Larkin has sights set high for postseason

They’ve competed with the best of them. They won a regional last year. They’ve gotten dangerously close to winning a sectional, and even making it to the state finals. For the past two years they have lost to the second place team in the state, and the state champion respectively. Their only obstacle last year was Rockford Boylan, which ended up winning state after defeating them in the sectional semifinals on penalty kicks.

Now, it’s a new season, and this core group that was once made up of freshman and sophomores is all grown up; and they are ready to go even further this year.

The Larkin Royals boys soccer team will begin its path to the state finals with regional play opening up next week. After the heartbreaking loss in the sectional semis last year, junior midfielder Manny Aguilar wants a chance at redemption and believes this team is meant to win it all this year.

“We were disappointed after the loss last year, because we had bigger plans,” said Aguilar. “Afterward, (junior Erik Rodriguez and I) knew we still had next year because we were still sophomores. For the past two years, we’ve lost to top teams, so that made us realize that it’s a sign ... we have to be there. It’s meant to be. It made us want to be even better.”

Aguilar’s longtime friend and teammate Rodriguez is also ready to bounce back from last year’s sectional semifinal loss.

“Losing to the state champions was devastating,” said Rodriguez. “Especially in PKs after four overtimes; because we knew we had better scoring opportunities, and we had the game in the palm of our hands but we let it go. Knowing that we lost to the state champions makes us believe that we have the talent to get far, and that we can be state champions ourselves one day as well.”

The intense level of competition that postseason play always brings is unlike anything else in sports. In the soccer postseason, everybody takes it up a notch because they know that every game may be their last. When everyone is playing at their highest level at the same time, it always makes for a thrilling time for the athletes, coaches, and fans alike. That’s what makes the postseason so amazing compared to the regular season, and Aguilar and Rodriguez both know it.

“It’s kind of nerve-racking,” said Aguilar. “Especially for the seniors, because it’s one loss and you’re done for your whole high school career. It makes everyone want to give 110 percent because we don’t want to end badly, especially since the past two years we’ve lost.”

“I love the pressure it brings to the team,” said Rodriguez. “It makes us come even closer. We’re all family already, but the postseason makes us come closer because one mistake means you’re out for the rest of the season. We always play for the seniors, and we’ve had this core group for the past three years so it makes it even more special.”

The fact that there are so many returning members to this Larkin team is one of the keys to the Royals’ success. As a senior, Roberto Torres has helped the underclassmen to get them ready for the postseason grind.

“I tell them to try their hardest,” said Torres. “You don’t really care your freshman year, because you still have three more years; but when your senior year comes, you can’t believe you’re a senior and you just have to play your hardest every game and listen to your coach.”

Aguilar and Rodriguez also do their fair share to help the younger teammates.

“We try to motivate them as much as we can,” said Rodriguez. “Some of them don’t get as much playing time as others, but when they do go in we have to tell them that they better be ready; because they have to prove to the coach that they can play at the varsity level and they have the talent to do good things in the future years.”

The returning members of the Royals not only lead as upperclassmen, but they also have an edge because they have been playing together for so long; especially in the case of Aguilar and Rodriguez. A core group like this is a true example of team chemistry.

“We can rely on each other,” said Aguilar. “So if a guy makes a bad mistake we know that it won’t happen again, because after one mistake you know that he’ll try harder and give it more effort.”

“We’ve all played together since we were little,” said Rodriguez. “We all come from the same club. I’ve been playing with Manny since I was 12. If he’s making a run, I know just by looking at him. By just making eye contact you know what he’s going to do next, and I think that helps us out a lot.”

Having the same core group also means that the experience factor will give them an edge as well, according to head coach Ken Hall, who has coached the Royals for a total of 12 years. He’s watched this team progress from a core of freshmen and sophomores two years ago, who even exceeded expectations back then.

“We won five regular-season games and six playoff games that year,” said Hall. “We beat a couple of ranked teams in the playoffs; but then we ran into Lake Zurich (in the sectional finals) and they were all seniors, and they were better than us. At the end of that match, I made our team stand there and watch Lake Zurich get their trophy and plaque for the sectional championship and I told them that in a couple of years, that’s going to be us.”

The No. 3 seed Royals will begin regionals next Tuesday against St. Charles East, a team that denied Larkin ((14-5-4) a share of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division title and.

This highly talented and more experienced Larkin team will be ready to make a statement early in the postseason.

“Larkin has always been the strongest at soccer,” said Aguilar. “Every year we want to make it like we are the elite team. We want to be the best.”

“Everybody always talks about the Neuquas or the Naperville schools,” said Rodriguez. “No one ever really sees Larkin, so we’re putting it on the map. We want respect.”