Unstoppable Solorio wins AA state title
3 goals in each half power Sun Warriors past Gibault
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Solorio’s best playoff performance of 2017 became an accomplishment for the ages.
The Sun Warriors (19-6-4) scored three times in the first 28 minutes to take command of the Class AA title match against Gibault (18-7-3), then took advantage of a rash of late game red cards against the Hawks to cap their romp at a 6-0 win.
The victory marked the first state finals appearance and title for the Gage Park neighborhood school, and set a recent high water mark for state finals offense. No team at any level had scored six goals in a state title match since Mather’s 6-0 win over Glenwood in the 2011 AA finals. Notre Dame (Peoria) has the record for the most goals in a final from its 8-0 win over Ridgewood in 2010.
As for this fall, Solorio had been in close battles with its last four postseason opponents (three one-goal wins and a 2-0 2 OT supersectional win over Bremen).
“We talked before the game started, and along the way to get to this point you need the ball to fall your way and catch some breaks,” Solorio coach Adrian Calleros said.
“We didn’t play our best soccer in the sectional finals (a 3-2 win over Bulls charter school) or yesterday (1-0 over St. Patrick), but the message was ‘If we can come out and play unselfish, we’re going to do well and have success.’”
And for a team that was making its first state tournament appearance, grabbing the championship was the sweetest history-making success of all.
“I’m happy,” said Solorio senior Jose Solis said. “Being my last year, to come out with this ... my last games worked out for me.”
After 45 wins in the previous three years, Solorio responded to a challenging 9-9-1 finish in 2016 with a breakthrough season.
“I feel like this year we have more motivation,” Solis said. “This year our seniors have pushed us to play as a team and not play individually.”
The season was especially sweet for senior goalkeeper Bryan Rangel Hurtado.
“This title means a lot to me, our school, everyone,” he said. “This is my second year playing with them, and actually coach gave me a chance to be a starter. At first I didn’t show commitment, but I kept coming to practice. He saw I was committed to the team. He gave me a chance to play, and I gave him my best.”
Saturday, it was offense that carried Solorio across the championship finish line.
After quality chances in the first 10 minutes for Solis (over the net from 20 yards) and Alejandro Sanchez (denied by Gibault goalkeeper Connor Olson), that player combination put Solorio up 1-0 in the 13th minute.
Off an initial pass from Jonathan Vasquez-Cortez, Solis found Sanchez right of the goal for what would be the eventual deciding finish.
“The chemistry me and Jose have -- if he checks to and he can’t get to it, then I’m right behind him,” Sanchez said. “We play one-twos a lot and try to look for each other.”
Unselfish teamwork led to the breakthrough finish.
“On the first goal (Solis) comes in on the wing, and 99 out of 100 times he’s going to take the shot,” Calleros said. “We talked all season that if he picks his head up and if there’s an easier goal, he lays it off and Alex (Sanchez) just smashes it home. That’s beauty when the team is clicking like that.”
However, one side’s dream start was the beginning of the other’s nightmare.
From downstate Waterloo, longtime Class A power Gibault, which had seven top-three finishes since 2005 including four titles in the small school division) was moved up to AA this year and ran into a high-speed buzzsaw.
“They’re a really good team. That’s probably the best we’ve faced all year,” Gibault junior Karson Huels said of Solorio. “They controlled the whole game. They were all very technically sound, very skilled. And we were just chasing the whole game. So congrats to them. They were the better side today.”
The eventual Solorio onslaught came against a defense that had allowed just two goals in the entire postseason before Saturday.
“Our defense all year, against teams that were putting pressure on us, they would never break,” Huels said. “They’d keep bending and bending. This is the first team that’s made us break all year. Creds to them -- they’re a very good side.”
Solis nearly created more trouble in the 16th minute, when his corner kick high across the crease was cleared from the back post by Gibault’s Dylan Altadonna.
Then five minutes later, Solis’ perfect pass found Misael Rodriguez racing into the box. Rodriguez was taken down for a penalty kick, which Sanchez put away for the sophomore’s 25th goal of 2017 and a 2-0 Solorio lead.
“I thought high pressure was key in the beginning of the game, because we had to have high intensity from the start,” Sanchez said.
After being the table setter on Solorio’s first two finished chances, Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Solis was a high-powered finisher on the third goal.
After winning the ball on the right side, Solis quickly turned and launched a 30-yard drive inside the left post to make it 3-0 Sun Warriors 12:55 before halftime.
“When I got the ball I turned, and I didn’t see anyone open and saw space to shoot,” said Solis (22 goals, 21 assists this season). “When I have the chance I like to take the shot. And it went in.”
Gibault opened the second half with increased pressure on Rangel Hurtado, who made the save on a Huels header off a free kick with 31:50 left. Then with 19:01 to go, the Solorio netminder faced a flurry of activity.
Rangel Hurtado made the initial save on a Tim Murphy shot, then he and sliding Solorio defender Omar Salgado combined to stuff a Johnny Adams rebound try at the right post.
“My defense helped me a lot,” Rangel Hurtado said. “I don’t do all the work. I feel the whole team works hard to keep a clean-sheet.
“We kept three-clean sheets (in the last five days), so we’re pretty strong in the back.”
Rangel Hurtado punctuated his latest shutout with 16:40 to go, making a great flying deflection off the crossbar of a Huels 20-yard drive.
Outside of that acrobatic effort, the last 18 minutes produced more Solorio offensive strikes – and a painful game of cards for Gibault.
Solorio’s goal for a 4-0 lead with 17:02 left was a combination of the two. Rodriguez was again fouled in the box on a right side run, producing not only another penalty kick but red cards to both a Gibault player (leaving the Hawks with 10 on the field) and head coach Darryn Haudrich.
On Solis’ ensuing PK, Olson made a great diving save at the left post. But David Diaz pounced on the rebound to add to the Solorio lead.
Via PKs or relentless pressure from the flow of play, Solorio’s speed had Gibault on its heels all day.
“In the back we were able to come out,” Calleros said. “They (Gibault) were willing to give us three quarters of the field to do whatever we wanted, and I think our team is pretty talented and technical.
“Giving us that much field put them in some trouble. Yesterday St. Pat stepped up and pressured. I thought today they would try to use the same blueprint. But that’s one of the advantages in the state tournament. You run into teams you don’t see often and aren’t scouted as much. Gibault probably knew zero about us.”
With his team up 4-0, Solorio’s Ricardo Silva-Torres was just getting started.
The Sun Warriors senior burst in right with 15:04 left, and angled a drive towards the far post that went off a sliding Gibault defender and into the net.
Then off a Luis Batalla send with 9:06 to go, Silva-Torres sped in on a breakaway for the sixth and final Solorio goal.
More trouble was in the cards for Gibault. Red cards to a bench player with 11:36 left, then goalkeeper Olson with 5:02 to play knocked the Hawks down to nine players.
But the card-happy officiating crew only delayed the ultimate happiness for Solorio -- a state title celebration.
In his eighth year after starting the Solorio program, Calleros had taken his team to the summit.
“We played everybody under the sun -- Lake Forest, Morton, the Plainfields (Central and East along with Class 3A third place finisher Bradley-Bourbonnais and Neuqua Valley), we were in all the top tournaments,” he said. “We have an administration that backs us up.
“I know at some city (Chicago Public League) schools the administration says play only so many games, and you can’t play road games and spend money on buses. We don’t have an administration like that. You saw today they were out here with fan buses.
“I came from Mount Carmel to Solorio and wasn’t sure I’d get all the amenities we had,” Calleros added. “And my school’s been wonderful, encouraging us to flourish.”
And with Solorio’s lone senior starters being Solis, Rangel Hurtado, Julian Arroyo, Silva-Torres, Diaz and Batalla, more flourishing may come soon.
“It (the AA title) just lets the state know we’re here, and we’re going to keep coming hopefully,” Calleros said. “Our JV won the city championship with all freshmen. This year we won, and it’s a credit to our seniors, but we ... were stacked with sophomores and juniors, and next year they’re back. I think the cupboard is not bare.”
Said sophomore Sanchez: “It feels great, and I still have (two) more years to go.
“Now having the experience in the state final, I feel we can build off of this and just kind of help out the incoming freshmen on the next varsity team.”
As for Gibault, the loss hardly dimmed a memorable run in its Class AA debut.
“We’ve had an unbelievable season,” Huels said. “We accomplished so much. With the schedule we play, our record has been so good this year. I couldn’t be prouder of my team, and coach Haudrick his first year has led us so well.”
Solorio, along with its celebration, honored the memory of a key member of the program -- Christian Morales.
“He would have probably been one of our starting center backs,” Calleros said. “On Memorial Day (2016) he died in a drowning accident in Michigan. He was very close friends with David Diaz, our stopper Oscar Ramirez, a 4.0 student, an awesome kid. There’s pictures of him up at school.
“All year we knew he was there, but we weren’t going to make it a rallying cry. But he was one of our teammates, and we wanted his family to know he’s not forgotten. He’s there with us.”
After a 6-5-1 start to this season, Solorio passed the test to achieve its state championship dream.
“Even though we sometimes mess up, we always bring each other up,” Rangel Hurtado said. “We might get mad at each other, but at the end of the day we’re still like a family.”
Starting lineups
Gibault
GK Connor Olson
D Aaron Grohmann
D Dylan Altadonna
D Carter Kesler
D Robert Lugge
M Ryan Swindle
M Karson Huels
M Adam Stearns
M Jordan Floerke
F Logan Doerr
F Zack Gillan
Solorio
GK Bryan Rangel Hurtado
D Omar Salgado
D David Gamez
D Kevin Patino
M Julian Arroyo
M David Diaz
M Jonathan Vasquez Cortez
M Jose Solis
F Luis Batalla
F Alejandro Sanchez Jr.
F Ricardo Silva-Torres
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match --Jose Solis, sr., F, Solorio
Officials: Rafal Zieliniski (center); AR1 Chris Rudolph, AR2 Dylan Kramer, 4th Mike Umano
Scoring summary
First half
Solorio – Sanchez (Solis) 12:05
Solorio – Sanchez (PK) 20:40
Solorio – Solis (unassisted) 27:05
Second half
Solorio – Diaz (Solis) 62:58
Solorio – Silva-Torres (unassisted) 64:56
Solorio – Silva-Torres (Batalla) 70:54
3 goals in each half power Sun Warriors past Gibault
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Solorio’s best playoff performance of 2017 became an accomplishment for the ages.
The Sun Warriors (19-6-4) scored three times in the first 28 minutes to take command of the Class AA title match against Gibault (18-7-3), then took advantage of a rash of late game red cards against the Hawks to cap their romp at a 6-0 win.
The victory marked the first state finals appearance and title for the Gage Park neighborhood school, and set a recent high water mark for state finals offense. No team at any level had scored six goals in a state title match since Mather’s 6-0 win over Glenwood in the 2011 AA finals. Notre Dame (Peoria) has the record for the most goals in a final from its 8-0 win over Ridgewood in 2010.
As for this fall, Solorio had been in close battles with its last four postseason opponents (three one-goal wins and a 2-0 2 OT supersectional win over Bremen).
“We talked before the game started, and along the way to get to this point you need the ball to fall your way and catch some breaks,” Solorio coach Adrian Calleros said.
“We didn’t play our best soccer in the sectional finals (a 3-2 win over Bulls charter school) or yesterday (1-0 over St. Patrick), but the message was ‘If we can come out and play unselfish, we’re going to do well and have success.’”
And for a team that was making its first state tournament appearance, grabbing the championship was the sweetest history-making success of all.
“I’m happy,” said Solorio senior Jose Solis said. “Being my last year, to come out with this ... my last games worked out for me.”
After 45 wins in the previous three years, Solorio responded to a challenging 9-9-1 finish in 2016 with a breakthrough season.
“I feel like this year we have more motivation,” Solis said. “This year our seniors have pushed us to play as a team and not play individually.”
The season was especially sweet for senior goalkeeper Bryan Rangel Hurtado.
“This title means a lot to me, our school, everyone,” he said. “This is my second year playing with them, and actually coach gave me a chance to be a starter. At first I didn’t show commitment, but I kept coming to practice. He saw I was committed to the team. He gave me a chance to play, and I gave him my best.”
Saturday, it was offense that carried Solorio across the championship finish line.
After quality chances in the first 10 minutes for Solis (over the net from 20 yards) and Alejandro Sanchez (denied by Gibault goalkeeper Connor Olson), that player combination put Solorio up 1-0 in the 13th minute.
Off an initial pass from Jonathan Vasquez-Cortez, Solis found Sanchez right of the goal for what would be the eventual deciding finish.
“The chemistry me and Jose have -- if he checks to and he can’t get to it, then I’m right behind him,” Sanchez said. “We play one-twos a lot and try to look for each other.”
Unselfish teamwork led to the breakthrough finish.
“On the first goal (Solis) comes in on the wing, and 99 out of 100 times he’s going to take the shot,” Calleros said. “We talked all season that if he picks his head up and if there’s an easier goal, he lays it off and Alex (Sanchez) just smashes it home. That’s beauty when the team is clicking like that.”
However, one side’s dream start was the beginning of the other’s nightmare.
From downstate Waterloo, longtime Class A power Gibault, which had seven top-three finishes since 2005 including four titles in the small school division) was moved up to AA this year and ran into a high-speed buzzsaw.
“They’re a really good team. That’s probably the best we’ve faced all year,” Gibault junior Karson Huels said of Solorio. “They controlled the whole game. They were all very technically sound, very skilled. And we were just chasing the whole game. So congrats to them. They were the better side today.”
The eventual Solorio onslaught came against a defense that had allowed just two goals in the entire postseason before Saturday.
“Our defense all year, against teams that were putting pressure on us, they would never break,” Huels said. “They’d keep bending and bending. This is the first team that’s made us break all year. Creds to them -- they’re a very good side.”
Solis nearly created more trouble in the 16th minute, when his corner kick high across the crease was cleared from the back post by Gibault’s Dylan Altadonna.
Then five minutes later, Solis’ perfect pass found Misael Rodriguez racing into the box. Rodriguez was taken down for a penalty kick, which Sanchez put away for the sophomore’s 25th goal of 2017 and a 2-0 Solorio lead.
“I thought high pressure was key in the beginning of the game, because we had to have high intensity from the start,” Sanchez said.
After being the table setter on Solorio’s first two finished chances, Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Solis was a high-powered finisher on the third goal.
After winning the ball on the right side, Solis quickly turned and launched a 30-yard drive inside the left post to make it 3-0 Sun Warriors 12:55 before halftime.
“When I got the ball I turned, and I didn’t see anyone open and saw space to shoot,” said Solis (22 goals, 21 assists this season). “When I have the chance I like to take the shot. And it went in.”
Gibault opened the second half with increased pressure on Rangel Hurtado, who made the save on a Huels header off a free kick with 31:50 left. Then with 19:01 to go, the Solorio netminder faced a flurry of activity.
Rangel Hurtado made the initial save on a Tim Murphy shot, then he and sliding Solorio defender Omar Salgado combined to stuff a Johnny Adams rebound try at the right post.
“My defense helped me a lot,” Rangel Hurtado said. “I don’t do all the work. I feel the whole team works hard to keep a clean-sheet.
“We kept three-clean sheets (in the last five days), so we’re pretty strong in the back.”
Rangel Hurtado punctuated his latest shutout with 16:40 to go, making a great flying deflection off the crossbar of a Huels 20-yard drive.
Outside of that acrobatic effort, the last 18 minutes produced more Solorio offensive strikes – and a painful game of cards for Gibault.
Solorio’s goal for a 4-0 lead with 17:02 left was a combination of the two. Rodriguez was again fouled in the box on a right side run, producing not only another penalty kick but red cards to both a Gibault player (leaving the Hawks with 10 on the field) and head coach Darryn Haudrich.
On Solis’ ensuing PK, Olson made a great diving save at the left post. But David Diaz pounced on the rebound to add to the Solorio lead.
Via PKs or relentless pressure from the flow of play, Solorio’s speed had Gibault on its heels all day.
“In the back we were able to come out,” Calleros said. “They (Gibault) were willing to give us three quarters of the field to do whatever we wanted, and I think our team is pretty talented and technical.
“Giving us that much field put them in some trouble. Yesterday St. Pat stepped up and pressured. I thought today they would try to use the same blueprint. But that’s one of the advantages in the state tournament. You run into teams you don’t see often and aren’t scouted as much. Gibault probably knew zero about us.”
With his team up 4-0, Solorio’s Ricardo Silva-Torres was just getting started.
The Sun Warriors senior burst in right with 15:04 left, and angled a drive towards the far post that went off a sliding Gibault defender and into the net.
Then off a Luis Batalla send with 9:06 to go, Silva-Torres sped in on a breakaway for the sixth and final Solorio goal.
More trouble was in the cards for Gibault. Red cards to a bench player with 11:36 left, then goalkeeper Olson with 5:02 to play knocked the Hawks down to nine players.
But the card-happy officiating crew only delayed the ultimate happiness for Solorio -- a state title celebration.
In his eighth year after starting the Solorio program, Calleros had taken his team to the summit.
“We played everybody under the sun -- Lake Forest, Morton, the Plainfields (Central and East along with Class 3A third place finisher Bradley-Bourbonnais and Neuqua Valley), we were in all the top tournaments,” he said. “We have an administration that backs us up.
“I know at some city (Chicago Public League) schools the administration says play only so many games, and you can’t play road games and spend money on buses. We don’t have an administration like that. You saw today they were out here with fan buses.
“I came from Mount Carmel to Solorio and wasn’t sure I’d get all the amenities we had,” Calleros added. “And my school’s been wonderful, encouraging us to flourish.”
And with Solorio’s lone senior starters being Solis, Rangel Hurtado, Julian Arroyo, Silva-Torres, Diaz and Batalla, more flourishing may come soon.
“It (the AA title) just lets the state know we’re here, and we’re going to keep coming hopefully,” Calleros said. “Our JV won the city championship with all freshmen. This year we won, and it’s a credit to our seniors, but we ... were stacked with sophomores and juniors, and next year they’re back. I think the cupboard is not bare.”
Said sophomore Sanchez: “It feels great, and I still have (two) more years to go.
“Now having the experience in the state final, I feel we can build off of this and just kind of help out the incoming freshmen on the next varsity team.”
As for Gibault, the loss hardly dimmed a memorable run in its Class AA debut.
“We’ve had an unbelievable season,” Huels said. “We accomplished so much. With the schedule we play, our record has been so good this year. I couldn’t be prouder of my team, and coach Haudrick his first year has led us so well.”
Solorio, along with its celebration, honored the memory of a key member of the program -- Christian Morales.
“He would have probably been one of our starting center backs,” Calleros said. “On Memorial Day (2016) he died in a drowning accident in Michigan. He was very close friends with David Diaz, our stopper Oscar Ramirez, a 4.0 student, an awesome kid. There’s pictures of him up at school.
“All year we knew he was there, but we weren’t going to make it a rallying cry. But he was one of our teammates, and we wanted his family to know he’s not forgotten. He’s there with us.”
After a 6-5-1 start to this season, Solorio passed the test to achieve its state championship dream.
“Even though we sometimes mess up, we always bring each other up,” Rangel Hurtado said. “We might get mad at each other, but at the end of the day we’re still like a family.”
Starting lineups
Gibault
GK Connor Olson
D Aaron Grohmann
D Dylan Altadonna
D Carter Kesler
D Robert Lugge
M Ryan Swindle
M Karson Huels
M Adam Stearns
M Jordan Floerke
F Logan Doerr
F Zack Gillan
Solorio
GK Bryan Rangel Hurtado
D Omar Salgado
D David Gamez
D Kevin Patino
M Julian Arroyo
M David Diaz
M Jonathan Vasquez Cortez
M Jose Solis
F Luis Batalla
F Alejandro Sanchez Jr.
F Ricardo Silva-Torres
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match --Jose Solis, sr., F, Solorio
Officials: Rafal Zieliniski (center); AR1 Chris Rudolph, AR2 Dylan Kramer, 4th Mike Umano
Scoring summary
First half
Solorio – Sanchez (Solis) 12:05
Solorio – Sanchez (PK) 20:40
Solorio – Solis (unassisted) 27:05
Second half
Solorio – Diaz (Solis) 62:58
Solorio – Silva-Torres (unassisted) 64:56
Solorio – Silva-Torres (Batalla) 70:54