Boys soccer: Rodriguez saves day for Elgin in tie with York
Elgin senior goalkeeper Kleber Rodriguez isn't sure how he was able to block a rebound shot seconds after he denied a penalty kick in the first half of Tuesday's game against York, but it ultimately saved the day for the Maroons.
Elgin and York walked onto Elgin's Memorial Field undefeated and both remain that way after a 0-0 tie in the Streamwood Fall Classic tournament.
"We're playing at a high level right now and we know they won state last year, but we're also a good team," Rodriguez said. "I haven't been tested as much in other games, but York is a big team and they tested me today."
His biggest test came with 10:16 left in the first half when Rodriguez dove to his right to prevent Jose Herrera from netting a penalty kick. Kevin O'Connor pounced on the rebound for the Dukes, but his quick follow-up shot also was stifled by Rodriguez.
"If I don't have the ball in my hand, my instinct is to get up right away, so that was my instinct," Rodriguez said. "I'm not sure how I saved that second shot. I just put my hand up."
York (6-0-2) hasn't lost a regular season nonconference game in just over three years as Sunday was the three-year anniversary of a 1-0 loss against Waubonsie Valley. The defending Class 3A state champions are back for more success this season and expect to continue to get better as they work on their formation.
"The kids expressed their concerns with the different formation so we kind of went back to what we were playing last year," Dukes coach Jordan Stopka said. "We couldn't put the PK away, but the run of play was (Elgin's). They're a great team. They knock the ball around, they play smart and they play simple. We actually enjoyed playing them today because it's a little bit different style of play."
Elgin (5-0-3) got a boost with the return of Eduardo Nava, its leading scorer from a season ago. He showed no signs of the hamstring injury that kept him sidelined the past few games as he was able to create some scoring chances.
"I was excited to come back and said 'This is me, this is my home and I gotta do what I gotta do to win the game,'" he said. "Sometimes the game doesn't go as planned, but you got to keep going. I think we did good, but we can always do better. Our defense was really good."
Nava had a 20-yard free kick with 12 minutes remaining, but he couldn't elude the York defensive wall as his shot caromed harmlessly away. About 12 minutes prior to that, Edgar Perez was able to dribble into the top of the box before firing a shot that York keeper Diego Ochoa smothered.
"Their keeper made some good saves and our keeper made some good saves so it was a battle between top teams and great for both sides," Maroons coach Jimmy Romano said. "Our guys played well. They're resilient. I told them we've got to take care of what we can and that in the second half the referee can't be a factor. Let the ball do the work and keep your cool and they did that."
The Maroons accumulated quite the collection of yellow cards in the first half, but were able to persevere and keep their cool.
"I tried to keep my team up in a game like this because if the ref or the other players get in your head we won't play our game how we want," Nava said. "Even when something goes wrong, it's keeping your head up and keeping going. The odds weren't in our favor this time, but if we keep going we're going to go far with this team."
The Dukes had their last solid scoring opportunity come with about 11 minutes remaining, but Gustavo Herrera's shot was redirected by Rodriguez.
"We're a midlevel team right now for where we can be and we're still beating good teams so it shows our potential and how good we can be," Dukes senior Ryder Kohl said. "We started in a 3-5-2 and now are in a 4-3-3 so we're still getting used to that. The outside backs, the wingers and we had to have Michael Greco step in as a six so I could drop in at center back so it's tough for people right now. We're just getting used to it and hopefully we'll get better as time goes on."