Solorio tops St. Patrick, reps city in AA final
56th-minute score, sharp possession game advance Sun Devils
By Mike Garofola
HOFFMAN ESTATES -- Two of the best soccer clubs in the city, Solorio and St. Patrick, looked to make program history Friday afternoon at Garber Stadium with a win to earn a Class AA berth in the IHSA state final.
Chicago Public Schools star Solorio scored the lone goal of this entertaining 80-minute contest through its talented freshman Misael Rodriguez in the 56th minute en route to a 1-0 victory over St. Patrick at Hoffman Estates High School.
The semifinal triumph sends the Sun Warriors (18-6-4) into the state final against southern Illinois power Gibault (18-6-3) for a chance to lift its first soccer championship trophy.
"It's kind of hard to find the words right now to explain how I feel, and the rest of the boys," said Sun Warriors manager Adrian Calleros.
"We had a lot of trouble in those first 15-20 minutes," continued Calleros, "but once we got our feet underneath us, I felt like we came close to dominating the last 50-60 minutes to get ourselves a well-deserved victory."
Already well documented for its slow starts this season, St. Patrick (23-5-2) came out looking to erase one of the few faults in its game. The Shamrocks appeared on course to do so with a marvelous early stretch of play which threatened to send the Sun Warriors crashing out of the front draw and into the third place game.
"We haven't been very good at the start of most of our games, and we knew it would catch up to us sooner than later if we kept it up. So the plan was to come out on our front foot and make a statement today against a very good opponent," said Shamrocks manager Kyle McClure.
McClure's men did just that.
With a trio of glorious chances in the first 20 minutes, it looked as though the Shamrocks were ready to empty their closet of the ghosts which have followed them in the early going of many games.
Jonathan Rodriguez nearly ripped the net off its moorings when his left-footed missile rocketed off the underside of the woodwork in the 7th minute. That was followed by a long throw by the sophomore that ended with a Herbert Carrera full bicycle attempt going just over the bar.
The Shamrocks were then given a disputed PK when Chris Modrzejewski dribbled across the top of the box and went down. That sent the Shamrocks leading scorer to the spot with a chance to drive in his 34th of the season.
Instead, Sun Warriors keeper Bryan Rangel Hurtado stopped his attempted conversion and sent the Solorio fans into orbit while dampening the spirits of the Shamrocks raucous group of fans led by a large student section.
"Those first two chances, then the PK miss really took the wind out of our sails, and after that early sequence, we just never got back to playing the way we have -- struggling to find ourselves while giving Solorio a huge boost of momentum and confidence," opined McClure.
The Sun Warriors hammered away at the Shamrocks for the next 20 minutes of the first half, playing with style, purpose and industry, and through their superb senior midfielder Julian Arroyo as much as possible. Arroyo would later be named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
"In my opinion, Julian is the best center-mid in the state," Calleros said with conviction. "Not everyone knows about him, but he's absolutely amazing on the ball, can attack, distribute and score, all the while playing incredible defense and at the same time he's going up and down the field for 80 minutes or more."
"I just do what I do," Arroyo said with a humble tone.
"All of us did our best to take the pressure that St. Patrick put on us in those first 15-20 minutes, and after that missed PK, I think we all knew this game was ours if we just settled in and played the way we all knew we could."
If it wasn't Arroyo, then it was the Sun Warriors forward, Juan Solis, who did a terrific job of holding up-top, then turning and either connecting with his teammates, or having a go or two on frame to keep the Shamrocks honest in their own end.
Not to be forgotten was the threesome of: Alejandro Sanchez Jr, Rodriguez and Omar Salgado, who left his perch as the Sun Warriors deepest defender to join the attack on several occasions to add numbers and be a pest in the Shamrocks end for nearly the entire second half.
"Give Solorio credit, they were really aggressive in our end for most of the second half and really didn't let us get out very often," said McClure. "On the few occasions that we did, their defense did a nice job of shutting us down. Some of it was on (us), because we just weren't sharp in their final third when we did create a few chances."
St. Patrick got themselves back into the game as the intermission would drew closer. A chance to strike came from a corner by Joshua Torres which forced Brian Marin to take one off the line when Rodriguez thumped his close-range attempt on frame.
If not for an early ball that was sent in just a click too heavy by Torres, Luis Saucedo would likely have had a terrific chance of scoring his 25th of the season.
"We felt pretty good about ourselves at the half. We've played great teams like Morton, Bradley-Bourbonnais and Plainfield Central, so we knew if we could play with them really tight, we could take control in the second half against a really good opponent like St. Patrick," said Arroyo.
The Shamrocks had to feel good about their chances after surviving a 10-minute onslaught from the Sun Warriors at the start of the second period. But on the flipside, the eventual victors knew a goal was coming after missing out on a few quality chances.
"We just had to keep playing and creating chances," said the goal-scoring hero Rodriguez.
With the wind in its sails, accompanied by pace, rapid passing, and the desire to move on, the Sun Warriors rode the play of Solis, Arroyo, Rodriguez, David Diaz and others into the Shamrocks end time after time until its young forward broke through with the eventual game-winner.
That's when Solis played a superb early ball to his teammate, which at first glance appeared to have too much pace for the Sun Warriors forward to catch up to. But when he did on the right side, he smartly picked his head up for a moment to see St. Patrick keeper Chris Troyke move off his line to hopefully force Rodriguez into too quick of a shot.
Rodriguez' takes it from there.
"Solis gave me a great ball. I knew if I got on the end of it, I would have a great chance to score.
"I didn't really see where my shot went after I took it, but when I did it looked like it was taking forever to get into the net at the far post."
For Solorio, it was poetry in slow motion as the roller angled to the far post and eluded Troyke's last gasp dive to stop it. This brilliant exchange by Solis and Rodriguez brought a roar from the tiny band of supporters from Solorio and an instant blast of cheers from those on hand in advance of the first 3A semifinal between Libertyville and Bradley-Bourbonnais.
The 56th minute goal inspired the Sun Warriors to go in search of another, and they nearly found it moments later when Ricardo Silva-Torres went wide (and) Sanchez, Jr., forced Troyke into action with a blast.
The Shamrocks keeper produced a strong effort between the sticks for his mates and was given high praise for his work by the Sun Warriors manager afterwards.
The Sun Warriors would maintained of this contest for the next 20 minutes after the Rodriguez strike and pushed the attack (to) keep the Shamrocks from getting forward and finding the equalizer.
"That's when we played some of our best soccer of the day," began a proud Calleros.
"We never let up, and we showed we belong here in just our seventh year of existence as a school and soccer program. And this terrific group of seniors, who have been very close to getting here in recent years, now can be considered soccer royalty by getting into the final against a longtime soccer power at Gibault."
For St. Patrick, their season cannot be defined by its heartbreaking semifinal defeat that left the Shamrocks a game short in their bid to play for a first soccer championship.
"There's a lot of our guys who are feeling really low right now," McClure said. "(But) when you look back at the season thus far, we won our first regional, sectional and supersectional titles. We came in with a record 14-straight wins and our best ever record, and there's so much more to be proud of."
"Solorio was the better team today, and they deserved to move on.
"But we can still finish our season with a win to earn a third place trophy, and that is what will try to do tomorrow against Wheaton Academy."
Starting lineups
St. Patrick (3-4-3 starting formation)
GK- Chris Troyke
D- Jonathan Rodriguez
D- Sebastian Modrzejewski
D- Finn Elsmo
M- Nate Anderson
M-Aaron Moreno-Lopez
M- Angel Adame
M- Herbert Carrera
F- Luis Saucedo
F- Christopher Modrzejewski
F- Joshua Torres
Solorio (1-3-4-2)
GK- Bryan Rangel Hurtado
D- Jonathan Vasquez-Cortez
D- Omar Salgado
D- David Gamez
D- Kevin Patino
M- David Diaz
M- Ricardo Silva-Torres
M- Julian Arroyo
M- Misael Rodriguez
F- Jose Solis
F- Alejandro Sanchez, Jr.
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Julian Arroyo, sr., MF, Solorio
Referee: Dylan Kramer
Scoring summary
Second half
Solorio: Rodriguez (Solis) 56'
56th-minute score, sharp possession game advance Sun Devils
By Mike Garofola
HOFFMAN ESTATES -- Two of the best soccer clubs in the city, Solorio and St. Patrick, looked to make program history Friday afternoon at Garber Stadium with a win to earn a Class AA berth in the IHSA state final.
Chicago Public Schools star Solorio scored the lone goal of this entertaining 80-minute contest through its talented freshman Misael Rodriguez in the 56th minute en route to a 1-0 victory over St. Patrick at Hoffman Estates High School.
The semifinal triumph sends the Sun Warriors (18-6-4) into the state final against southern Illinois power Gibault (18-6-3) for a chance to lift its first soccer championship trophy.
"It's kind of hard to find the words right now to explain how I feel, and the rest of the boys," said Sun Warriors manager Adrian Calleros.
"We had a lot of trouble in those first 15-20 minutes," continued Calleros, "but once we got our feet underneath us, I felt like we came close to dominating the last 50-60 minutes to get ourselves a well-deserved victory."
Already well documented for its slow starts this season, St. Patrick (23-5-2) came out looking to erase one of the few faults in its game. The Shamrocks appeared on course to do so with a marvelous early stretch of play which threatened to send the Sun Warriors crashing out of the front draw and into the third place game.
"We haven't been very good at the start of most of our games, and we knew it would catch up to us sooner than later if we kept it up. So the plan was to come out on our front foot and make a statement today against a very good opponent," said Shamrocks manager Kyle McClure.
McClure's men did just that.
With a trio of glorious chances in the first 20 minutes, it looked as though the Shamrocks were ready to empty their closet of the ghosts which have followed them in the early going of many games.
Jonathan Rodriguez nearly ripped the net off its moorings when his left-footed missile rocketed off the underside of the woodwork in the 7th minute. That was followed by a long throw by the sophomore that ended with a Herbert Carrera full bicycle attempt going just over the bar.
The Shamrocks were then given a disputed PK when Chris Modrzejewski dribbled across the top of the box and went down. That sent the Shamrocks leading scorer to the spot with a chance to drive in his 34th of the season.
Instead, Sun Warriors keeper Bryan Rangel Hurtado stopped his attempted conversion and sent the Solorio fans into orbit while dampening the spirits of the Shamrocks raucous group of fans led by a large student section.
"Those first two chances, then the PK miss really took the wind out of our sails, and after that early sequence, we just never got back to playing the way we have -- struggling to find ourselves while giving Solorio a huge boost of momentum and confidence," opined McClure.
The Sun Warriors hammered away at the Shamrocks for the next 20 minutes of the first half, playing with style, purpose and industry, and through their superb senior midfielder Julian Arroyo as much as possible. Arroyo would later be named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
"In my opinion, Julian is the best center-mid in the state," Calleros said with conviction. "Not everyone knows about him, but he's absolutely amazing on the ball, can attack, distribute and score, all the while playing incredible defense and at the same time he's going up and down the field for 80 minutes or more."
"I just do what I do," Arroyo said with a humble tone.
"All of us did our best to take the pressure that St. Patrick put on us in those first 15-20 minutes, and after that missed PK, I think we all knew this game was ours if we just settled in and played the way we all knew we could."
If it wasn't Arroyo, then it was the Sun Warriors forward, Juan Solis, who did a terrific job of holding up-top, then turning and either connecting with his teammates, or having a go or two on frame to keep the Shamrocks honest in their own end.
Not to be forgotten was the threesome of: Alejandro Sanchez Jr, Rodriguez and Omar Salgado, who left his perch as the Sun Warriors deepest defender to join the attack on several occasions to add numbers and be a pest in the Shamrocks end for nearly the entire second half.
"Give Solorio credit, they were really aggressive in our end for most of the second half and really didn't let us get out very often," said McClure. "On the few occasions that we did, their defense did a nice job of shutting us down. Some of it was on (us), because we just weren't sharp in their final third when we did create a few chances."
St. Patrick got themselves back into the game as the intermission would drew closer. A chance to strike came from a corner by Joshua Torres which forced Brian Marin to take one off the line when Rodriguez thumped his close-range attempt on frame.
If not for an early ball that was sent in just a click too heavy by Torres, Luis Saucedo would likely have had a terrific chance of scoring his 25th of the season.
"We felt pretty good about ourselves at the half. We've played great teams like Morton, Bradley-Bourbonnais and Plainfield Central, so we knew if we could play with them really tight, we could take control in the second half against a really good opponent like St. Patrick," said Arroyo.
The Shamrocks had to feel good about their chances after surviving a 10-minute onslaught from the Sun Warriors at the start of the second period. But on the flipside, the eventual victors knew a goal was coming after missing out on a few quality chances.
"We just had to keep playing and creating chances," said the goal-scoring hero Rodriguez.
With the wind in its sails, accompanied by pace, rapid passing, and the desire to move on, the Sun Warriors rode the play of Solis, Arroyo, Rodriguez, David Diaz and others into the Shamrocks end time after time until its young forward broke through with the eventual game-winner.
That's when Solis played a superb early ball to his teammate, which at first glance appeared to have too much pace for the Sun Warriors forward to catch up to. But when he did on the right side, he smartly picked his head up for a moment to see St. Patrick keeper Chris Troyke move off his line to hopefully force Rodriguez into too quick of a shot.
Rodriguez' takes it from there.
"Solis gave me a great ball. I knew if I got on the end of it, I would have a great chance to score.
"I didn't really see where my shot went after I took it, but when I did it looked like it was taking forever to get into the net at the far post."
For Solorio, it was poetry in slow motion as the roller angled to the far post and eluded Troyke's last gasp dive to stop it. This brilliant exchange by Solis and Rodriguez brought a roar from the tiny band of supporters from Solorio and an instant blast of cheers from those on hand in advance of the first 3A semifinal between Libertyville and Bradley-Bourbonnais.
The 56th minute goal inspired the Sun Warriors to go in search of another, and they nearly found it moments later when Ricardo Silva-Torres went wide (and) Sanchez, Jr., forced Troyke into action with a blast.
The Shamrocks keeper produced a strong effort between the sticks for his mates and was given high praise for his work by the Sun Warriors manager afterwards.
The Sun Warriors would maintained of this contest for the next 20 minutes after the Rodriguez strike and pushed the attack (to) keep the Shamrocks from getting forward and finding the equalizer.
"That's when we played some of our best soccer of the day," began a proud Calleros.
"We never let up, and we showed we belong here in just our seventh year of existence as a school and soccer program. And this terrific group of seniors, who have been very close to getting here in recent years, now can be considered soccer royalty by getting into the final against a longtime soccer power at Gibault."
For St. Patrick, their season cannot be defined by its heartbreaking semifinal defeat that left the Shamrocks a game short in their bid to play for a first soccer championship.
"There's a lot of our guys who are feeling really low right now," McClure said. "(But) when you look back at the season thus far, we won our first regional, sectional and supersectional titles. We came in with a record 14-straight wins and our best ever record, and there's so much more to be proud of."
"Solorio was the better team today, and they deserved to move on.
"But we can still finish our season with a win to earn a third place trophy, and that is what will try to do tomorrow against Wheaton Academy."
Starting lineups
St. Patrick (3-4-3 starting formation)
GK- Chris Troyke
D- Jonathan Rodriguez
D- Sebastian Modrzejewski
D- Finn Elsmo
M- Nate Anderson
M-Aaron Moreno-Lopez
M- Angel Adame
M- Herbert Carrera
F- Luis Saucedo
F- Christopher Modrzejewski
F- Joshua Torres
Solorio (1-3-4-2)
GK- Bryan Rangel Hurtado
D- Jonathan Vasquez-Cortez
D- Omar Salgado
D- David Gamez
D- Kevin Patino
M- David Diaz
M- Ricardo Silva-Torres
M- Julian Arroyo
M- Misael Rodriguez
F- Jose Solis
F- Alejandro Sanchez, Jr.
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Julian Arroyo, sr., MF, Solorio
Referee: Dylan Kramer
Scoring summary
Second half
Solorio: Rodriguez (Solis) 56'