York's Torres rebounds, savors state title
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES -- Ask York goalkeeper Ricardo Torres when he felt a Class 3A title was truly possible, and the answer displays a true team-first attitude.
"That sectional against (St. Charles) East (a Dukes win on penalty kicks),” Torres said. “That game put a lot more confidence in us, and we just moved forward from there.”
The team success in the sectional final that night came via a 9-8 advantage in a nine-round PK marathon after 100 minutes of scoreless soccer. It was the antithesis of Torres’ evening. He left that match due to injury late in regulation after a collision in the box racing for a loose ball.
Anthony Kroumov stepped in at goalkeeper the rest of that St. Charles East match, and Torres’ personal postseason dreams were suddenly in jeopardy.
"I got injured that game,” Torres said. “Then I took that (next) game off against Huntley (a 3-1 supersectional win with Kroumov in goal).
"But I knew just that little extra rest could help us out for these last two games. And it really did."
Torres showed no signs of rust upon his return for the Class 3A state semifinal match against Lockport.
The senior shut out the Porters for the first 66 minutes of the match, by which time York had a 3-0 lead.
Two late Lockport goals tightened the final score to 3-2. But one night later in the finals against Fremd, the Dukes’ offense again clicked and Torres kept the door sealed shut as York won the first soccer state title in school history with a 4-0 win.
Jose Herrera’s goal just 39 seconds into the match had to be one of the quickest goals in state title game history, although no record is listed on the IHSA website.
Sam Musial would follow with two goals (midway through each half) for a 3-0 lead, then assist on another Herrera score in the 66th minute.
"Our possession was great,” Torres said. “Obviously we've been working on this (winning state) all year, and we stuck to the game plan. Not too much changed.
"We came here (to state) with that same mindset. We came out here strong and came out here confident. We knew it wasn't easy to get here, and we're not going to let up now.”
As for Torres, he punctuated his return to health in style. On a Fremd scoring chance late in the second half, his leaping deflection over the crossbar capped off York’s fifth shutout in its seven postseason games.
"This means a lot to me,” Torres said. “Last year with COVID we only played 11 games (and had no postseason), so coming back from that we had a stepping stone that we just took advantage of.”
Torres was part of a senior-dominated lineup that also included: standout midfielders Musial and Kacper Janowski; defenders Connor Bare, Yael Silvestre and Brendan Haran; and forward Kevin Gliatis.
“It's a group with a lot of seniors that are very confident,” Torres said.
That confidence could have been shaken by a late season 3-0 loss Oct. 7 at Lyons, which ended a 10-game winning streak. But the Dukes (23-2-0) chose a different approach and never lost again the rest of the way to close on an eight-win run.
“Losing can be beneficial if you recover from it,” York senior Neil McGovern said. “And after that loss we recovered.”
In the euphoria of the postgame title celebration with family and friends in the parking lot at Hoffman Estates, Torres summed up the magnitude of the game.
“This really doesn't compare (to other wins),” he said, “It's what we played for all year. And we made it happen.”
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES -- Ask York goalkeeper Ricardo Torres when he felt a Class 3A title was truly possible, and the answer displays a true team-first attitude.
"That sectional against (St. Charles) East (a Dukes win on penalty kicks),” Torres said. “That game put a lot more confidence in us, and we just moved forward from there.”
The team success in the sectional final that night came via a 9-8 advantage in a nine-round PK marathon after 100 minutes of scoreless soccer. It was the antithesis of Torres’ evening. He left that match due to injury late in regulation after a collision in the box racing for a loose ball.
Anthony Kroumov stepped in at goalkeeper the rest of that St. Charles East match, and Torres’ personal postseason dreams were suddenly in jeopardy.
"I got injured that game,” Torres said. “Then I took that (next) game off against Huntley (a 3-1 supersectional win with Kroumov in goal).
"But I knew just that little extra rest could help us out for these last two games. And it really did."
Torres showed no signs of rust upon his return for the Class 3A state semifinal match against Lockport.
The senior shut out the Porters for the first 66 minutes of the match, by which time York had a 3-0 lead.
Two late Lockport goals tightened the final score to 3-2. But one night later in the finals against Fremd, the Dukes’ offense again clicked and Torres kept the door sealed shut as York won the first soccer state title in school history with a 4-0 win.
Jose Herrera’s goal just 39 seconds into the match had to be one of the quickest goals in state title game history, although no record is listed on the IHSA website.
Sam Musial would follow with two goals (midway through each half) for a 3-0 lead, then assist on another Herrera score in the 66th minute.
"Our possession was great,” Torres said. “Obviously we've been working on this (winning state) all year, and we stuck to the game plan. Not too much changed.
"We came here (to state) with that same mindset. We came out here strong and came out here confident. We knew it wasn't easy to get here, and we're not going to let up now.”
As for Torres, he punctuated his return to health in style. On a Fremd scoring chance late in the second half, his leaping deflection over the crossbar capped off York’s fifth shutout in its seven postseason games.
"This means a lot to me,” Torres said. “Last year with COVID we only played 11 games (and had no postseason), so coming back from that we had a stepping stone that we just took advantage of.”
Torres was part of a senior-dominated lineup that also included: standout midfielders Musial and Kacper Janowski; defenders Connor Bare, Yael Silvestre and Brendan Haran; and forward Kevin Gliatis.
“It's a group with a lot of seniors that are very confident,” Torres said.
That confidence could have been shaken by a late season 3-0 loss Oct. 7 at Lyons, which ended a 10-game winning streak. But the Dukes (23-2-0) chose a different approach and never lost again the rest of the way to close on an eight-win run.
“Losing can be beneficial if you recover from it,” York senior Neil McGovern said. “And after that loss we recovered.”
In the euphoria of the postgame title celebration with family and friends in the parking lot at Hoffman Estates, Torres summed up the magnitude of the game.
“This really doesn't compare (to other wins),” he said, “It's what we played for all year. And we made it happen.”