Schaumburg subdues stubborn Addison Trail
Top-seed Schaumburg took a precarious route to the sectionals Saturday.
The Saxons netted a pair of second-half goals to pull away from aggressive eighth-seed Addison Trial en route to a 3-0 regional championship on their home pitch.
The Saxons (13-4-1) earned a spot in this week’s Bartlett sectional semifinal against Lake Park (17-6-2).
“Pretty it wasn’t,” said Saxons coach Hamid Mehreioskouei. “But I know in the past when we were a No. 8 or 9 seed, our plan beforehand was to come out and try to disrupt our opponent, make them do things they don’t want to and just frustrate them as long as we could — and maybe put one into the back of the net and put them on their heels.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of soccer played out there, but we got the fellas to settle down and play with composure, dignity and not get caught up in (their) game and just play simple the way we know how in that second half. And before too long, we built a 3-goal lead which we knew they would have a tough time overcoming.”
The Saxons played their normal high-tempo pressing game early, which bothered the Blazers (11-9-2). They conceded several long throws from Nick Abel, who used the wind at his back and a bright sun in the eyes of keeper Jesse Avelar to nearly score twice in the first five minutes.
“We’re an awfully young team, and they are big, strong and experienced — and the last thing we wanted to do was give them so many chances with deep throws, which we knew coming in was one of their strengths,” said Blazers coach Peter Ginter, who had just four seniors and a freshman in his starting lineup.
Raul Alcala’s header landed on the roof off an Abel throw into the box 60 seconds after the opening whistle for the Saxons. Three minutes later, an unmarked Jake Savino veered his shot wide of the post on another pinpoint throw.
“We missed a couple of ‘sitters’ in the first couple of minutes and later we put a few close-range shots up and over, and when you keep a team in the match with all of those missed opportunities you’re playing with fire,” Mehreioskouei said.
Abel finally put the Saxons on the scoreboard when his left-footed free-kick from just inside the midline carried up and over Avelar at 13 minutes.
“Except for that first goal, I really felt Jesse did a great job for us in goal and helped to keep us in the game,” Ginter said.
Play got chippy and, at times, reckless on several challenges.
The Blazers trailed by 1 at intermission and looked to Alex Baciu, Javier Rodriguez and sophomore Cesar Chavez to counter and shock the Saxons in the second half.
But Savino, the Saxons’ leading scorer, broke through on a pass by John Franco before being fouled to earn a penalty kick. Savino converted to make it 2-0 in the 48th minute. Eight minutes later, he all but ended the Blazers’ hopes when he finished another helper from Franco past a diving Avelar.
“Our guys defended courageously today, but it was difficult for us to get back in the game after going down 2-0, then later when they put their third goal in,” Ginter said. “But nonetheless, I am proud of the effort the players gave, and with those returning next year, it looks to be a bright future for Blazers soccer.”
“We played hard, as we usually do, but maybe not as efficient as we could or should have,” Mehreioskouei said. “But we got ourselves a hard-earned victory and regional title, and we move on from here, and that’s the most important thing to take away from today.”