Streamwood free quick kick
catches Hampshire off guard
Sandoval’s crafty play delivers 1-0 nonconference victory
By A.J. Schmitz
STREAMWOOD -It looked like Hampshire had broken a scoreless tie in the second half of Thursday night’s game against Streamwood (4-2-3).
Senior defenseman Matthew Estrada set up for a 30-yard free kick in the 44th minute and sent the ball flying over Streamwood’s defensive line. Senior forward Nathan Ludwig was there to meet it and sent a bullet into the back of the net.
As the lads celebrated what they believed to be their long-awaited goal, they missed the linesman’s flag already in the air. Ludwig was called offside - no goal.
While pure relief swept through the Streamwood faithful in the stands at Millennium Field, confusion spread among the Whip-purs (5-2-0 overall).
“I thought that guy was onside on that free kick,” said Hampshire head coach Rick Schuster, though he ultimately respected the call.
“The only time they got us was on that one set piece,” said Streamwood senior goalkeeper Harvey Partida, who seemed to think his side may have gotten lucky. “We miscommunicated. That was mostly our fault.”
It was a moment that would haunt the Whip-Purs.
Streamwood received a free kick of its own during the 65th minute. With the ball in play, Streamwood junior midfielder Joel Sandoval took advantage of the adjustments still taking place in Hampshire’s defensive wall.
Seeing a wide-open far post, Sandoval forsook technique in the excitement of the moment and cheekily socked a crisp shot into the bottom left corner, giving his squad the only goal of the night.
“It’s kind of been our crutch this season. So many opportunities, and to come away with a set piece goal, of all ways to score!” chuckled Streamwood head coach Matt Polovin. “Hey, I mean, I’ll take it. It’s another win; it’s a shutout. The defense, led by Jose Ibarra again, just did phenomenal. We didn’t really give them anything.”
Ibarra is something of a living legend for Streamwood’s squad. The All-American senior center back consistently stands strong in the backfield, stunting the hopes of the vast majority of would-be goal scorers he faces. He took on a genuine challenge Thursday night when Hampshire senior forward Kobe Frenette walked onto the pitch, but Ibarra rose to it brilliantly.
Frenette, known for his ability to rack up goals, was prevented from taking a shot on goal until the 51st minute, when he managed to quickly get one off his boot from an ambitious angle. The offensive shutdown was thanks in large part to Ibarra’s staunch marking of Frenette -- he never allowed the forward to get much more than a few inches of breathing space while Hampshire was on the attack.
“I say it every single game, and I will say it again, he is the best player in the state of Illinois. No doubt about it.” Polovin declared regarding his center back. “I don’t care who is undefeated, what their records are -- no one compares to him. And it shows again tonight. You cannot get by him. If you try, he has so much speed for his size that he will get you in two seconds.”
In the 68th minute, Frenette tried to respond to the Sabres’ goal. On a fast break, seemingly home-free, Frenette was moving into scoring range. As Partida geared up for his save attempt, Ibarra swooped in, tackled Frenette and gained possession before clearing the ball upfield to begin a counterattack.
“Having a guy like Ibarra is very valuable,” remarked Partida, a capable goalkeeper who often finds himself with little work to do because of Streamwood’s prized asset. “I feel confident having a man like him who can control the defense and mostly gets the job done. When he doesn’t get the job done, that’s when I just keep calm and do my role.”
Ibarra was not the only Sabre to stand out. E.J. Satsatin played a terrific and aggressive game on the left wing for his squad. A speedy playmaker with a defensive mind, Satsatin was all over the pitch. He did the little things that often go underappreciated: nice overlapping runs to open the field; speedy passes from the wing to the open forward; and immediate recoveries to reclaim a lost ball.
Satsatin had an explosive start to the second half when he ran the full length of the field to break up a Whip-Purs counterattack in the 42nd minute.
“You got to play good teams to get better, right?” Schuster pointed out. “It’s no use playing someone that you kill. You’re not going to get better from that.”
Hampshire junior defenseman Evan Korabik, who kept Satsatin from making some of the big plays he perhaps deserved throughout the night, offered his perspective on where the focus needs to be on the training ground.
“We just got to work on possessing throughout the middle,” he said, noting the difficulty his side had in building chances that were not the result of a fast break. “Otherwise, I feel like we played a pretty good game today.”
His coach agreed.
“We need to start the first half like we played the second half. All of a sudden, we started playing with a lot of energy and putting it on their side of the field. We got to do that in the first half and not just the second half when we’re down by one at that point.”
With two weeks left in the season, Hampshire hopes to make those adjustments in time to keep their conference chances alive. The Whip-Purs (5-1-0) in the Fox Valley Conference) will need some help while sitting in second place below Jacobs (5-0-0). Their lone league loss came when the teams met March 17. There’s a second chance as well. The FVC has installed a tournament in the final week to spice up the shortened COVID campaign.
With the traditional IHSA playoffs suspended due to the pandemic, winning the Upstate Eight Conference was moved to the forefront for Streamwood. Now the Sabres mentor has altered his sights.
“Since we had no state playoffs this year, our two goals were to win conference, which with three ties right now is probably not going to happen, and then to get me my 300th win,” he laughed. “And I never talk about myself, but I was looking at the season and was saying ‘Oh, you know, I’m close, maybe I can do it.’ If we can do that, then I’ll take a little pride in that.”
That will happen if the Sabres win four of their remaining five games.
Streamwood (0-1-3 in the UEC) hosts league opponent East Aurora (2-0-1) at noon Saturday, and Hampshire will host Huntley (4-2-0) next Thursday at 4:30.
Starting lineups
Hampshire
GK: Kyle Schultz
D: Gustavo Perez
D: Evan Korabik
D: Jesse Brown
D: Gerardo Marquez
D: Matthew Estrada
M: Mark Schuster
M: Alex Rojas
M: Nathan Ludwig
F: Gavin Crawley
F: Kobe Frenette
Streamwood
GK: Harvey Partida
D: Bryan Huerta
D: Marcos Gutierrez
D: Jose Ibarra
D: E.J. Satsatin
M: Anthony Caldera
M: Fernando Mancera
M: Joel Sandoval
M: Michael Garcia
F: Aldo Jimenez
F: Jose Banuelos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jose Ibarra, sr., D, Streamwood
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Sandoval (FK) 68th minute
catches Hampshire off guard
Sandoval’s crafty play delivers 1-0 nonconference victory
By A.J. Schmitz
STREAMWOOD -It looked like Hampshire had broken a scoreless tie in the second half of Thursday night’s game against Streamwood (4-2-3).
Senior defenseman Matthew Estrada set up for a 30-yard free kick in the 44th minute and sent the ball flying over Streamwood’s defensive line. Senior forward Nathan Ludwig was there to meet it and sent a bullet into the back of the net.
As the lads celebrated what they believed to be their long-awaited goal, they missed the linesman’s flag already in the air. Ludwig was called offside - no goal.
While pure relief swept through the Streamwood faithful in the stands at Millennium Field, confusion spread among the Whip-purs (5-2-0 overall).
“I thought that guy was onside on that free kick,” said Hampshire head coach Rick Schuster, though he ultimately respected the call.
“The only time they got us was on that one set piece,” said Streamwood senior goalkeeper Harvey Partida, who seemed to think his side may have gotten lucky. “We miscommunicated. That was mostly our fault.”
It was a moment that would haunt the Whip-Purs.
Streamwood received a free kick of its own during the 65th minute. With the ball in play, Streamwood junior midfielder Joel Sandoval took advantage of the adjustments still taking place in Hampshire’s defensive wall.
Seeing a wide-open far post, Sandoval forsook technique in the excitement of the moment and cheekily socked a crisp shot into the bottom left corner, giving his squad the only goal of the night.
“It’s kind of been our crutch this season. So many opportunities, and to come away with a set piece goal, of all ways to score!” chuckled Streamwood head coach Matt Polovin. “Hey, I mean, I’ll take it. It’s another win; it’s a shutout. The defense, led by Jose Ibarra again, just did phenomenal. We didn’t really give them anything.”
Ibarra is something of a living legend for Streamwood’s squad. The All-American senior center back consistently stands strong in the backfield, stunting the hopes of the vast majority of would-be goal scorers he faces. He took on a genuine challenge Thursday night when Hampshire senior forward Kobe Frenette walked onto the pitch, but Ibarra rose to it brilliantly.
Frenette, known for his ability to rack up goals, was prevented from taking a shot on goal until the 51st minute, when he managed to quickly get one off his boot from an ambitious angle. The offensive shutdown was thanks in large part to Ibarra’s staunch marking of Frenette -- he never allowed the forward to get much more than a few inches of breathing space while Hampshire was on the attack.
“I say it every single game, and I will say it again, he is the best player in the state of Illinois. No doubt about it.” Polovin declared regarding his center back. “I don’t care who is undefeated, what their records are -- no one compares to him. And it shows again tonight. You cannot get by him. If you try, he has so much speed for his size that he will get you in two seconds.”
In the 68th minute, Frenette tried to respond to the Sabres’ goal. On a fast break, seemingly home-free, Frenette was moving into scoring range. As Partida geared up for his save attempt, Ibarra swooped in, tackled Frenette and gained possession before clearing the ball upfield to begin a counterattack.
“Having a guy like Ibarra is very valuable,” remarked Partida, a capable goalkeeper who often finds himself with little work to do because of Streamwood’s prized asset. “I feel confident having a man like him who can control the defense and mostly gets the job done. When he doesn’t get the job done, that’s when I just keep calm and do my role.”
Ibarra was not the only Sabre to stand out. E.J. Satsatin played a terrific and aggressive game on the left wing for his squad. A speedy playmaker with a defensive mind, Satsatin was all over the pitch. He did the little things that often go underappreciated: nice overlapping runs to open the field; speedy passes from the wing to the open forward; and immediate recoveries to reclaim a lost ball.
Satsatin had an explosive start to the second half when he ran the full length of the field to break up a Whip-Purs counterattack in the 42nd minute.
“You got to play good teams to get better, right?” Schuster pointed out. “It’s no use playing someone that you kill. You’re not going to get better from that.”
Hampshire junior defenseman Evan Korabik, who kept Satsatin from making some of the big plays he perhaps deserved throughout the night, offered his perspective on where the focus needs to be on the training ground.
“We just got to work on possessing throughout the middle,” he said, noting the difficulty his side had in building chances that were not the result of a fast break. “Otherwise, I feel like we played a pretty good game today.”
His coach agreed.
“We need to start the first half like we played the second half. All of a sudden, we started playing with a lot of energy and putting it on their side of the field. We got to do that in the first half and not just the second half when we’re down by one at that point.”
With two weeks left in the season, Hampshire hopes to make those adjustments in time to keep their conference chances alive. The Whip-Purs (5-1-0) in the Fox Valley Conference) will need some help while sitting in second place below Jacobs (5-0-0). Their lone league loss came when the teams met March 17. There’s a second chance as well. The FVC has installed a tournament in the final week to spice up the shortened COVID campaign.
With the traditional IHSA playoffs suspended due to the pandemic, winning the Upstate Eight Conference was moved to the forefront for Streamwood. Now the Sabres mentor has altered his sights.
“Since we had no state playoffs this year, our two goals were to win conference, which with three ties right now is probably not going to happen, and then to get me my 300th win,” he laughed. “And I never talk about myself, but I was looking at the season and was saying ‘Oh, you know, I’m close, maybe I can do it.’ If we can do that, then I’ll take a little pride in that.”
That will happen if the Sabres win four of their remaining five games.
Streamwood (0-1-3 in the UEC) hosts league opponent East Aurora (2-0-1) at noon Saturday, and Hampshire will host Huntley (4-2-0) next Thursday at 4:30.
Starting lineups
Hampshire
GK: Kyle Schultz
D: Gustavo Perez
D: Evan Korabik
D: Jesse Brown
D: Gerardo Marquez
D: Matthew Estrada
M: Mark Schuster
M: Alex Rojas
M: Nathan Ludwig
F: Gavin Crawley
F: Kobe Frenette
Streamwood
GK: Harvey Partida
D: Bryan Huerta
D: Marcos Gutierrez
D: Jose Ibarra
D: E.J. Satsatin
M: Anthony Caldera
M: Fernando Mancera
M: Joel Sandoval
M: Michael Garcia
F: Aldo Jimenez
F: Jose Banuelos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jose Ibarra, sr., D, Streamwood
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Sandoval (FK) 68th minute