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Boys soccer: Castro adds to Wheeling's legacy

After Leo Elizalde and Jonathan Sanchez, recent standouts in Wheeling's boys soccer program, comes Vicente Castro.

The dynamic and lethal No. 10 for coach Kevin Lennon met with his teammates for one last time this week, and together they were able to celebrate Castro's selection as captain of the Daily Herald's Northwest all-area team.

"Vicente is kind of a quiet, unassuming young man who lets his play on the field speak for his talents as a soccer player - and boy, does he have a lot of talent," Lennon said.

"The program here at Wheeling struggled for awhile," said Elizalde, "but it's been on the rise during the past few years. And with the recognition (Sanchez) received last year, and now Castro, it shows that soccer is changing for the better each and every year."

Elizalde was named captain of the 2008 all-area team. He went on to star at Dominican University before becoming a police office in Elmhurst.

Elizalde also contributes as an assistant coach at his alma mater and has been key in the development of Castro. Like Sanchez, Castro was regarded as an immense talent when he joined the varsity team at the start of his sophomore year.

"Having Leo here as a Latino coach is a big deal because he can relate to many of us," Castro said. "Second, we all know how great a player he was here, and then in college - and how hard he had to work to become a police officer. So we know that type of success is possible for me and all the other players if we do all the right things.

"He pushed me really hard. He's tough on all of us - so is (assistant coach Tim) King and coach Lennon. But it's good for all of us."

A family familiarity has helped in Elizalde's guidance of Castro.

"I've known his father for a long time," Elizalde said. "We've played against each other so many times, and he's tough on his son, both in soccer and with his academics. So I guess I'm just an extension of that."

All three Wildcats coaches agree the 180-degree turnaround for Castro from a year ago wasn't achieved so much due to physical gains, but rather because of better composure in the course of play.

"He would whine constantly last year when he thought he was fouled," said King, a former all-area soccer himself at Conant, before doing the same at NIU. "And of course he was fouled - that's what happens to the best player, and especially one like him who was so good at coercing fouling from our opponents.

"We all had a heart-to-heart with him about that, and finally, I think it sunk in."

The results were certainly there as Castro this year earned constant praise from opposing coaches to go with all-state honors and the all-area team captaincy.

"I thought I had a very good year last year, but I wasn't even named all-conference," said Castro. "But that, and the fact that I stopped worrying about the officials' calls, really turned my focus toward soccer only. And I think it really made a difference in how I played this year."

"He grew up and became a man about a lot of things," said Lennon. "And with that mature approach, you saw him take his play to another level."

Castro's ascent also bumped up the play of his team.

"He is so dynamic as a player, with and without the ball, and with the way he plays, he just makes everyone around him that much better," Lennon said. "He's not a one-trick pony."

"He can do so many things with the ball, and if you're defending him 1v1, you try to slow him down - then hope you get help," King said.

A scouting report on the Cats' team captain might read something like this: searing pace, understands the game and the responsibilities of his position, good range of passing, inventive, intelligent use of the ball, uses space brilliantly both on and off the ball, and his finishing is something else.

Lennon cites 3 memorable goals from the 13 Castro scored this fall.

"His first of the season came against Fremd, when he collected the ball around 30 yards out, and with his great speed, beat a defender before scoring. In fact, his second-best came nearly the same way, but in our game with Palatine."

After spending time on the injured list, Castro made his intent clear in the Wildcats' regional opener against Stevenson, who'd had Lennons' club under pressure through the opening 20 minutes. That set the stage for what was Castro's most meaningful goal of the season.

"He scored on a header from a corner," Lennon said. "It was such a big goal at a big time, because it showed just how important he was to us. We went on to get two more in the next 10 minutes to get an eventual victory."

Castro did indeed have a profound effect during his three-year stay. Wheeling won two regional championships, an MSL title and had a 42-17-6 record in that span.

He finishes up with 17 goals and 28 assists, which he hopes takes him to the next level.

"I want to play D-1 soccer," Castro said. "There's interest from DePaul and Western Michigan, and I know that Leo has checked in with Dominican, and at Lewis University also."

"Whoever gets him, will get a player who has his best soccer ahead of him," said Elizalde. "And I know he understands what it takes to be a better player at the next level."

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