Scouting Fox boys soccer
Players to watch: Liam Armstrong (Jacobs, Sr, F), Ty Brieger (St. Edward, Jr, MF), Sebastian Carranza (St. Charles East, Sr, F), Israel Cuautle (Bartlett, Sr., GK), Christian Diaz (Geneva, Jr, F/MF), Isaac Espinosa (Elgin, Jr, F), Kobe Frenette (Hampshire, Sr., F), Tyler Getzinger (Crystal Lake South, Sr, MF), PJ Hopkins (Jacobs, Sr, D), Jose Ibarra (Streamwood, Sr, D), Ethan Kornas (Huntley, Jr, GK), Alex Mancera (St. Charles East, Sr, MF), Jake Maslowski (St. Charles East, Sr., F), Brandon Osterberg (Crystal Lake South, MF), Dominick Peri (Geneva, Sr., MF), Danny Quintana (South Elgin, Sr, F), Sam Rainer (Jacobs, Sr, MF), Kevin Reynoso (Larkin, Sr, F), Nathan Siers (Westminster Christian, So, F), Evan Smith (Kaneland, Sr, MF), Zachary Thompson (West Aurora, Sr., MF), Alex Wano (South Elgin, Sr, D)
Season outlook: Batavia returns 9 players, including 6 seniors from its 2019 team. The Bulldogs have some nice talent and will look to be competitive in the DuKane after going winless in the conference last season.
Geneva coach Jason Bhatta brings back a good core group of players from last year's regional final 13-5-4 team. Christian Diaz (10 goals, 2 assists) has a nose for the goal while Joe Carli, Dominick Peri, Braeden McPheron and Jack Cannon also return.
St. Charles East (18-2-3) should be as difficult to beat, if not more, this season with plenty of talent coming back, especially with scoring options such as Sebastian Carranza, Alex Mancera and Jake Maslowski and Sam Wade. Watch out for senior transfer Gaetano D'Argento as the Saints are for real.
St. Charles North is coming off a strong 11-5-3 season that ended at the hands of the Class 3A state champs. The North Stars lost 11 seniors from that squad.
Burlington Central coach Mick Galeski welcomes back 11 players from last season's 4-15 team in the Fox Valley. Goalkeeper Tristan Samuelian, defender Eli Boer and fellow senior midfielders Cooper Teets and Josh Madsen are among the returning Rockets.
Cary-Grove is coming off a 6-8-2 season.
Crystal Lake South (20-5-4) won't have a chance to bring home a state trophy again, so the Gators will look to end the season at their best in the first FVC tournament to finish up this unprecedented year. Tyler Getzinger (13 goals, 4 assists), Tom Coughlin (4 goals, 3 assists), Tomasz Slawek and Brandon Osterberg return as starters.
Forward Kobe Frenette (17 goals, 11 assists) and 8 others return for a Hampshire squad that enjoyed a 14-9-2 campaign. Alex Rojas and Mark Schuster are back to take care of business in the midfield.
Huntley coach Matt Lewandowski certainly couldn't have predicted this kind of a season for his second year, but with a versatile group and a nice mix of returning starters and newcomers, the Red Raiders will look to build upon last year's first regional title in 5 years. Goalkeeper Ethan Kornas (148 saves, 0.976 GAA) and midfielders Austin Killen and Thomas Rodriguez lead the returnees.
Jacobs came up short against Class 3A state champion West Chicago in a supersectional last fall and unfortunately won't have an opportunity to go on another awesome postseason run. The Golden Eagles will look to be one of the top teams again in the Fox Valley (8-1 last year) with 14 returning players, including Liam Armstrong, PJ Hopkins and Sam Rainer, among others.
The Upstate Eight is the home to defending Class 3A state champion West Chicago this season and next season since there is no state series. Can anyone upend the Wildcats in the Upstate Eight this spring though?
Bartlett will have a brand new defense in front of goalkeeper Israel Cuautle (4 shutouts, .95 GAA). The Hawks only return 8 varsity players, but statistically, they return most of their top offensive threats, including juniors Sean Cox and Marco Zamora and senior Cesar Palomares.
Elgin coach David Borg intends to battle for a conference title with Jayrell Garcell, Brandon Tavira, Jose Ramirez, Alex Sanchez and scoring machines Isaac Espinosa (10 goals) and Miguel Navarra (9 goals). Newcomers Marco Gomez and Ian Panaligan should make impact.
Michael Huizar said he has a hard working and resilient group at Larkin. The Royals will look to Kevin Reynoso, Cristian Zaro and Fernando Rea Morales to find the back of the net and improve on last year's 4-14-3 record.
Jerzy Skowron's team is hoping to win the first soccer conference in program history with 11 players back at South Elgin, including forwards Nick Flores (5 goals, 5 assists), Ryan Doherty (4 goals, 4 assists) and Danny Quintana (8 goals, 5 assists) and lockdown center back Alex Wano leading the way.
Injuries decimated Streamwood last year so the Sabres are hungry to show what they can do when healthy. With center back Jose Ibarra leading the defense and 12 other returning players, they should be quite competitive.
Scott Parillo enters his 19th season during a month when he's normally coaching the girls. Kaneland lost 9 starters from a 17-7 team, but return 12 varsity athletes, including Evan Smith and Braden Nigg. Talented sophomores will look to contribute and compete for the Knights in the Interstate Eight.
West Aurora (18-5-1) has one of the area's top players in Zachary Thompson (12 goals, 17 assists) returning to lead it during this shortened season. The Blackhawks will look to win the Southwest Prairie Conference title.
What a time to be a first-year coach for Marmion's Gerardo Alvarez. The Cadets have 8 players returning, including James Lawinger, Drew Noecker, Joey Lagman, Harley Karner, Nathan Sowers and Matt Sullivan.
St. Edward (12-7-0) welcomes back 14 varsity athletes, some who gained valuable experience on the third place 2017 and second place 2018 state teams. The Wave have a strong junior class - Ty Brieger, Yahir Carachure, Karol Kopciewski and Robert Wilson - as well as some youngsters and strong senior leaders.
Westminster Christian returns 14 players and only lost one starter as it looks to flip its 4-11 record from the last time it played. Sophomores Cal Hoon, Peter DiNapoli and Nathan Siers and junior goalkeeper Jack Layne pace the Warriors.