Huntley regional appears wide open
The South Elgin boys soccer program has most certainly been an ongoing work in progress.
Four years ago, the Storm was void of wins. Win totals increased, however, to 4 and 6 the next two years.
And now that work in progress is starting to take a firm hold. South Elgin is a program-best 11-5-2 (finished 4-4-2 in the Upstate Eight) heading into today's regional semifinal against Larkin (6-15-3) at Huntley (3:30 p.m. start). South Elgin is the No. 1 seed.
"This is the first year that the starting lineup and roster has been dominated by seniors (9 senior starters)," said South Elgin coach Mark Neville. "That has given the team more confidence heading into the big matches and coming from behind in games."
South Elgin beat teams like Elgin, St. Charles East and Streamwood for the first time this season.
"(The first-time wins) has given the boys a little more confidence than in the past," said Neville.
Senior forward and 4-year starter Bart Mazurek leads the Storm with 17 goals and 4 assists. Senior forward Dan Bohlin has tallied 7 goals and 3 assists, while senior forward Onyx Gonzalez has 5 goals and 3 assists. Senior 3-year starter Devin Crockett (center back) is back from a season-ending car accident that occurred 2 days before the preseason last year.
Larkin, the No. 4 seed, downed South Elgin, 3-0, several weeks back.
"In a game that Larkin completely dominated," said Neville.
Neville knows just because his team has the No. 1 seed doesn't guarantee it a trip to Barrington for sectional play.
"By no means is that (No. 1 seed) a future indicator of success," said Neville. "On paper and with their (other regional teams) records, it appears to be an easy path to the sectional, which the boys know is not the case."
Larkin won its play-in game against Rockford Jefferson last week to earn the game against South Elgin.
Freshman Eric Rodriguez had 4 goals and senior Danny Leyva had 3 goals at the end of the regular season for the Royals. Veteran coach Ken Hall said junior sweeper Alex Sanchez and defensive mid Josue Medina have been the team's most consistent players all year.
"We actually feel that we have a chance in the regional," said Hall. "We beat South Elgin this year and we tied Elgin (0-0), but that was early and we played poorly that game. I think any team could win it."
No. 2 seed Huntley will battle third-seeded Elgin in the other regional semifinal Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
The Red Raiders (8-11-2) are led by forward Javier Diaz (18 goals, 6 assists). Midfielder Kyle Lewandowski has 5 goals and 7 assists, while junior goalie Kevin Montelongo has seven shutouts to his credit.
"They work very hard from the beginning to the end of every game," said Huntley coach Kris Grabner.
Grabner also feels the regional field at Huntley is up for the taking.
"Any one of the teams in our regional could win it," said Grabner. "South Elgin has the best record and deserved the number-one seed. We will not look past any of the five teams."
Elgin brings a 4-10-4 mark into the Huntley contest. Tamoc Estrada leads the Maroons with 6 goals. Giovanni Gonzalez is the team-leader in assists. Osiel Ravadan has made 175 saves in goal and had 3 shutouts to his credit.
"As crazy as it sounds we have as good of a shot as any team in the regional," said Maroons coach Dave Borg. "I still believe Larkin is the team to beat. If we start putting the ball in the back of the net - and we will - we will be dangerous."
No. 4 seed Jacobs downed Grant by a 3-0 count in the Class 3A McHenry regional play-in game. The Golden Eagles will now face neighbor and top seed Crystal Lake South at 3:30 p.m. today at McHenry.
Junior midfielder Taylor Pignataro leads the Golden Eagles (7-11-3) with 9 goals.
Other key players for Jacobs include senior Danny Treavor (goalie) and juniors Matt Ehrhardt (D; goal against Grant), Ian Tracey (MF) and AJ Pfatschbacher (GK).
"Crystal Lake South has to be the favorite, but it is a very winnable regional," said interim Jacobs coach AJ Cappello, who took over the team after the recent resignation of longtime school soccer coach Jim Dzialo. "Crystal Lake South is a talented team. McHenry is a very hard-working team. We played Round Lake last year on our way to the sectional finals and they had a wealth of talent. I imagine they are a strong team this year as well. We know what we can be capable of as a team. We just need to find a way to bring it together."
South is 17-3-2 and won the program's first conference/division title in boys soccer in 12 years.
Senior forward Jon Gutmann (16 goals, 6 assists) and sophomore forward Charlie Oliver (16 goals, 8 assists) lead the Gators.
"Our regional is going to be tough. It is a very balanced regional where I believe anyone can beat anyone else on any given day," said South coach Brian Allen. "We have the possibility of seeing two FVC opponents for a third time this season, which is never an easy task.
"We are just going to try to continue to do what we've been preaching all year and that is taking it 1 game at a time and getting better each day in training. If we can do that and continue to play with a high work rate and the team-first mentality, hopefully we've got a chance to make some noise in the postseason."
Dundee-Crown (No. 4 seed) and Cary-Grove (No. 2 seed) are part of the Class 3A Lake Zurich regional. Host and top-seed Lake Zurich will play D-C today at 4 p.m. Cary-Grove and Barrington (No. 3 seed) will square off in the 6 p.m. contest.
D-C (5-13-2) is led by sophomore forward-midfielder Ozvaldo Ramirez (6 goals). Sophomore Kyle Hagan (4 goals) and junior forward Juan Lopez (4 goals in just the last 6 varsity games) lead the Chargers offensively. Mike Pagan (CMF), Jason Gatz (MF), Orlando Ceja (MF), Mauricio Arellano (D) and Casey Vickstrom (D) are also key contributors.
"All we are looking to do is play hard, have fun and try to come away with a win to extend our season," said D-C coach Rey Vargas, who noted his team is matching up with Lake Zurich for the second year in a row in the postseason.
Streamwood won its play-in game against Proviso East (7-0) and will now face No. 2 seed Geneva in one Class 3A St. Charles East semifinal today at 5 p.m. Alex Perez (4 goals, 17 assists through end of regular season) and Ivan Arce (7 goals, 2 assists) lead the Sabres, who are the 15th overall seed in the in the Hoffman Estates sectional. Arce had a hat trick against Proviso East.
"If we play more consistent like the way we did against Leyden (recent 2-0 win), we have a great chance of winning it," said Streamwood coach Matt Polovin. "Geneva is a good team with some skilled players, but the boys' confidence is definitely growing and they feel they can still beat anyone in this regional. There is no easy team in this regional, but we are not playing to compete now. We are playing to win."
In other Class 3A action, No. 4 seed Bartlett will face No. 13 seed Hoffman Estates Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Wheaton North.
Class 1A & 2A: A 3-2 victory over North Shore Country Day puts Westminster Christian in its own Class 1A regional title game today at 4 p.m. against Harvard. Ryan Beachler had a pair of goals and Ishmael Yemoah had the game-winner against NSCD. Harvard was a 6-4 winner over Northridge Prep in the other semifinal. Westminster is the No. 2 seed in its 10-team regional. Harvard is the top seed.
Burlington Central, seeded seventh overall in the Hampshire sectional, starts play in its own Class 2A regional today at 6 p.m. against No. 10 seed Johnsburg.
The Rockets are 14-5-2 (which includes a Big Northern Conference division title) - the best mark during the tenure of coach Mike Gecan.
Junior midfielder-forward Alexis Camarena leads the Rockets with 13 goals and 7 assists. Junior midfielder-forward Alejandro Nava has 6 goals and 4 assists, while sophomore midfielder-forward Christopher Gousios has 7 goals and 2 assists. Gecan also lauded the play of captains Stephen Hall (M-F), Jonathan Klopcic (D-M), Stephen Kaynish (D-M) and Kyle Reopelle (D-M).
"Johnsburg and Marmion both have very good records, but it will be the team that wants it the most or as we say at Central, the team that 'needs it' that will win this regional," said Gecan. "I have extremely high expectations for my boys and I know that they are capable of winning the program's first-ever regional title."
At Grayslake Central, No. 9 seed Hampshire will square off with No. 8 Oswego today in a 5:15 p.m. semifinal contest.