 1977 and 1981, it's easy to see why the performance last year by Wheeling's boys soccer team was so meaningful in the growth of a program that had rarely commanded much respect in the MSL.
The Wildcats earned a well-deserved co-championship with Hersey in the MSL East last fall to come full circle after two painful seasons of growth in which Leo Elizalde, Joel Del Toro, Trevor Rubin and David Aranda played key roles.
Elizalde, Del Toro and Rubin are four-year varsity performers, and Aranda, the Wildcats' sweeper, is a three-year veteran.
They remember the rough times during the rebuilding years as coach Ed Uhrik patiently waited it out while this talented foursome grew together.
"I remember in my first year (2004) we opened up going 11-0-0 before losing to Waukegan and thinking, 'This is pretty good stuff,'" said Uhrik, a 1993 Wheeling grad, former player and assistant to long-time head coach Bruce Kennett before taking over.
"But after that loss we kind of went into a free-fall (the Wildcats went 3-5-0 the rest of the way) and the next two years were dreadful."
Dreadful would be a kind way to describe the Wildcats plight. How's 9-28-2 sound?
The four veterans, who already knew the answer, still would laugh, almost sheepishly, when someone knew the 2006 club gave up 92 goals.
"Ooooh, that was a lot of goals," Del Toro admits.
The gifted striker, who last year recorded 12 assists en route to a spot on the Daily Herald All-Area team, has already exceeded that total this year with 15. That has helped ignite an attack which has more than 50 goals in its 17 matches after scoring 38 in 2007, when the 'Cats went 13-12-0 overall.
Things had been going well until a recent battle of injuries robbed Uhrik of Elizalde, the 2007 MSL East Player of the Year, for surgery to repair torn ligaments in his thumb,
With strong contributions from Abraham Soto (7 goals) and Didher Machado (8 goals), the team was at 11-1-2 before slipping by dropping 3 of its last 4, including a heartbreaking 2-1 decision against Hersey on Monday.
With an arsenal of weapons on its roster to scare every opponent into throwing 10 defenders behind the ball, the defense has risen up to give the Wildcats some needed balance.
"We told the guys after the season that we needed to cut our goals-against in half in order to be on par with the elite in the MSL," said Uhrik, who saw 46 go into the net in 2007 and just 26 thus far.
"It's all about discipline and wanting to play sound, defensive soccer on both sides of the ball. I know I didn't see our collapse coming in my first year because I got caught up in the success we were enjoying and not really seeing the whole picture of what it takes to win in the MSL night-in and night-out. "It's something that I've been concentrating on ever since as this team began to build as a unit."
"The 2008 season began as soon as our 2007 season ended," said Aranda, who was a first-time state wrestling qualifier last winter.
Although the Wildcats expected a better effort in their season finale loss to eventual state champion Barrington in regional play, the 4-0 result only fueled the fire to achieve greater success in '08.
"Everyone got busy lifting, working out and playing and working harder in training during the off-season," said Aranda.
"With so many seniors on the roster, I think all of us realize this is our last chance to prove ourselves," said Rubin, a superb free-kick and set-piece artist who, along with Elizalde, helps run the Wildcats' attack out of the middle.
"As juniors, it's still not your team, but as seniors, it is now our team and we all have a lot riding on that," said Elizalde, who Uhrik calls the heart of soul of the squad.
Elizalde and Del Toro are a joy to watch with and without the ball.
Del Toro appears to have one more trick in his 1-on-1 bag, while Elizalde combines intelligence and vision to be one of the best at his trade in the area.
The group agrees that Soto and Hehn have taken a big step forward in their play this fall, and that the club's recent skid can be used as motivation for bigger and better things come the postseason.
"Sometimes, you have to take a few steps back to learn before going forward," said Elizalde, who is a teammate with the others on the Schwaben club.
During Uhrik's rookie season of 2004 and when the team still had a chance to win a divisional title despite its free-fall, a loss to eventual state runner-up Buffalo Grove would all but seal the Wildcats' fate after a less-than-inspired 80 minutes of soccer.
The effort on that night disappointed Uhrik, but, even in defeat last Monday to division rival Hersey, Uhrik never once thought his club lacked heart or desire.
"These guys are focused more than ever," he said. "There's still room for improvement in all parts of our game, but I know the attitude and need to achieve and to be better than last year is there and everyone is lined up together to make it all happen.
"And it's exciting."
Upcoming contests
Oct. 3
Peoria Tourney (St. Viator)
Hersey at Buffalo Grove, 4:30 p.m.
Prospect at Conant, 6:30 p.m.
Jacobs Invite, TBA (Hoffman Estates)
Oct. 4
Elk Grove at Fremd, 1 p.m.
Peoria Tourney (St. Viator)
Schaumburg at Barrington, 11:30 a.m.
Jacobs Invite, TBA (Hoffman Estates)
Maine South at Maine West, 2 p.m.
Oct. 6
Rolling Meadows at Elk Grove, 6:30 p.m.
Wheeling at Hoffman Estates, 6:30 p.m.
Barrington at Buffalo Grove, 6:30 p.m.
Prospect at Fremd, 6:30 p.m.
Palatine at Hersey, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 7
Schaumburg at Conant, 6:30 p.m.
Glenbrook North at Maine West, 7 p.m.
Oct. 8
Elk Grove at Prospect, 6:30 p.m.
Nazareth at St. Viator, 4:30 p.m.
Buffalo Grove at Schaumburg, 4 p.m.
Fremd at Palatine, 4 p.m.
Barrington at Wheeling, 4 p.m.
Hersey at Hoffman Estates, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 10
Glenbrook South at Wheeling, 5 p.m
Glenbrook North Invite, 5 p.m. (Palatine)
Oct. 11
St. Joseph at St. Viator, 10 a.m.
Buffalo Grove at Fremd, 11 a.m.
Glenbrook Invite, 10 a.m. (Palatine)
Prospect at Mundelein, 6 p.m.
Prarie Ridge at Rolling Meadows, 12 p.m.
Willowbrook at Maine West, 2 p.m.