Boys soccer: Elgin wins at Hoffman Estates, remains unbeaten
Elgin extended its early success in boys soccer when it defeated Hoffman Estates 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at Garber Stadium.
The Maroons (6-0-2) went ahead for good in the 56th minute, then ensured a favorable result when Jean Padilla-Gomez slipped his angled shot into the far corner nine minutes later to help keeper Marin Jimenez Estrada earn the shutout.
"So far, so good," said Maroons coach, Dave Borg, who in his 16th year in charge appears to have all the right pieces in place for a successful season not only in the UEC, but also later on in the state series.
"We of course have to stay healthy, that's No. 1, but we've been getting better each time out, and that's key in what is a long, grueling soccer season," added Borg.
Hawks coach Matt Sriver was concerned beforehand as to which version of his team would he would see play this 80-minute nonconference affair - the one that went up 2-0 against Schaumburg before conceding the next 3 goals? Or the team that played defending Mid-Suburban League champ Wheeling well enough to earn praise from the Wildcats coach Kevin Lennon.
"With such a young and inexperienced team, we're not sure what we'll see sometimes," Sriver said. "But against Wheeling, Kevin told me our guys played them very well, especially in the early going. And today, the effort, heart, desire and grit was strong all the way through against a very good opponent."
The Hawks' hopes on this day hinged on whether or not they could contain the Maroons' talented group in the middle. And while Hoffman Estates did well to keep the likes of Omar and Jesus Lopez and Rafael and Pablo Perez contained, the quartet had at least 75 percent of the play going through them.
Elgin kept up the pressure, staying in the Hawks' end for long periods of time. But some sturdy back-line play from Hoffman Estates coupled with the Maroons' lack of sharpness in the final third limited the scoring.
"Elgin is such a good team, and we knew we had to be at our best in order to compete today, and I can honestly say this was our best overall effort of the season thus far," said Hawks captain Joey Sopikiotis, who turned in a marvelous box-to-box 77-plus minutes for his club.
Sopikiotis and midfield partner Nelson Diaz Velasquez dropped deeper toward the end of the first half to help as Hoffman Estates (0-6-0) defended with all its might in order to keep the game goal-less at the break.
Perez scored the eventual game-winner when, just after re-entering the game, he ran onto a nice ball from Cristopher Colin to beat keeper Phillip Ziecina from in close.
Junior Julian Garfias, who joined the Maroons' attack on several occasions from his spot along the outside in Borg's backline, was the architect of Elgin's second goal after he connected with Alexander Kunicki to get things in motion.
Kunicki then set Padilla-Gomez free, and he found the back of the net with a well-struck curling attempt around the Hawks' defense and Ziecina, who had no chance on the final goal of the game.
"We responded real well today after playing Dundee-Crown to a 2-2 the other day - we possessed the ball in the first half, but could have been better inside the box," said Garfias. "The second half we were much better in our attack. Right from the start, and we created a couple of good chances besides the two goals we scored."
Elgin will host Batavia on Tuesday in an Upstate Eight contest, while the Hawks welcome MSL West-leading Barrington on Tuesday as well.