Class A teams staying close to home for postseason

Class A boys soccer teams will find themselves amongst more familiar stomping grounds for upcoming post-season action, which will be held at Hampshire High School rather than last year's location, the Rockford Wedgbury Complex.

Sectional host Hampshire earned the highest seed of any area team at No. 2 and rostering the area's current goal leader in Junior Makinde (21 goals, 5 assists), the Whip-Purs may find themselves among the elite favorites to win.

The Whip-Purs (10-3-2) opened up the season going seven consecutive games without a loss before dropping a Big Northern East Conference matchup to Burlington Central, a team that has delivered Hampshire two of its three losses to date.

The Whips are slated to open up against either Oregon (No. 10 seed) or No. 7 seed Genoa-Kingston on Tuesday, October 16 at 5 p.m. Hampshire beat Oregon 5-0 earlier this season, but has not seen Genoa-Kingston.

An opening-round victory would pit the Whips against one of two familiar faces -- St. Edward (No. 11 seed) or Westminster Christian (No. 6 seed).

St. Edward (1-13, 1-1) and Westminster Christian are scheduled to face off on Saturday, October 13 at noon at Westminster Christian School. The two have met twice previously, both games ending in favor of the Warriors (by scores of 1-0 and 4-0).

With a roster full of young talent, the Green Wave have struggled, but they are learning every day. Facing a familiar foe in the post-season might be just what they need.

"It will be nice to open with a team that we're familiar with," said St. Edward coach Tim Brieger. "The guys definitely like the fact that it is not an unknown. Westminster is a great team this year and Tyler Beachler is a great goal scorer for them.

"We will have to see how it plays out."

While the Warriors sit near the .500 mark at 6-7-3, they have overachieved on many occasions during the 2007 season and will look to do the same in the postseason. Some accolades of note include two program-first victories over St. Edward as well as ties against Schaumburg Christian (1-1 final) and Hampshire (2-2), also program-firsts.

Westminster currently rides a 3-game win streak, and poses a big offensive threat in Beachler (10 goals).

With the No. 12 seed, Elgin Academy (1-7-1) will open against the No. 5 seed, Rockford Christian Life, which beat the Hilltoppers 8-1 earlier this week. The two will play on Friday, October 12 at 7 p.m.

Winnebago, which boasts the No. 1 seed in the Hampshire sectional, remains a team that Elgin Academy , Westminster Christian, St. Edward nor Hampshire has seen.

Class AA pairings: Streamwood will be home to both a regional and a sectional for this year's post season for the first time in program-history enabling spectators to see the likes of Elgin, Larkin, South Elgin, Streamwood and Burlington Central should each advance past their designated regional.

Larkin (9-3-1), South Elgin and Streamwood can each be seen in the Streamwood regional.

With the highest seed of any area team at No. 3, Larkin will open up the postseason against South Elgin (No. 15 seed) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 17.

The Royals have been a force all season despite taking the field with just 3 returning athletes and already have notched a 2-0 victory over No. 2 seeded Maine South at this year's Pepsi Showdown.

"There are a lot of talented teams in the Streamwood sectional, and the regional itself will be good," said Larkin coach Ken Hall. "The entire sectional will be tough.

"We are going to go in confident."

And why shouldn't they be confident considering that they recently tied the No. 1 ranked team (Daily Herald Top-20) in Neuqua Valley and most recently beat Lake Park.

"We have a lot of depth and our bench is getting great playing time," said Hall. "Our defense is very solid and it all starts with defense."

The Royals also have a top-notch defender in Fernando Alverez, who Hall says is among the elite in the state.

South Elgin (3-8) has shown immense progress in 2007 earning the young high school its first 3 victories in program history, and has had close contests with tough Upstate Eight Conference opponents Bartlett, St. Charles East, Waubonsie Valley and Elgin to illustrate.

Streamwood (7-10-1) will initiate postseason play versus Maine East (No. 6 seed) following the Larkin-South Elgin match at 6:30 p.m. on October 17.

The No. 9 seed, the Sabres will look to find balance following an inconsistent regular season showing.

"It's nice to host both the regional and sectional," said Sabre coach Matt Polovin. "It's nice to have home field advantage for as far as we might advance.

"We have not seen Maine East, but we are going to check them out."

While Streamwood has had its ups and downs, the Sabres have defeated difficult opponents on numerous occasions including a 3-0 win over St. Charles East, a 1-0 win over Fenwick and a 1-0 victory over Glenbrook North.

"Things are definitely coming together nicely," said Polovin. "If we can get hot at the right time, the sky is the limit. This team can play with anybody."

Elgin (8-5) is having one of its best seasons in recent years, and with a lot of individual talent on the field combined with good team chemistry, the Maroons show the potential to contend in the Lake Park regional.

Having earned the No. 5 seed, the Maroons will kick-off postseason play against Hoffman Estates (No. 12 seed) at 7 p.m. on October 17. Elgin has acquired some upsets of its own including a 3-2 win over Waubonsie Valley September 8, and can threaten up top with they dynamic duo of Lucas Valencia and Joel Perez. Omar Jasso and Omar Dina are also offensive threats as well as defender Kevin Rodriguez.

Burlington Central (8-4-2) will also compete in the Streamwood sectional facing Chicago Taft (No. 17 seed) on October 12 in the Conant regional.

The Rockets are the No. 16 seed and are coming together nicely currently boasting a 5-game win streak. Enrique Alvarado leads the Rocket offense with a double-digit goal tally as well as 5 assists, and they roster one of the area's top goalkeepers in Kyle DeRaedt (just over 100 saves).

At Lake Zurich sectional: Jacobs will host a regional in the Lake Zurich sectional which will house the Fox Valley's Jacobs, Cary-Grove, Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake South. Some teams will be meeting in the post-season for the third time this year.

Host Jacobs (3-10) will open up against Fox Valley Conference opponent Prairie Ridge (7-8-1) on Friday, October 12. Despite starting the season 0-8, the Wolves (No. 16 seed) have nearly battled back to the .500 mark going unbeaten in their last 7 matches. Jacobs (No. 17) has been showing improvements with each contest, and one of the Golden Eagles' three wins came against Prairie Ridge in late August via a 4-2 conclusion.

Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South will face one another on October 17 at 7 p.m. Having met once already, the Trojans walked away victorious with a 1-0 win over the Gators (10-7-1). One of the higher seeded teams in the LZ sectional at No. 7, Cary-Grove will face South a second time on October 4, before the postseason.

"South is a very good team who has played everybody very tight and very close," said C-G coach Mark Olson. "It comes down to creating opportunities and cashing in on them."

Thus far, the Trojans have cashed in 12 times at 12-2 overall while collecting 6 shutouts.

"We will go ahead and take each day as the most important day," said Olson. "Our focus will be on the present. It's called the present because it's a gift."

South (No. 10 seed) is led offensively by Jordan Innis, who is among the area leaders in scoring with about 15 goals to date.

At Palatine regional: No. 11 seeded Dundee-Crown will compete in the Palatine regional facing host Palatine first at 7 p.m. on October 17. Christian Meza (14 goals) will lead the Chargers' (8-4-1) efforts toward advancing past the regional.

"It's going to be very competitive," said D-C coach Rey Vargas. "We have an opportunity to advance if we continue to play the way we are playing right now.

"The key is to be on your game. Otherwise, you are going to get beat."

At Bartlett: Bartlett (6-7-1) will host a regional in the Wheaton Academy sectional, and will kickoff its post-season against the No. 5 seed in Geneva on October 17 at 6:30 p.m. The No. 12 seed, an opening round win for the Hawks would pit them against either Glenbard West (No. 4) or St. Francis (No. 14).

At DeKalb: Huntley (7-7) will be the lone Fox Valley representative of the Boylan sectional ,competing against regional host DeKalb (No. 6 seed) at 3:30 p.m. on October 17.

The Red Raiders (No. 10) have played a difficult regular season schedule and currently have the momentum of winning 5 of their last 7 to build off of.