Streamwood comes together to beat Hoffman Estates
As a postgame spokesman, Donnie Sosa talked about the growth of Streamwood's youngsters coming at the right time for the Sabres to begin a push for playoff success.
As a veteran player, Sosa put the Sabres on his back and joined with fellow senior Edwin Rueda to produce a 4-2 nonconference boys soccer victory Saturday at Hoffman Estates.
"We have a young team that has had to grow up as the season progressed," Sosa diplomatically said of 4-1 start that was followed by six matches without a victory. Now Streamwood has claimed two of its last three to stand 6-6-2 heading into its final five contests before officially trying to emulate last year's postseason run that led to a Class 3A fourth-place finish.
"Today we played pretty well and hopefully it shows the troubles we had are behind us," Sosa said.
He got Streamwood on the board just 4:53 into the game by heading home a stellar cross from Rueda.
"Donnie and I know each other's style and I always look for him to be on the receiving end of a cross," Rueda said of his fifth assist for the year.
Hoffman Estates (2-7) countered at 10:46 with the same type of goal as Konrad Kieruzal soared for a header off Declan Rustay's pass.
The Sabres then beat the clock with a final rush as Sosa fed Alex Herrera, who took the pass off his chest and one-timed a 21-yard blast inside the left post with just 12.3 seconds left in the first half.
The host Hawks again knotted the contest when defender Gilberto Perez free kick from just inside the sideline was flicked on by Joe Sopikiotos for a Luis Gurrola goal with 50:32 gone.
"I was most pleased with our work ate for all 80 minutes," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. "We've had a few games where we've let things slip and wound up in a tie or losing. That focus on finishing is exactly what we need to get ready for regionals and to have postseason success."
Rafael Gil dribbled by a few defenders aggressively and was tripped inside the penalty box with 19:55 remaining. As he recovered on the bench, Rueda converted the penalty kick for his fifth goal of the season. The Sabres continued to attack and with 3:38 left, Sosa earned another PK and bumped his team-high goal tally to eight.
Next up for Streamwood is a Tuesday visit to Batavia, the second of six straight on the road prior to a regular-season home finale versus Larkin. Those two foes are among the three remaining chances for the Sabres to improve on an 0-1-2 Upstate Eight River Division record.