Broken nose won't bother Streamwood's Perez

A pop to the schnozz won't keep Streamwood senior Alex Perez and his teammates from sniffing success this season.

Perez, an all-state selection also named honorary co-captain of the Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area boys soccer team in 2008, suffered a broken nose Saturday in a penalty-box collision during a 1-1 tie with Wheaton North.

With 40 seconds to play, Perez leapt over a defender to head a ball coming his way, but the Wheaton North player jumped beneath him and nailed Perez in the nose unintentionally with the back of his head.

"Alex went down and he wasn't getting up, and this is a player I've seen take some vicious shots," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. "He was just laying there and the blood was pouring out of his nose. You feel terrible because it happened in the last 40 seconds of the game, but it's one of those things that happens. It's part of the game."

Perez had his nose examined by a doctor on Sunday.

"He told me it's broken about 50 percent," Perez said, "but I feel like I'm ready to play no matter what. A broken nose isn't going to stop me from playing. I still want to go out there and kick some (tail)."

In fact, Perez and returning senior sweeper Mike Chwistek, Streamwood's co-captains, were so motivated to improve on last season's 17-5-4 record and regional final loss to Wheaton North they organized morning workouts on their own this summer, working around various club team schedules. The captains supervised conditioning and skills drills.

"Me and Mike got the guys together, but they wanted to do it," Perez said. "It wasn't like me and Mike telling them, 'You've got to go, you've got to go.' Everyone was ready for this year. We want to win the regional and move on."

"They took it in their own hands," Polovin said. "I didn't have to say much. They worked out at Millennium Field, working out and playing soccer together for hours. It definitely showed during tryouts because they came in in phenomenal shape."

Morning workouts with his high school team were just one way Perez improved his game during the off-season. He also competed with the Strikers Fox Valley club team, where he added to his already impressive arsenal of weapons by improving his quickness and striking ability with his left foot.

"He can strike the ball with power and accuracy with both feet now," Polovin said. "I knew he had some ability with the left foot, but he must have really been working on his left foot and his distribution because - wow! - he's striking them pretty hard with both feet."

Perez demonstrated the power of his right foot last week in a 3-2 loss to Downers Grove North. He blasted a shot from the top of the box just inside the right post, a shot with so much power on it that "no goalie in the world would have stopped it," Polivin said.

In four games through Tuesday, the Sabres were off to a somewhat slow start overall at 1-1-2, including Tuesday's 2-0 loss to Conant. Perez has a goal and 5 assists.

For the past two seasons the verstatile 6-foot-1, 170-pound Perez has filled any role in the Streamwood lineup that needed shoring up. As a sophomore on the varsity he posted 3 shutouts as the Sabres' goalkeeper against Larkin, Waubonsie Valley and Leyden and scored 10 goals and 10 assists as a striker.

Last year, he scored 17 goals to go with 10 assists before moving back to the net for the final six games of the season. He went 4-1-1 with 3 shutouts, including an impressive clean sheet against attack-minded St. Charles North.

He also scored 3 goals in two games while playing the center midfield position.

"Not a lot of players have his athleticism," Elgin coach Dave Borg said of Perez. "He's so darn solid with his fundamentals. He's as good a player as we'll see this year."

As for this season, Polivin said the improvement of senior keeper Edgar Leyva should allow Perez to keep doing what he does best: score and distribute as a striker.

"I'll do whatever my team needs, but I think I like forward the most, just because of the joy you get when you score," Perez said. "Scoring a winning goal is like the best thing ever, just winning. But even making an assist is great when you make a pass and someone else scores."

Streamwood has not won an Upstate Eight Conference soccer title in 20 years, but the Sabres will be in the hunt this season thanks to Perez, Chwistek and junior forwards Ivan Arce and Roman Patino. Arce and Patino have each scored 3 goals already.

However, Neuqua Valley presents a big hurdle. Now led by former Conant coach Tony Kees, the 2007 Class AA runners-up and 2008 Class 3A semifinalists boast one of the best midfields in the state, led by Marquette-bound senior midfielder Brian Ciesiulka.

The UEC rivals will clash at Millennium Field on Oct. 1. They could also meet in the upcoming Pepsi Showdown. Neuqua Valley is the No. 1 seed; Streamwood is seeded No. 2.

"We're looking forward to playing them to see if we can beat them," Perez said. "They should be a really fine team. If everyone's ready to play, we could win.

"Last year was one of our better years, but we want to do way better than last year and go way further than winning regionals. I think this could be the best year in the history of soccer at Streamwood."