Elgin, Larkin off to strong start

Elgin boys soccer coach Dave Borg felt a different vibe with his group during summer camp workouts.

“You get a sense with this group that there is a little more sense of urgency,” Borg said. “It’s like they need to do it now because they are going to be gone after this season. I feel like there is a whole attitude in school where success is going to start to happen, not only in soccer, but with other sports as well. In terms of soccer, it feels like there is a little bit of mojo and attitude. It feels different.”

The off-season work and the new attitude have paid off. Elgin got off to a 5-2-1 overall mark. The Maroons were 7-13-1 all of last year.

“We did a lot of off-season conditioning. It was a lot of running and plyometrics, which has paid off for us, especially in the middle.”

Senior Josue Chavez was leading the Maroons in goals. He had 6 goals through the team’s first 7 games. Samuel Escobar had 5 goals, while Oscar Rodriguez had 3 goals. Erwin Hernandez and Carlos Moreno also are key factors.

“Josue, Sammy, Erwin and Carlos, when they are out there, they are four guys that are as good as anybody. We’re glad to have them,” Borg said. “We have a pretty deep team. We played 15 or 16 guys the other night. Our midfielders can run the whole field, which is nice in the Upstate Eight. It’s what you have to do.”

Escobar agrees with the sense of urgency feeling permeating throughout the team.

“We play hard every game and try and do everything we can to win,” Escobar said. “We play the game like it is the last game of our lives.”

Moreno, the team’s sweeper and a four-year varsity veteran, was impressed with how the team reacted to a pair of early-season losses to Lake Park and Neuqua Valley.

“We had a rough start in those first couple of games,” he said. “We learned from those losses and have been improving as the season has gone by. In past year’s we haven’t that much of a great season. This is the best year since I’ve been here. We’re improving step by step. We’re trying to work on the little things.”

Borg likes the overall progress he’s seen thus far.

“We’re starting to switch the field and understand the space involved and that they’re better off using the whole field,” he said. “Our senior leadership has been better overall. These guys have a better understanding of the game.”

Moreno noted the recipe for success the rest of the season is simple.

“We have to motivate ourselves,” he said. “We want to win and get farther than any other Elgin High School team has gone. It’s up to us if we want to win or not.”

Escobar said: “We have good players. We have to keep practicing hard and play hard every game and do whatever we can to get the win.”

Larkin update: Elgin isn’t the only city team enjoying early-season success. Larkin was 5-3-1 through its first 9 contests. The Royals won their first two contests in the prestigious Pepsi Showdown (8-4 over Chicago Kelly and 5-1 over Wheaton-Warrenville South) before losing 2-0 to Lyons Township in the quarterfinals.

“We played our worst game of the year,” Larkin coach Ken Hall said. “We didn’t show up. The 2 goals they scored were easily preventable. Lyons played a good game against us.”

Hall has 9 starters back from last year’s team.

“We expect some big things this year,” Hall said. “We’ve been hot and cold. Our best game of the year was against Wheaton-Warrenville South. We had everything going in that game. We haven’t jelled together yet. It’s still early. We’re grateful for that. We still need to get a lot better.”

Larkin has not had any difficulty putting the ball in the back of the net.

“We are scoring a lot goals,” Hall said. We need to shore up the midfield a little bit, but I’m happy with the goal production.”

Erik Rodriguez is leading the scoring charge once again for the Royals. He had 9 goals in the team’s first 9 games.

“He had 25 goals as a sophomore last year,” Hall noted. “We realize he’s definitely one of our marked men this year. He’s definitely a top player. We’re hoping he can score 30 goals this year.”

Junior Tony Hernandez also is off to a big start.

“He’s our assist man. He was our leading assists guy last year,” Hall said. “He’s an attacking central mid. He sets up our forwards.”

Senior outside defenders Jose Huertado and Danny Ramirez have played well in the back, as has goalie Santiago Guerrero.

“Santiago has been very solid,” Hall said. “He made some real key saves in the Wheaton-Warrenville South game.”

Larkin opens Upstate Eight Conference River play today against St. Charles North.

“We have high expectations,” Hall said. “5-3-1 is not bad. We need to shore up a few things and I think after we do that we will do well at that point. Our goal was to win the Pepsi tournament and play at Toyota Park. Our next goal now is to win our side of the conference. We start (today) against St. Charles North.”

South Elgin update: The Storm was 3-3-1 through their first 7 games.

Mike Kozielek (striker), David Left (striker) and Danny Fry (outside midfield) have led the scoring charge thus far.

“We’re very strong up front with our strikers and midfielders, but we haven’t been able to put it in the net,” South Elgin coach John Uveges said. “We’re working on some things to change that around.”

Uveges has been pleased with the team’s improvement on the defensive side.

“We’re doing a nice job of shutting down the passing lanes and playing team defense,” he said.

Brett Hildebrandt and Alberto Bustamante have led the defensive charge, while Brian Irwin has been solid in the midfield. Spencer Scott’s quickness, E.J. Hernandez’s improvement and Tyler Piszczek’s play in the midfield also have aided the Storm.

Fry had 7 goals through the team’s first 7 games.

“Danny has had some incredible games,” Uveges said. “He’s playing out of his mind. He’s doing a nice job.”

South Elgin hosts Hoffman Estates Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the first game at the school’s new on-campus stadium complex.

Bartlett update: The Hawks were 2-2-1 through their first five games. One of those wins was 5-4 overtime decision against Washington in the opening round of the Pepsi Showdown.

“We played with heart and showed grit when we had to battle back and score 2 goals with one man down to win in overtime,” Bartlett coach Ben Beary said.

Tyler Lake had his first varsity hat trick in the Washington win. Anthony DiNuzzo was leading the team with 2 goals and 5 assists. Lake’s 3 goals gave him the team lead through 5 games. Goalie Cristian Alva had 2 shutouts and 27 saves in his first 5 games. He also had given up only 5 full-strength goals.

“We have improved our time of possession and we have shown creativity with our attack, scoring from a variety of combinations, set plays and distances, which makes us a dangerous team,” Beary said.

Beary would like to see his team continue to work toward playing a more complete game.

“At this point, we have shown sparks of brilliance in 5- and 10-minute increments,” he said. “If we want to compete with the best, we need to build that into a complete match. We’ve experienced a little big of everything in these first two weeks. I believe experience is the best teacher. We have learned a lot already and are getting stronger every day. We have not yet scratched the surface of our potential.”

Beary also lauded the varied contributions of Fabio Aiello, who had 1 goal through the team’s first 5 games.

“He does so much more than score,” Beary said. “He controls the middle of the field and facilitates our attack. He plays with an imposing physicality. Matching his intense, competitive drive has been difficult for our opponents.”

Huntley update: Red Raiders coach Kris Grabner was thrilled with the team’s recent wins against Johnsburg and Hampshire. Huntley stood at 5-1-2 through its first 8 games.

“The win at Johnsburg and the win against Hampshire were key wins for different reasons,” Grabner said. “Johnsburg was a big win because we came from two goals down. It showed the boys they are never out of a game. Hampshire was a big win because we did it in overtime. Even tough we did not play our best, we worked hard and pulled it out when it counted.”

Lukas Baker was leading the Red Raiders in scoring with 7 goals. Sean Tlapek’s versatility has been key as well.

“Sean has put in significant minutes in the middle of the midfield and in the middle of the defense,” said Grabner, who has also been pleased with the team’s possession game, but would like to see the team defend better and play quicker in the final third. “He has been incredibly solid.”

Burlington Central update: The Rockets were off to another strong start at 5-0-3 through their first 8 games, which included a 2-0 start in Big Northern Conference East Division play. Burlington Central won the DeKalb tournament.

Chris Gousios was leading the team with 6 goals and 3 assists. Josh Lung had 4 goals, while Chris Rodriguez has a goal and 5 assists. Goalie Riley Jensen has 3 shutouts.

“In order to keep moving forward we will need more competitive training sessions, while at the same time staying close as a team,” Central coach Mike Gecan said. “We also will be looking for good leadership from our captains and seniors as the season progresses.”

Central’s Pack the Place event is this Thursday.

“This is also our big fundraiser for the Make a Wish Foundation,” Gecan said. “We will have fun games, a bake sale and some other activities going on during the game to help raise money for this wonderful organization.”

Crystal Lake South update: The Gators have found the back of the net with frequency thus far. Charlie Oliver had 14 goals and 4 assists through the team’s first 8 games (5-3 start). Roberto Albuquerque had 12 goals and 4 assists, while Orlando Tapia had 2 goals and 5 assists.

“Our attacking mentality and re-pressure mentality has been pretty consistent,” South coach Brian Allen said. “We have already put 33 goals on the board in our first 7 games, so the coaching staff is pleased with that for sure.”

Sophomore Steve Follmer had 2 shutouts and a 1.66 goals-against average through late last week.

“Steve has been a great surprise in goal for us, as has Jack Carlson, who moved back to a defender role this year after playing primarily as a striker during his first 2 years,” Allen said.

South also has received key contributions from a trio of freshmen, including Tapia, who has emerged as the team leader in assists as a freshman forward.

St. Edward update: Longtime St. Edward coach Tim Brieger has watched his team improve dramatically over a year ago.

“Last year we scored only 16 goals and had 2 wins,” Brieger pointed out. “This year we already have 15 goals in 8 games and already have 2 wins. Last year we were shutout 15 times and only posted one shutout. This year we have scored in every game and already have earned two shutouts. We were shut out six times at this point last year.”

St. Edward scored first in all but two of its first 8 matches, including a tie with a Westminster Christian team that was 4-1-1 at one point.

“We are moving the ball around the field really well right now. We’re finding the open man and space,” said Brieger. “The guys are really starting to jell.”

Junior forward Carlos Moreno had 4 goals through the team’s first 8 contests. Freshman forward Joe French had 3 goals and 1 assist. Senior midfielder Logan Johnson and junior midfielder Nicholas Semler each had 2 goals and 1 assist. Freshman goalie Matt Hesch has recorded two shutouts. Defenders Kevin Olenek (junior) and Austin Davis (senior) have been key in the back. Olenek has been a force with his long throw-ins, while Brieger calls Davis “the heart of the defense.” Junior midfielder Johnny Shepherd’s speed on the outside mid has allowed the Green Wave to stretch the field.