Season recap: Addison Trail
Blazers' solid season sets up another potential good 1 in 2020
By Gary Larsen
Addison Trail’s Ray Fischer skipped his first two years of high school soccer, opting instead to play club soccer. He joined the Blazers this year and spent the season as a key piece of the backline for coach Ryan Dini’s team.
Fischer offered a four-star review of the decision to join the Blazers' family.
“The experience was completely different from club,” Fischer said. “The level of friendship you have with teammates, and seeing them around school and the feeling you get when you see them wearing the same jersey as you in school -- it’s a next-level feeling.
“Club is more business-like and the high school game is so passion-driven. You play your hearts out for each other.”
In addition to camaraderie, the 2019 season gave players at Addison Trail good reason to enjoy themselves. The Blazers went 13-5-3 with a junior-heavy lineup that made plenty of noise.
“We competed with so many good teams,” Dini said. “We beat Mt. Carmel at their place, we beat Wheaton Academy at their place, and we were beating Morton late. So we can take those positives away from this season.
“We won a regional in 2016 and 2018 and those teams were senior-driven. Next year, we’ll return 11 of these guys that are looking forward to that kind of success.”
Addison Trail never lost consecutive games in 2019. The Blazers reached semifinal games in the Pepsi tournament and their own Joe Novy Invitational. They went 5-1-0 to place second in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division.
The Blazers opened the season with wins over Lake Park, Fenton, and Proviso West before losing by a goal to Glenbard North.
A six-game win streak followed, capped by a 2-1 win at Wheaton Academy on Sept. 19.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Fischer said. “Our fans traveled to Wheaton Academy. They had fans waving giant flags and they were talking to us all game. The ref had to ask them to stop. We came back to win that game, and it was just a great feeling.”
A shootout loss to Wheaton Warrenville South followed before the Blazers spent the rest of the season battling some of Illinois’ top teams.
There was a 1-1 tie with Glenbard West and a 4-2 win over Mt. Carmel. There was a 0-0 tie with Hinsdale Central and 1-0 win over WSG rival Leyden.
When Addison Trail played at WSG rival Morton, which is ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 and made the Final Four, the Blazers led 1-0 before Morton struck twice for a 2-1 win.
It was a learning moment for Addison Trail.
“We had the lead with 12 minutes left and we just tried to hold it down,” Blazers forward Anthony Hernandez said. “Morton scored, the team let down, and then they scored again. It’s definitely a maturity issue in that situation. We had a lot of players that were never in that situation in a varsity game before.”
The Blazers’ season ended in a 2-1 loss to St. Charles North in a 3A regional semifinal game.
“I shot one into the post in that game,” Fischer said. “We didn’t make it as far as we wanted to this year. Next year we’ll have more of a senior-dominated team, and I like our potential.”
With a senior keeper in Ernesto Padua who played all but 100 minutes of the season in net, the Blazers gave up 27 goals in 21 games in 2019. Defenders Fischer, Jose Vega, and Angel Gomez will all return next season after a year of establishing chemistry.
“Angel stepped in and played incredibly and the chemistry between me, Jose, and Angel got better and better,” Fischer said. “It came naturally for us, and it’s about communication and trusting your teammates. That’s why I could go up so much, because I knew Angel and Jose were back there.”
The Blazers will have a new varsity keeper next season but Dini likes his three returning defenders.
“They’re all very strong defenders who never really came off the field,” Dini said. “At the beginning of the year, Angel wasn’t playing that much but by the sixth or seventh game he was out there the whole time.
“(Fischer) had a great season. We were able to push him up at times and add to our offense and defensively he’s rock-solid. Jose is our right back, and he’s just tough as nails. He’s a speed guy, and it’s nice to be able to put him out there on the right side and just not worry about him.”
The Blazers will also bid farewell to a key piece of their team, in graduating senior defender Martin Murillo.
“He cleaned up all of our mistakes,” Dini said. “He played center back and was our only returning starter on defense this year. We are really going to miss his playmaking ability and calming presence in the back.”
The offense filtered through senior midfielder Leo Acosta, who was named to the coaches’ all-sectional team this year. Acosta will play for Aurora University next year after spending 2019 as a team leader at Addison Trail in more ways than one.
For starters, there was Acosta’s play on the field.
“The things he does with a ball, I haven’t seen all year from anyone else,” Fischer said. “The word to describe him is just ‘talent.’ He always knew exactly what he was going to do with the ball the second he got it, and then he could just create magic.”
Acosta the team captain will also be missed.
“He was part of the group that made it to sectionals (in 2018), and he had the guys focused this year,” Dini said. “He provided that leadership that guys could lean on. He wasn’t one of those leaders that was always on guys about stuff, so when he voiced his opinion, guys listened. They knew what kind of player he was, and they respected him.”
Junior Eric Garcia and sophomore Alex Sandoval will figure prominently in filling Acosta’s shoes next season.
Acosta finished with a team-leading 14 assists for a team that scored 62 goals this season. Thirty of those goals came from a pair of returning juniors in Hernandez (13 goals) and Aaron Sanchez (17 goals).
“We should be able to step it up even more next year,” Hernandez said. “We can improve in possession and scoring more goals. A lot of times we weren’t able to finish on chances so we can definitely improve there.”
Dini is just happy to have Hernandez and Sanchez for another year.
“(Hernandez) does so many things for us,” Dini said. “He’s very good at pressing, causing turnovers, and he’s very good defensively for us as well. He’s very dangerous, and I know other teams plan for him because when I’m at coaches’ meetings, they’re talking about him.
“Aaron Sanchez is another kid who played club and played his first season in high school this year. He adjusted well and scored the game-winner against Leyden at the end of the year, which allowed us to place second in the conference. He’s physical and likes contact where Anthony is more of a finesse forward. So they’re a good mix up-top.”
With 11 players returning next season, and the addition of players from a sophomore team that went 5-0-1 in the WSG, the Blazers believe the sky’s the limit for a team that took a big step forward in 2019.
“We’re all real close,” Hernandez said. “Last year no one had played together before and this year, everyone knew each other and were good friends. We didn’t really have to talk on the field; we knew where each other would be when we passed the ball.
“It was natural, and there weren’t really any solo players. We were all good friends and everyone wanted to get the result. It was never about personal stats.”
The Blazers’ all-conference players were Acosta, Hernandez, Murillo, Sanchez, Padua, and Fischer. Acosta was all-sectional and Hernandez was named to the all-sectional honorable mention team by the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association.
Blazers' solid season sets up another potential good 1 in 2020
By Gary Larsen
Addison Trail’s Ray Fischer skipped his first two years of high school soccer, opting instead to play club soccer. He joined the Blazers this year and spent the season as a key piece of the backline for coach Ryan Dini’s team.
Fischer offered a four-star review of the decision to join the Blazers' family.
“The experience was completely different from club,” Fischer said. “The level of friendship you have with teammates, and seeing them around school and the feeling you get when you see them wearing the same jersey as you in school -- it’s a next-level feeling.
“Club is more business-like and the high school game is so passion-driven. You play your hearts out for each other.”
In addition to camaraderie, the 2019 season gave players at Addison Trail good reason to enjoy themselves. The Blazers went 13-5-3 with a junior-heavy lineup that made plenty of noise.
“We competed with so many good teams,” Dini said. “We beat Mt. Carmel at their place, we beat Wheaton Academy at their place, and we were beating Morton late. So we can take those positives away from this season.
“We won a regional in 2016 and 2018 and those teams were senior-driven. Next year, we’ll return 11 of these guys that are looking forward to that kind of success.”
Addison Trail never lost consecutive games in 2019. The Blazers reached semifinal games in the Pepsi tournament and their own Joe Novy Invitational. They went 5-1-0 to place second in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division.
The Blazers opened the season with wins over Lake Park, Fenton, and Proviso West before losing by a goal to Glenbard North.
A six-game win streak followed, capped by a 2-1 win at Wheaton Academy on Sept. 19.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Fischer said. “Our fans traveled to Wheaton Academy. They had fans waving giant flags and they were talking to us all game. The ref had to ask them to stop. We came back to win that game, and it was just a great feeling.”
A shootout loss to Wheaton Warrenville South followed before the Blazers spent the rest of the season battling some of Illinois’ top teams.
There was a 1-1 tie with Glenbard West and a 4-2 win over Mt. Carmel. There was a 0-0 tie with Hinsdale Central and 1-0 win over WSG rival Leyden.
When Addison Trail played at WSG rival Morton, which is ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 and made the Final Four, the Blazers led 1-0 before Morton struck twice for a 2-1 win.
It was a learning moment for Addison Trail.
“We had the lead with 12 minutes left and we just tried to hold it down,” Blazers forward Anthony Hernandez said. “Morton scored, the team let down, and then they scored again. It’s definitely a maturity issue in that situation. We had a lot of players that were never in that situation in a varsity game before.”
The Blazers’ season ended in a 2-1 loss to St. Charles North in a 3A regional semifinal game.
“I shot one into the post in that game,” Fischer said. “We didn’t make it as far as we wanted to this year. Next year we’ll have more of a senior-dominated team, and I like our potential.”
With a senior keeper in Ernesto Padua who played all but 100 minutes of the season in net, the Blazers gave up 27 goals in 21 games in 2019. Defenders Fischer, Jose Vega, and Angel Gomez will all return next season after a year of establishing chemistry.
“Angel stepped in and played incredibly and the chemistry between me, Jose, and Angel got better and better,” Fischer said. “It came naturally for us, and it’s about communication and trusting your teammates. That’s why I could go up so much, because I knew Angel and Jose were back there.”
The Blazers will have a new varsity keeper next season but Dini likes his three returning defenders.
“They’re all very strong defenders who never really came off the field,” Dini said. “At the beginning of the year, Angel wasn’t playing that much but by the sixth or seventh game he was out there the whole time.
“(Fischer) had a great season. We were able to push him up at times and add to our offense and defensively he’s rock-solid. Jose is our right back, and he’s just tough as nails. He’s a speed guy, and it’s nice to be able to put him out there on the right side and just not worry about him.”
The Blazers will also bid farewell to a key piece of their team, in graduating senior defender Martin Murillo.
“He cleaned up all of our mistakes,” Dini said. “He played center back and was our only returning starter on defense this year. We are really going to miss his playmaking ability and calming presence in the back.”
The offense filtered through senior midfielder Leo Acosta, who was named to the coaches’ all-sectional team this year. Acosta will play for Aurora University next year after spending 2019 as a team leader at Addison Trail in more ways than one.
For starters, there was Acosta’s play on the field.
“The things he does with a ball, I haven’t seen all year from anyone else,” Fischer said. “The word to describe him is just ‘talent.’ He always knew exactly what he was going to do with the ball the second he got it, and then he could just create magic.”
Acosta the team captain will also be missed.
“He was part of the group that made it to sectionals (in 2018), and he had the guys focused this year,” Dini said. “He provided that leadership that guys could lean on. He wasn’t one of those leaders that was always on guys about stuff, so when he voiced his opinion, guys listened. They knew what kind of player he was, and they respected him.”
Junior Eric Garcia and sophomore Alex Sandoval will figure prominently in filling Acosta’s shoes next season.
Acosta finished with a team-leading 14 assists for a team that scored 62 goals this season. Thirty of those goals came from a pair of returning juniors in Hernandez (13 goals) and Aaron Sanchez (17 goals).
“We should be able to step it up even more next year,” Hernandez said. “We can improve in possession and scoring more goals. A lot of times we weren’t able to finish on chances so we can definitely improve there.”
Dini is just happy to have Hernandez and Sanchez for another year.
“(Hernandez) does so many things for us,” Dini said. “He’s very good at pressing, causing turnovers, and he’s very good defensively for us as well. He’s very dangerous, and I know other teams plan for him because when I’m at coaches’ meetings, they’re talking about him.
“Aaron Sanchez is another kid who played club and played his first season in high school this year. He adjusted well and scored the game-winner against Leyden at the end of the year, which allowed us to place second in the conference. He’s physical and likes contact where Anthony is more of a finesse forward. So they’re a good mix up-top.”
With 11 players returning next season, and the addition of players from a sophomore team that went 5-0-1 in the WSG, the Blazers believe the sky’s the limit for a team that took a big step forward in 2019.
“We’re all real close,” Hernandez said. “Last year no one had played together before and this year, everyone knew each other and were good friends. We didn’t really have to talk on the field; we knew where each other would be when we passed the ball.
“It was natural, and there weren’t really any solo players. We were all good friends and everyone wanted to get the result. It was never about personal stats.”
The Blazers’ all-conference players were Acosta, Hernandez, Murillo, Sanchez, Padua, and Fischer. Acosta was all-sectional and Hernandez was named to the all-sectional honorable mention team by the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association.