Bartlett ends drought
with win over Streamwood
Goals from distance the difference in 3-1 win
By Bobby Narang
BARTLETT -- Bartlett senior midfielder Agustin Chavez summed up his team’s thoughts with a few words following Monday’s emotional game against rival Streamwood.
The Hawks had not won a game since defeating Larkin on Sept. 20. The two-week span included four-straight losses by a combined margin of 14-2 to go with a scoreless tie against Lake Park on Saturday.
Playing their neighborhood rivals Monday, the Hawks were forced to wait a few more hours for a chance to win a game due to a referee shortage. With the game moved from 5 to 7 p.m., the Hawks welcomed a bigger crowd and the spotlight.
Chavez fueled a second half two-goal scoring spree that led the Hawks to a 3-1 win over the Sabres in Upstate Eight Conference play.
The Hawks (5-12-1, 2-4-0) will try and build off Monday’s strong effort against Glenbard East on Wednesday.
Chavez drilled a shot from distance into the far corner of the net to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead in the 52nd minute. However, he preferred to talk about the importance of the victory rather than his impressive goal.
“It was a good goal, but at the end of the day, what really matters is the final score,” Chavez said. “I’m happy with this win. It feels good, because we’ve had a rough season. We played good today.
“I feel the whole team had the right mentality and felt the pressure to win today. It was a good win over our rivals. We were just tired of losing.”
Senior defender Andrew Nava said the victory could spark a late-season turnaround.
“We've had a rough season, but we got tired of losing and wanted to get a win today because (Streamwood) is our rival,” Nava said. “We were able to get a good win. If we put in the work, we can go very far. We have to play well from the beginning and lower our mistakes.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Streamwood (4-9-2, 1-5-0) continued its late-season tumble. The Sabres dropped a 5-1 decision to South Elgin on Saturday.
Coach Matt Polovin expressed frustration on his team’s struggles late in the regular season.
Since taking over the program in 1999, Polovin has built Streamwood into a consistent winner. After back-to-back losing seasons to open his tenure, the Sabres posted a 13-5-2 mark in 2001. Ever since, the Sabres have been one of the most consistent programs in Chicagoland, totaling 20-consecutive winning seasons, including an 8-3-3 mark in the shortened 2021 spring season.
“The first half we played well and everything seemed to go our way except for that first goal,” Polovin said. “I don’t think anybody expected that one. This has been how we've been all season. We’re young.
“It’s a tale of two halves. We have a good first half, but just seem to fall apart in the second half. We’re not together in the back, not disciplined and doing what we were doing in the first half.
“We don’t do the basics, and that’s (trouble) against a team like Bartlett. They were playing long ball after long ball. They definitely win the long ball of the year award. We should’ve taken care of business in the back and created a few more chances.”
“We have to keep playing hard and what really matters now is regionals. Something good can happen and we can maybe go on a run. We’re going to be fine.”
Bartlett junior Joel Perez shocked everybody in attendance with a shot from near midfield, which became his first goal of the season in the 19th minute. He blasted the shot from 46 yards into the net. The looping shot sailed over Streamwood goalie Jason Ramirez.
“I saw the goalie was off his line, and I just went for it,” Perez said. "It felt great, and I went up to the fans. This is a big win. Streamwood is our rival, but it also felt good to just get a win in general.”
The Sabres tied the game on Michael Garcia’s goal in the 33rd minute. Before the equalizer,, the Sabres were overly aggressive on their shot attempts. They booted two shots well over the crossbar before Garcia beat a defender to create a one-on-one situation that ended with a short tap-in goal.
In the second half, Bartlett clamped down on defense and took advantage of a few mistakes by the visitors to take the rivalry win.
After Chavez scored the go-ahead goal, senior teammate Sean Cox received a great pass off a free kick. He raced along the sideline before dribbling past the goalie to tap in a shot from two yards with 22:59 remaining.
“They tried an offside trap,” Cox said of his goal. ‘But we saw it wasn't working in the first half. So in the second half with that free kick, if they were going to stay there, then I’m going to make that run in; and we got a goal on it. You always see people miss those, so I had to make sure I made it.
“This is our second game not losing, so we got momentum from the last game. We came out flying and had our heads right.”
Bartlett assistant coach Anthony Glorioso said his team is starting to get a sense of urgency late in the season. The Hawks played two goalies, with Alex Brown tallying three saves in the first half and Miguel Sarmiento notching two saves in the final 40 minutes.
“We come to play on the big games and we did very well, especially in the second half,” Giorioso said. “We preach having those little moments. They all matter. It all helps. We’re starting to get more healthy. It should be exciting. This team has a lot of talent but still has a lot of growth for the next few weeks."
Streamwood junior defender E.J. Satsatin said the Sabres have to play with more energy and fix their flaws in games before the playoffs start.
“We have to play 100 percent, like we did in the last few minutes of tonight's game,” Satsatin said. "We have to take care of business right away.
“I think we were letting the game play instead of trying to fix whatever was happening. If we fix everything, I think we can be a very good team. The best teams we've played, we've played good. We get too confident against the teams we're expecting to beat. We're too confident. That's killing us, but we'll fix it."
One of the Sabres highlights was provided by backup goalie Jose Pena. When Ramirez was forced to exit the game after receiving a yellow card at the 11:31 mark of the first half, Perez was put into a difficult situation. A few inches shorter than Ramirez, Perez stopped a Bartlett banger from adding to the Hawks’ lead. The freshman keeper played only a few minutes, but had an impact with two saves.
“Jose just got brought up to varsity a few games ago,” Polovin said. "He started on the freshmen team and then got up to the junior varsity. His first (varsity) game was against West Chicago, and he played phenomenal. Then he struggled against East Aurora. I probably could’ve left him in today.”
Starting lineups
Streamwood
GK Jason Ramirez
D Marco Gutierrez
D Joel Benitez
D E.J. Satsatin
D Bryan Huerta
M Jairo Sanchez
M Aaron Taboada
M Ajdin Sabanovic
M Cristian Sandoval
F Miguel Gutierrez
F Trey Yi
Bartlett
GK Alex Brown
D Andrew Nava
D Trey Plunkett
D Joel Perez
D Andy Perez
M Diego Rebollar-Cortez
M Gianluca Traversa
M Giovanni Palid
M Zachary Meyer
F Oscar Medina
F Sean Cox
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joel Perez, sr., D, Bartlett
Scoring summary
First half
Bartlett — Joel Perez (unassisted), 19th minute
Streamwood — Michael Garcia (unassisted), 33rd minute
Second half
Bartlett — Agustin Chavez (unassisted), 52nd minute
Bartlett — Sean Cox (unassisted), 68th minute
with win over Streamwood
Goals from distance the difference in 3-1 win
By Bobby Narang
BARTLETT -- Bartlett senior midfielder Agustin Chavez summed up his team’s thoughts with a few words following Monday’s emotional game against rival Streamwood.
The Hawks had not won a game since defeating Larkin on Sept. 20. The two-week span included four-straight losses by a combined margin of 14-2 to go with a scoreless tie against Lake Park on Saturday.
Playing their neighborhood rivals Monday, the Hawks were forced to wait a few more hours for a chance to win a game due to a referee shortage. With the game moved from 5 to 7 p.m., the Hawks welcomed a bigger crowd and the spotlight.
Chavez fueled a second half two-goal scoring spree that led the Hawks to a 3-1 win over the Sabres in Upstate Eight Conference play.
The Hawks (5-12-1, 2-4-0) will try and build off Monday’s strong effort against Glenbard East on Wednesday.
Chavez drilled a shot from distance into the far corner of the net to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead in the 52nd minute. However, he preferred to talk about the importance of the victory rather than his impressive goal.
“It was a good goal, but at the end of the day, what really matters is the final score,” Chavez said. “I’m happy with this win. It feels good, because we’ve had a rough season. We played good today.
“I feel the whole team had the right mentality and felt the pressure to win today. It was a good win over our rivals. We were just tired of losing.”
Senior defender Andrew Nava said the victory could spark a late-season turnaround.
“We've had a rough season, but we got tired of losing and wanted to get a win today because (Streamwood) is our rival,” Nava said. “We were able to get a good win. If we put in the work, we can go very far. We have to play well from the beginning and lower our mistakes.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Streamwood (4-9-2, 1-5-0) continued its late-season tumble. The Sabres dropped a 5-1 decision to South Elgin on Saturday.
Coach Matt Polovin expressed frustration on his team’s struggles late in the regular season.
Since taking over the program in 1999, Polovin has built Streamwood into a consistent winner. After back-to-back losing seasons to open his tenure, the Sabres posted a 13-5-2 mark in 2001. Ever since, the Sabres have been one of the most consistent programs in Chicagoland, totaling 20-consecutive winning seasons, including an 8-3-3 mark in the shortened 2021 spring season.
“The first half we played well and everything seemed to go our way except for that first goal,” Polovin said. “I don’t think anybody expected that one. This has been how we've been all season. We’re young.
“It’s a tale of two halves. We have a good first half, but just seem to fall apart in the second half. We’re not together in the back, not disciplined and doing what we were doing in the first half.
“We don’t do the basics, and that’s (trouble) against a team like Bartlett. They were playing long ball after long ball. They definitely win the long ball of the year award. We should’ve taken care of business in the back and created a few more chances.”
“We have to keep playing hard and what really matters now is regionals. Something good can happen and we can maybe go on a run. We’re going to be fine.”
Bartlett junior Joel Perez shocked everybody in attendance with a shot from near midfield, which became his first goal of the season in the 19th minute. He blasted the shot from 46 yards into the net. The looping shot sailed over Streamwood goalie Jason Ramirez.
“I saw the goalie was off his line, and I just went for it,” Perez said. "It felt great, and I went up to the fans. This is a big win. Streamwood is our rival, but it also felt good to just get a win in general.”
The Sabres tied the game on Michael Garcia’s goal in the 33rd minute. Before the equalizer,, the Sabres were overly aggressive on their shot attempts. They booted two shots well over the crossbar before Garcia beat a defender to create a one-on-one situation that ended with a short tap-in goal.
In the second half, Bartlett clamped down on defense and took advantage of a few mistakes by the visitors to take the rivalry win.
After Chavez scored the go-ahead goal, senior teammate Sean Cox received a great pass off a free kick. He raced along the sideline before dribbling past the goalie to tap in a shot from two yards with 22:59 remaining.
“They tried an offside trap,” Cox said of his goal. ‘But we saw it wasn't working in the first half. So in the second half with that free kick, if they were going to stay there, then I’m going to make that run in; and we got a goal on it. You always see people miss those, so I had to make sure I made it.
“This is our second game not losing, so we got momentum from the last game. We came out flying and had our heads right.”
Bartlett assistant coach Anthony Glorioso said his team is starting to get a sense of urgency late in the season. The Hawks played two goalies, with Alex Brown tallying three saves in the first half and Miguel Sarmiento notching two saves in the final 40 minutes.
“We come to play on the big games and we did very well, especially in the second half,” Giorioso said. “We preach having those little moments. They all matter. It all helps. We’re starting to get more healthy. It should be exciting. This team has a lot of talent but still has a lot of growth for the next few weeks."
Streamwood junior defender E.J. Satsatin said the Sabres have to play with more energy and fix their flaws in games before the playoffs start.
“We have to play 100 percent, like we did in the last few minutes of tonight's game,” Satsatin said. "We have to take care of business right away.
“I think we were letting the game play instead of trying to fix whatever was happening. If we fix everything, I think we can be a very good team. The best teams we've played, we've played good. We get too confident against the teams we're expecting to beat. We're too confident. That's killing us, but we'll fix it."
One of the Sabres highlights was provided by backup goalie Jose Pena. When Ramirez was forced to exit the game after receiving a yellow card at the 11:31 mark of the first half, Perez was put into a difficult situation. A few inches shorter than Ramirez, Perez stopped a Bartlett banger from adding to the Hawks’ lead. The freshman keeper played only a few minutes, but had an impact with two saves.
“Jose just got brought up to varsity a few games ago,” Polovin said. "He started on the freshmen team and then got up to the junior varsity. His first (varsity) game was against West Chicago, and he played phenomenal. Then he struggled against East Aurora. I probably could’ve left him in today.”
Starting lineups
Streamwood
GK Jason Ramirez
D Marco Gutierrez
D Joel Benitez
D E.J. Satsatin
D Bryan Huerta
M Jairo Sanchez
M Aaron Taboada
M Ajdin Sabanovic
M Cristian Sandoval
F Miguel Gutierrez
F Trey Yi
Bartlett
GK Alex Brown
D Andrew Nava
D Trey Plunkett
D Joel Perez
D Andy Perez
M Diego Rebollar-Cortez
M Gianluca Traversa
M Giovanni Palid
M Zachary Meyer
F Oscar Medina
F Sean Cox
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joel Perez, sr., D, Bartlett
Scoring summary
First half
Bartlett — Joel Perez (unassisted), 19th minute
Streamwood — Michael Garcia (unassisted), 33rd minute
Second half
Bartlett — Agustin Chavez (unassisted), 52nd minute
Bartlett — Sean Cox (unassisted), 68th minute