Boys soccer: Leyden handles Maine West
Leyden's boys soccer team enjoyed its highest goal-scoring day in the month of September Saturday afternoon in Northlake when it netted 6 goals against visiting Maine West during a 6-2 victory.
Five different players from Leyden (5-6-1) would score during this annual nonconference match which was played in a constant rain, coupled with a strong north wind, which made conditions feel much like early spring instead of the last week of September.
"This is the way I know we can play all of the time," said Alan Vasquez, who is one of four who wear the captain's armband for Leyden coach Mark Valintis.
"It's finally coming together for us after taking some time for a lot of the new players to get comfortable so I know we'll be a much better team in the last few weeks of the season," added junior Jesus Recendez, also a Leyden captain.
The Eagles ended a three-game losing streak last Saturday with a 2-0 win over Highland Park, and looked ready to continue their winning ways from the opening whistle.
Dylan Santamaria opened the scoring in the 16th minute when he went past keeper Adrian Cano after Chris Hernandez sent him through, but the Warriors (3-7-3) were back level 60 seconds later when the home side failed to defend a deep throw from Danny Perez.
"Our inability to take care of things in our own end has been trouble for us this year. It's been the difference between winning and losing a couple of games that we appeared to be in control of," lamented Valintis of the Diego Nava equalizer.
Vasquez would strike the eventual game-winner at 30 minutes, taking a wonderful helper from Carlos Duarte past Cano with a quality finish.
"I thought we played (Leyden) really well in the first half. We had a few chances, and were able to play them even with a roster that was missing a few key players," said Warriors coach Alan Matan.
"I know our legs got heavy in the second half and our hearts sank a bit when they put a couple of goals in on us so quickly after the break, but the guys played hard from start to finish."
Among the players Matan was without were his first two keepers including Isaac Ochoa, who is the place-kicker for the Warriors' football team, which was playing on Saturday doe to Friday's weather suspension.
With two keepers gone, Matan turned to a field player in Adrian Cano, who despite his inexperience was still able to make a handful of goal-saving stops during his 80 minutes of work.
The Eagles broke this one open with 3 goals in four minutes just after the break, dominating the play especially in the midfield, where most of the four scored in the second half originated from.
Pablo Mancha, Matt Espinoza and Chris Hernandez increased the Eagles' lead to 5-2 in a matter of minutes before Valintis began to empty his bench.
Jovanni Alatorre bagged the final goal for the Eagles in the 66th minute until sophomore Kevin Abad, who Matan praised for his effort, pulled one back for the Warriors at 70 minutes.
Maine West will be at Vernon Hills on Tuesday, while Leyden welcomes Plainfield East on Monday, a team now coached by former Leyden star forward Cosimo Patano.