Freshman leads Streamwood past S. Elgin
Marquez a tonic for Sabres scoring woes, paces 1-0 victory
By Chris Walker
STREAMWOOD -- A year ago, South Elgin coach Jerzy Skowron was an assistant coach for Streamwood.
A week ago, Streamwood freshman Hugo Marquez was virtually an unknown outside of the Sabres soccer community, scoring lots of goals on the freshman team.
Six years ago, South Elgin last beat Streamwood.
Skowron returned to his old stomping grounds on Wednesday night in an exciting Upstate Eight Conference soccer battle, but his Storm fell short to the Sabres 1-0 on Marquez’s first varsity goal.
No one could’ve predicted any of this a year ago.
“We just called Hugo up about a week ago,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “We figured with all the chances we get, lets get him up here. He was the leading scorer on the freshman team with like 26 goals in 14 games, and we’ve had so many injuries, so come on up here and play with the big boys.”
Polovin isn’t the least bit surprised that Marquez came though with such a huge goal. It doesn’t matter how young or inexperienced you might be to high school soccer, if you can play the game at this level, it doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or a senior. And he’s far from the first ninth grader who has come in and made big play.
“He’s been a pleasant addition, and that’s not really much of a surprise,” Polovin said. “We saw what he could do. He’s got a lot of upside. He’s a freshman, but he’ll also work his butt off.”
Polovin acknowledged that Marquez showed some jitters at first, but that he looks quite comfortable now.
“He almost fits perfectly with the guys, and he’s not trying to do everything himself,” Polovin said. “He’s got a lot of speed and great skill for his age. It’s the time of the season where we need to make plays, and he’s one of the guys who has done it so far. I’m glad we made the move even if the freshman coach got a little frustrated.”
South Elgin (10-7-4, 3-2-2) basically made one mistake, whichever way you look at it, in surrendering the goal to Marquez.
“It was one of those games that could go either way,” Skowron said. “In my eyes we made one mistake. We left him open at the top of the box, and he hit a ball and put it away. We had our chances, and they had their chances. And even with me coaching there the last three years, we still couldn’t find a way to put the ball in the back of the net.”
The loss snapped South Elgin’s eight-game unbeaten streak, which featured seven victories.
“For the first 20 minutes we were the dominant team, and then all of a sudden we let them hit a switch and then we were chasing them the rest of the half,” Skowron said. “It went like that, back and forth, the whole game.”
Skowron, who played and graduated from Streamwood and still lives in town, is truly enjoying his experience coaching this Storm squad. He’s helped completely turn the program around. Believe it or not, the Storm only won two games in the regular season last fall.
“It’s been an awesome experience,” he said. “And I was able to pluck one of the best assistant coaches (Mike Gecan, formerly at Burlington Central) and to get him and have him help me on a day-to-day basis has been a Godsend. The boys look up to him. The boys are definitely competing and the work is showing.”
Competing is the key word. Last year the Storm (3-14-2) won two in a row once, lost by two goals or more 10 times and won a single game in conference.
“The turnaround these guys have made and the season they’ve had has been remarkable,” Skowron said. “They’ve kind of made my job easier.”
Gloomily hanging over the victory and the unforgettable moment in Marquez’s young high school playing career is the status of Streamwood junior center back Jose Ibarra who left with a knee injury midway through the second half.
“It was an absolutely freaky thing that you wouldn’t expect to happen,” Polovin said. “Someone got shoved into Jose, and he wasn’t expecting it and fell. When he tried to get back up he was limping and went to the ground. He said he felt a little cracking, and he went right to the ice for the rest of the game.”
His status is unknown.
“And he was so lights out defending, making playing centerback look easy,” Polovin said. “Of all the people and the things we’ve gone through this season. We’re hoping it’s not as bad, as he felt it was.”
Christian Andrew made six saves in the loss for the Storm. Jonathon Castillo snagged five saves for the winning Sabres.
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Hugo Marquez, fr., F, Streamwood
Marquez a tonic for Sabres scoring woes, paces 1-0 victory
By Chris Walker
STREAMWOOD -- A year ago, South Elgin coach Jerzy Skowron was an assistant coach for Streamwood.
A week ago, Streamwood freshman Hugo Marquez was virtually an unknown outside of the Sabres soccer community, scoring lots of goals on the freshman team.
Six years ago, South Elgin last beat Streamwood.
Skowron returned to his old stomping grounds on Wednesday night in an exciting Upstate Eight Conference soccer battle, but his Storm fell short to the Sabres 1-0 on Marquez’s first varsity goal.
No one could’ve predicted any of this a year ago.
“We just called Hugo up about a week ago,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “We figured with all the chances we get, lets get him up here. He was the leading scorer on the freshman team with like 26 goals in 14 games, and we’ve had so many injuries, so come on up here and play with the big boys.”
Polovin isn’t the least bit surprised that Marquez came though with such a huge goal. It doesn’t matter how young or inexperienced you might be to high school soccer, if you can play the game at this level, it doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or a senior. And he’s far from the first ninth grader who has come in and made big play.
“He’s been a pleasant addition, and that’s not really much of a surprise,” Polovin said. “We saw what he could do. He’s got a lot of upside. He’s a freshman, but he’ll also work his butt off.”
Polovin acknowledged that Marquez showed some jitters at first, but that he looks quite comfortable now.
“He almost fits perfectly with the guys, and he’s not trying to do everything himself,” Polovin said. “He’s got a lot of speed and great skill for his age. It’s the time of the season where we need to make plays, and he’s one of the guys who has done it so far. I’m glad we made the move even if the freshman coach got a little frustrated.”
South Elgin (10-7-4, 3-2-2) basically made one mistake, whichever way you look at it, in surrendering the goal to Marquez.
“It was one of those games that could go either way,” Skowron said. “In my eyes we made one mistake. We left him open at the top of the box, and he hit a ball and put it away. We had our chances, and they had their chances. And even with me coaching there the last three years, we still couldn’t find a way to put the ball in the back of the net.”
The loss snapped South Elgin’s eight-game unbeaten streak, which featured seven victories.
“For the first 20 minutes we were the dominant team, and then all of a sudden we let them hit a switch and then we were chasing them the rest of the half,” Skowron said. “It went like that, back and forth, the whole game.”
Skowron, who played and graduated from Streamwood and still lives in town, is truly enjoying his experience coaching this Storm squad. He’s helped completely turn the program around. Believe it or not, the Storm only won two games in the regular season last fall.
“It’s been an awesome experience,” he said. “And I was able to pluck one of the best assistant coaches (Mike Gecan, formerly at Burlington Central) and to get him and have him help me on a day-to-day basis has been a Godsend. The boys look up to him. The boys are definitely competing and the work is showing.”
Competing is the key word. Last year the Storm (3-14-2) won two in a row once, lost by two goals or more 10 times and won a single game in conference.
“The turnaround these guys have made and the season they’ve had has been remarkable,” Skowron said. “They’ve kind of made my job easier.”
Gloomily hanging over the victory and the unforgettable moment in Marquez’s young high school playing career is the status of Streamwood junior center back Jose Ibarra who left with a knee injury midway through the second half.
“It was an absolutely freaky thing that you wouldn’t expect to happen,” Polovin said. “Someone got shoved into Jose, and he wasn’t expecting it and fell. When he tried to get back up he was limping and went to the ground. He said he felt a little cracking, and he went right to the ice for the rest of the game.”
His status is unknown.
“And he was so lights out defending, making playing centerback look easy,” Polovin said. “Of all the people and the things we’ve gone through this season. We’re hoping it’s not as bad, as he felt it was.”
Christian Andrew made six saves in the loss for the Storm. Jonathon Castillo snagged five saves for the winning Sabres.
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Hugo Marquez, fr., F, Streamwood