Metea Valley shares a senior
moment in win over East Aurora
Mustangs turn to old hands to score knockout
By Derek Wolff
AURORA — It was only fitting that on senior night at Metea Valley, four seniors would combine for the two goals it needed to best East Aurora on Tuesday night.
After the introductions with the families were made on the field pregame, the Mustangs went to work.
Forward Jakub Celinski got things started, knocking in a ball off a corner kick early in the first half from Dakota Rowsey.
Metea Valley doubled the lead in the 60th minute when midfielder Evan Stigler found forward Evan Jaramillo open inside the 18, slotting a pretty pass through for an easy finish.
East Aurora had a few chances down the stretch, but the play slowed down significantly in the final twenty minutes, thanks to four yellow cards being given out.
Three of them went to the host Mustangs, the only blemish in what otherwise was a thrilling night for them after waiting a week to play.
Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson said his team always finds an extra gear when senior night comes around.
“Every year we have senior night. We get amped up for it; it’s fantastic,” Robinson said. “It’s always one of our better games of the year. The kids come ready to play, not just the seniors but the lower-level kids, the younger kids, our sophomores and juniors. They play well for each other. They play hard for each other. So it’s a good win today against a good conference opponent.”
The Mustangs hadn’t played since last Tuesday in a home 2-1 defeat against Plainfield South, so the later start and the larger crowd played to the advantage of the rested team.
Rowsey, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, said the win was a confidence booster over a good conference opponent and that his side was able to set the agenda in the game.
“It was a good time because we’ve lost a couple of the last five or six games so it was a good game to get our confidence back,” Rowsey said. “We were off for a week. We were refreshed, and it’s been our mentality going into the end of the season that we want to play our best soccer at the end of the season. We don’t want to peak early. It’s a good start.
“You have to go into every game the same and make every opponent adjust to you, not the other way around. Today I thought we played our game well.”
East Aurora found its attacking form in the first half, led by sophomore midfielder Carlos Gonzalez, but lacked the finishing touch to equalize.
Gonzalez had the best chance to tie the match in the 44th minute when he floated a strike from 33 yards out toward the net, but the ball rang off the crossbar and bounced back to the Metea Valley back line, clearing it out of harm’s way.
East Aurora coach Nathan Parry has a young squad to deal with this season, with only six healthy seniors on the roster. He likened the 2-0 defeat to a good morale booster moving forward with a rivalry match looming.
“I think for a young and inexperienced team we battled pretty well,” Parry said. "Metea is always a good team. It’s good that we can hang with the top team in our sectional and can build on that moving forward.
“We have a tough game in a week against West (Aurora), so I’d like to see us build up our possession and get some quality shots on goal. That’s what we’re looking for.”
With Metea Valley struggling after winning just one of its last seven matches coming into senior night, Rowsey said a weight was lifted off the team’s shoulders, but they still have a tough schedule remaining before the postseason.
“We’ve got a lot of tough games coming up,” Rowsey said. “We like to make our schedule that way. We want to challenge ourselves and get ready for playoffs. No matter what our seed is, it doesn’t matter because we’re going to have to play tough teams anyway. We want to get ready for that. This is nice. It’s a pretty good team that’s had some good results, so it’s good. We want to finish strong.”
The Mustangs will take on a tough Naperville North side on the road on Thursday, but Jaramillo was confident his team is heading back in the right direction.
“We’re fueling the fire and igniting our team for the final stretch,” Jaramillo said. “We’ve just got to get through those teams and battle on. I think we will, and we’ll have a good end to the season.”
Starting lineups
East Aurora
GK-Oscar Calzada
D-Edward Sandoval
D-Edgar Caballero
D-Jorge Sanchez
M-Sergio Simental
M-Carlos Gonzalez
M-Marco Romero
F-Ricardo Sanchez
F-Edgar Caro
F-Edwin Herrera
F-Brian Perea
Metea Valley
GK-Jimmy Wyma
D-Daniel Stewart
D-Brandon Howard
D-Ryan Donovan
D-Brian Diebold
D-Jonathan Ramos
M-Matthew Stigler
M-Dakota Rowsey
F-Evan Jaramillo
F-Michael Adams
F-Jakub Celinski
Man of the Match: Dakota Rowsey, Metea Valley
Officials: Steve Baker, Elie Ghawi, Grey Oidtman
moment in win over East Aurora
Mustangs turn to old hands to score knockout
By Derek Wolff
AURORA — It was only fitting that on senior night at Metea Valley, four seniors would combine for the two goals it needed to best East Aurora on Tuesday night.
After the introductions with the families were made on the field pregame, the Mustangs went to work.
Forward Jakub Celinski got things started, knocking in a ball off a corner kick early in the first half from Dakota Rowsey.
Metea Valley doubled the lead in the 60th minute when midfielder Evan Stigler found forward Evan Jaramillo open inside the 18, slotting a pretty pass through for an easy finish.
East Aurora had a few chances down the stretch, but the play slowed down significantly in the final twenty minutes, thanks to four yellow cards being given out.
Three of them went to the host Mustangs, the only blemish in what otherwise was a thrilling night for them after waiting a week to play.
Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson said his team always finds an extra gear when senior night comes around.
“Every year we have senior night. We get amped up for it; it’s fantastic,” Robinson said. “It’s always one of our better games of the year. The kids come ready to play, not just the seniors but the lower-level kids, the younger kids, our sophomores and juniors. They play well for each other. They play hard for each other. So it’s a good win today against a good conference opponent.”
The Mustangs hadn’t played since last Tuesday in a home 2-1 defeat against Plainfield South, so the later start and the larger crowd played to the advantage of the rested team.
Rowsey, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, said the win was a confidence booster over a good conference opponent and that his side was able to set the agenda in the game.
“It was a good time because we’ve lost a couple of the last five or six games so it was a good game to get our confidence back,” Rowsey said. “We were off for a week. We were refreshed, and it’s been our mentality going into the end of the season that we want to play our best soccer at the end of the season. We don’t want to peak early. It’s a good start.
“You have to go into every game the same and make every opponent adjust to you, not the other way around. Today I thought we played our game well.”
East Aurora found its attacking form in the first half, led by sophomore midfielder Carlos Gonzalez, but lacked the finishing touch to equalize.
Gonzalez had the best chance to tie the match in the 44th minute when he floated a strike from 33 yards out toward the net, but the ball rang off the crossbar and bounced back to the Metea Valley back line, clearing it out of harm’s way.
East Aurora coach Nathan Parry has a young squad to deal with this season, with only six healthy seniors on the roster. He likened the 2-0 defeat to a good morale booster moving forward with a rivalry match looming.
“I think for a young and inexperienced team we battled pretty well,” Parry said. "Metea is always a good team. It’s good that we can hang with the top team in our sectional and can build on that moving forward.
“We have a tough game in a week against West (Aurora), so I’d like to see us build up our possession and get some quality shots on goal. That’s what we’re looking for.”
With Metea Valley struggling after winning just one of its last seven matches coming into senior night, Rowsey said a weight was lifted off the team’s shoulders, but they still have a tough schedule remaining before the postseason.
“We’ve got a lot of tough games coming up,” Rowsey said. “We like to make our schedule that way. We want to challenge ourselves and get ready for playoffs. No matter what our seed is, it doesn’t matter because we’re going to have to play tough teams anyway. We want to get ready for that. This is nice. It’s a pretty good team that’s had some good results, so it’s good. We want to finish strong.”
The Mustangs will take on a tough Naperville North side on the road on Thursday, but Jaramillo was confident his team is heading back in the right direction.
“We’re fueling the fire and igniting our team for the final stretch,” Jaramillo said. “We’ve just got to get through those teams and battle on. I think we will, and we’ll have a good end to the season.”
Starting lineups
East Aurora
GK-Oscar Calzada
D-Edward Sandoval
D-Edgar Caballero
D-Jorge Sanchez
M-Sergio Simental
M-Carlos Gonzalez
M-Marco Romero
F-Ricardo Sanchez
F-Edgar Caro
F-Edwin Herrera
F-Brian Perea
Metea Valley
GK-Jimmy Wyma
D-Daniel Stewart
D-Brandon Howard
D-Ryan Donovan
D-Brian Diebold
D-Jonathan Ramos
M-Matthew Stigler
M-Dakota Rowsey
F-Evan Jaramillo
F-Michael Adams
F-Jakub Celinski
Man of the Match: Dakota Rowsey, Metea Valley
Officials: Steve Baker, Elie Ghawi, Grey Oidtman