Another Bartlett rally
leaves Streamwood feeling blue
Late Hawks goal produces 1-1 draw
By Chris Walker
STREAMWOOD -- David Ramirez loves playing soccer, so he decided to try out for the Bartlett team this spring.
The Hawks are happy to have him.
The senior sent home the game-tying goal with 5:41 remaining, and Bartlett squeaked out a 1-1 draw in Upstate Eight Conference action Wednesday against no. 7 Streamwood at Millennium Field.
“I saw my teammates were a little bit let down with us down 1-0,” Ramirez said. “And we had a great game going, so we had to keep going. When Sean (Cox) passed it back to me, I was ready to kick it. It felt amazing.”
Said Cox: “It was just a wobbly ball going into the box. I laid it off to David, and he just smashed in in the back of the net.”
Ramirez played for the Hawks as a freshman but didn’t return to the program until this spring. For his comeback and his first career goal that helped his team rally for the draw against a big rival, Ramirez was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“I love playing soccer, I really do. It’s my last year so that’s why I came out for the team,” he said. “And a lot of my teammates are good friends of mine. We’re all good friends really.”
No one could’ve imagined Bartlett’s 14th tie in two-and-a-half seasons could feel this much like a victory, but that was the vibe on the Hawks sideline afterward.
“This was a lot of fun, and to just tie the game like we did, felt amazing,” Ramirez said. “Streamwood is a really good team.”
The experience wasn’t as enjoyable for Streamwood (2-1-2, 0-0-2). The Sabres were just under six minutes away from shutting out their fourth opponent in five games.
“At halftime I said it might take one mistake and all of a sudden they’re in the game. Unfortunately it happened with five minutes in the game when we’re leading 1-0,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “It’s very frustrating, especially in the last minute when we had a perfect chance to win the game and just missed. That’s how it’s been the last game or so. We’ll get chance after chance like that, and they’re just not inching in like they should. And our defense is holding, but they can only do so much.”
That’s partially why Streamwood’s senior goalkeeper Harvey Partida was repeatedly barking instruction and motivation to his teammates to get more.
With 10 minutes left, Partida could be heard by just about everyone in the stadium when he yelled, “Come on guys! Are you satisfied with one goal? We got 10 minutes. Let’s go!”
“As our goalie he needs to be the leader back there because he can see the whole field,” Polovin said. “I’m not satisfied at the time with a 1-0 lead. I want them to put them away and unfortunately we couldn’t. All of a sudden (Partida) makes a nice save and a guy (Ramirez) all camped out by himself on the far post is there and no one stepped in to get him, and he just ripped a shot and scored.”
If the frustrated Sabres feel like they’ve given up a lead against the Hawks before, they’re not imagining things. Then last time the teams played, which was on the same field due to an unplayable field at Bartlett in the fall of 2019, Streamwood held a goal lead in the second half. In that instance, Bartlett roared back to tie the game and then win it thanks to goals from Sean Cox with 7:39 and 2:38 remaining. This time, again, the Hawks came back in that same window of time.
“Once they scored that goal, it was devastating. It was like right through our heart,” Streamwood senior center back Jose Ibarra said. “It just felt that way, especially with this team, this rivalry, and all the fans here. It was a good game too, but they expect us to win, and I personally felt like we were the better team. I felt like we dominated a lot more, but one mistake, and they were right on us. We need to learn from this and adjust and see what we can do better.”
Bartlett has quite a combo up-top these days with Patryk Pabian adding to the Hawks’ offensive arsenal. Revak’s only complaint was procrastination.
“The fault is on me for kind of keeping Patryk alone up there,” Revak said. “It’s nice to have another guy that (Cox) can work with. Patryk’s only a sophomore. He’s playing beyond his years already. so it’s been great to see those guys work together; they’re getting chances. It’s only time before they start falling for both of them, so that will be helpful.”
Sharing some time in club soccer together has resulted in great chemistry between the two forwards and since both can return in the fall, they should only become more dangerous as they continue to rack up the minutes on the same field.
“We started off as a whole team pretty well up-top and around the whole field winning 50/50s and getting first to the ball,” Pabian said. “I think we moved the ball. I think we just got to take care of the finishing aspect. We could’ve had a better game, but I think we played really well.”
Streammwood took the only lead of the game when junior Joel Sandoval headed in a cross from freshman Bryan Huerta in the 68th minute. dThe ball appeared to bounce around a bit, but ultimately found the back of the net.
“All credit to Streamwood; they’re a great team,” Revak said. “They have a lot of talented players, and they’re always a challenge. They’re a program the last few years that has been good enough to make state runs. The fact that our boys can step up ... we got a lot of young guys, especially since we graduated a ton of seniors. It was awesome to see them step up like that. This is easily the best game we’ve seen them play for the season obviously.”
If the Hawks didn’t respond and lose 1-0 it’s a hard-fought loss filled with positives, which would’ve been a victory of sorts. Instead, they get the equalizer and head back to Bartlett feeling like they got the ‘W.’ It’s hard to argue why they could feel that way.
“I’m not mad at the guys, because they worked their butts off,” Revak said. “One little mistake in coverage kind of led to their goal and their mad scramble to the goal. All around I’m just thrilled with their effort with how hard they played, and hopefully they can keep the momentum going.”
Cox certainly has become a villain of sorts in this rivalry with his two goals and an assist in the last two games.
“Streamwood is one of our rivals. So coming out and playing, with all the fans and everything, it’s a different feel than just a regular game, another team,” he said. “A lot of us know each other from Streamwood. A lot of us are friends, but when we’re out there we want to beat them; that’s why we came out flying.”
The Hawks meant business early on and set the tone that they weren’t anything like the team that opened the season with a 7-1 loss against St. Charles East.
“As a team, we all had an offensive posture,” Cox said. “We all wanted a goal, but we just got to finish our chances. I missed that one shot.”
About 10 minutes before Streamwood scored, Cox had a terrific chance as he was able to get past Partida, but he fired just wide right.
“I honestly think our speed of play caused them trouble,” he said. “In the back, they like to pass it just like last year. They like passing it around, and we did a good job of pressing them up really high and keeping them there. I think that worked really well for us.”
With three minutes remaining, Cox sprinted down field looking for an opportunity, but Ibarra was able to track down the ball and clean it up before Cox could break the tie like he did in 2019.
“Considering our past games, as well as coming out with a tie, I mean, it’s better than losing,” Cox said. “This is really good for us. It shows us what we’re capable of doing the rest of the season. This is a win for us, almost.”
It's up to Streamwood to look beyong losing the lead and the win against Bartlett and turn their attention to Metea Valley on Thursday night.
“It’s a short season; we still have a game tomorrow. I told the guys forget about this, as hard as it is, because I hate losing and to us that felt like a loss no matter what,” Polovin said. “We didn’t lose, which is a good thing, but I know all the guys felt the same way. We’ll come back.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK – Israel Cuautle
D – Joel Benitez
D – Sebastian Gluszak
D – Spencer Medendorp
D – David Ramirez
M – Sebastian Larios
M – Edgar Leon
M – Giovanni Palid
M – Cesar Palomares
F – Sean Cox
F – Patryk Pabian
Streamwood
GK – Harvey Partida
D – Marcos Gutierrez
D – Bryan Huerta
D – Jose Ibarra
D – E.J. Satsatin
M – Michael Garcia
M – Fernando Mancera
M – Joel Sandoval
F – Jose Banuelos
F – Aldo Jimenez
F – Hugo Marquez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: David Ramirez, sr., D, Bartlett
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Streamwood – Joel Sandoval (Bryan Huerta), 57th min
Bartlett – David Ramirez (Sean Cox), 74th minute
leaves Streamwood feeling blue
Late Hawks goal produces 1-1 draw
By Chris Walker
STREAMWOOD -- David Ramirez loves playing soccer, so he decided to try out for the Bartlett team this spring.
The Hawks are happy to have him.
The senior sent home the game-tying goal with 5:41 remaining, and Bartlett squeaked out a 1-1 draw in Upstate Eight Conference action Wednesday against no. 7 Streamwood at Millennium Field.
“I saw my teammates were a little bit let down with us down 1-0,” Ramirez said. “And we had a great game going, so we had to keep going. When Sean (Cox) passed it back to me, I was ready to kick it. It felt amazing.”
Said Cox: “It was just a wobbly ball going into the box. I laid it off to David, and he just smashed in in the back of the net.”
Ramirez played for the Hawks as a freshman but didn’t return to the program until this spring. For his comeback and his first career goal that helped his team rally for the draw against a big rival, Ramirez was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“I love playing soccer, I really do. It’s my last year so that’s why I came out for the team,” he said. “And a lot of my teammates are good friends of mine. We’re all good friends really.”
No one could’ve imagined Bartlett’s 14th tie in two-and-a-half seasons could feel this much like a victory, but that was the vibe on the Hawks sideline afterward.
“This was a lot of fun, and to just tie the game like we did, felt amazing,” Ramirez said. “Streamwood is a really good team.”
The experience wasn’t as enjoyable for Streamwood (2-1-2, 0-0-2). The Sabres were just under six minutes away from shutting out their fourth opponent in five games.
“At halftime I said it might take one mistake and all of a sudden they’re in the game. Unfortunately it happened with five minutes in the game when we’re leading 1-0,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “It’s very frustrating, especially in the last minute when we had a perfect chance to win the game and just missed. That’s how it’s been the last game or so. We’ll get chance after chance like that, and they’re just not inching in like they should. And our defense is holding, but they can only do so much.”
That’s partially why Streamwood’s senior goalkeeper Harvey Partida was repeatedly barking instruction and motivation to his teammates to get more.
With 10 minutes left, Partida could be heard by just about everyone in the stadium when he yelled, “Come on guys! Are you satisfied with one goal? We got 10 minutes. Let’s go!”
“As our goalie he needs to be the leader back there because he can see the whole field,” Polovin said. “I’m not satisfied at the time with a 1-0 lead. I want them to put them away and unfortunately we couldn’t. All of a sudden (Partida) makes a nice save and a guy (Ramirez) all camped out by himself on the far post is there and no one stepped in to get him, and he just ripped a shot and scored.”
If the frustrated Sabres feel like they’ve given up a lead against the Hawks before, they’re not imagining things. Then last time the teams played, which was on the same field due to an unplayable field at Bartlett in the fall of 2019, Streamwood held a goal lead in the second half. In that instance, Bartlett roared back to tie the game and then win it thanks to goals from Sean Cox with 7:39 and 2:38 remaining. This time, again, the Hawks came back in that same window of time.
“Once they scored that goal, it was devastating. It was like right through our heart,” Streamwood senior center back Jose Ibarra said. “It just felt that way, especially with this team, this rivalry, and all the fans here. It was a good game too, but they expect us to win, and I personally felt like we were the better team. I felt like we dominated a lot more, but one mistake, and they were right on us. We need to learn from this and adjust and see what we can do better.”
Bartlett has quite a combo up-top these days with Patryk Pabian adding to the Hawks’ offensive arsenal. Revak’s only complaint was procrastination.
“The fault is on me for kind of keeping Patryk alone up there,” Revak said. “It’s nice to have another guy that (Cox) can work with. Patryk’s only a sophomore. He’s playing beyond his years already. so it’s been great to see those guys work together; they’re getting chances. It’s only time before they start falling for both of them, so that will be helpful.”
Sharing some time in club soccer together has resulted in great chemistry between the two forwards and since both can return in the fall, they should only become more dangerous as they continue to rack up the minutes on the same field.
“We started off as a whole team pretty well up-top and around the whole field winning 50/50s and getting first to the ball,” Pabian said. “I think we moved the ball. I think we just got to take care of the finishing aspect. We could’ve had a better game, but I think we played really well.”
Streammwood took the only lead of the game when junior Joel Sandoval headed in a cross from freshman Bryan Huerta in the 68th minute. dThe ball appeared to bounce around a bit, but ultimately found the back of the net.
“All credit to Streamwood; they’re a great team,” Revak said. “They have a lot of talented players, and they’re always a challenge. They’re a program the last few years that has been good enough to make state runs. The fact that our boys can step up ... we got a lot of young guys, especially since we graduated a ton of seniors. It was awesome to see them step up like that. This is easily the best game we’ve seen them play for the season obviously.”
If the Hawks didn’t respond and lose 1-0 it’s a hard-fought loss filled with positives, which would’ve been a victory of sorts. Instead, they get the equalizer and head back to Bartlett feeling like they got the ‘W.’ It’s hard to argue why they could feel that way.
“I’m not mad at the guys, because they worked their butts off,” Revak said. “One little mistake in coverage kind of led to their goal and their mad scramble to the goal. All around I’m just thrilled with their effort with how hard they played, and hopefully they can keep the momentum going.”
Cox certainly has become a villain of sorts in this rivalry with his two goals and an assist in the last two games.
“Streamwood is one of our rivals. So coming out and playing, with all the fans and everything, it’s a different feel than just a regular game, another team,” he said. “A lot of us know each other from Streamwood. A lot of us are friends, but when we’re out there we want to beat them; that’s why we came out flying.”
The Hawks meant business early on and set the tone that they weren’t anything like the team that opened the season with a 7-1 loss against St. Charles East.
“As a team, we all had an offensive posture,” Cox said. “We all wanted a goal, but we just got to finish our chances. I missed that one shot.”
About 10 minutes before Streamwood scored, Cox had a terrific chance as he was able to get past Partida, but he fired just wide right.
“I honestly think our speed of play caused them trouble,” he said. “In the back, they like to pass it just like last year. They like passing it around, and we did a good job of pressing them up really high and keeping them there. I think that worked really well for us.”
With three minutes remaining, Cox sprinted down field looking for an opportunity, but Ibarra was able to track down the ball and clean it up before Cox could break the tie like he did in 2019.
“Considering our past games, as well as coming out with a tie, I mean, it’s better than losing,” Cox said. “This is really good for us. It shows us what we’re capable of doing the rest of the season. This is a win for us, almost.”
It's up to Streamwood to look beyong losing the lead and the win against Bartlett and turn their attention to Metea Valley on Thursday night.
“It’s a short season; we still have a game tomorrow. I told the guys forget about this, as hard as it is, because I hate losing and to us that felt like a loss no matter what,” Polovin said. “We didn’t lose, which is a good thing, but I know all the guys felt the same way. We’ll come back.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK – Israel Cuautle
D – Joel Benitez
D – Sebastian Gluszak
D – Spencer Medendorp
D – David Ramirez
M – Sebastian Larios
M – Edgar Leon
M – Giovanni Palid
M – Cesar Palomares
F – Sean Cox
F – Patryk Pabian
Streamwood
GK – Harvey Partida
D – Marcos Gutierrez
D – Bryan Huerta
D – Jose Ibarra
D – E.J. Satsatin
M – Michael Garcia
M – Fernando Mancera
M – Joel Sandoval
F – Jose Banuelos
F – Aldo Jimenez
F – Hugo Marquez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: David Ramirez, sr., D, Bartlett
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Streamwood – Joel Sandoval (Bryan Huerta), 57th min
Bartlett – David Ramirez (Sean Cox), 74th minute