Streamwood aces final regular season test
Late goal nets 1-0 win over Wauconda, momentum for regionals
By Matt Misiek
WAUCONDA -- Streamwood came in to Thursday evening’s nonconference match with Wauconda looking to turn the page from an eventful match against Elgin on Tuesday.
The Sabres would have become league champions with a win in that Upstate Eight Conference River Division match. However, the final 1-1 scoreline meant the Maroons ended up with the conference honors.
However, that result may not be written in stone.
Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said in a Thursday email that he has sent information that shows an Elgin soccer player competed in outside soccer events this fall to Terri Lozier, the Superintendent of Secondary Education at Elgin Area School District U-46.
She is now conducting an internal investigation. If true, the outside activity is a violation of Illinois High School Association athletic bylaw 3.1, which bars players from participating in same-sport activities outside of the school season.
Illinois High School Association soccer administrator Beth Sauser is aware of the situation and is awaiting a report from Lozier. One possible outcome is that Elgin may have to forfeit games which the ineligible player competed in.
Thursday evening, Streamwood was focused on its foe at Ray Porten Athletic Field. It was clear early that the Sabres were committed to executing their offensive strategy. With a constant passing attack in motion, the visitors tested Wauconda’s back four consistently.
But the defensive effort of the Bulldogs kept the match scoreless for 74 minutes. However, the next minute made the difference in the match. With an assist from fellow forward Jesus Limon, Sabres senior Aldo Lazaro broke the deadlock by placing a low drive from inside the 18 past Wauconda keeper Hector Alfaro.
“I was open and asked for the ball,” said Lazaro, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his timely tally. “Jesus (Limon) was able to get the ball to me.”
Limon took action on the play as soon as he saw the co-captain open.
“I was going to shoot the ball,” he said. “But then I saw Aldo out of the corner of my eye. I said 'I don’t want to be selfish' and passed him the ball.”
Count Polovin among the surprised that Limon didn’t pull the trigger.
“I thought Jesus was going to take the initial shot,” Polovin said. “He played it across and Aldo was there. And Aldo, a big-time player and all-state player, finished it as he always does.”
Another highlight for Streamwood (11-5-2) was the stellar play on the left wing of senior forward Alex Chavez. Although not on the score sheet, Chavez was able to get favorable one-on-one situations and set up numerous scoring opportunities.
He also had a great opportunity on goal in the 37th minute. The attempt was set up by a cross off the foot of Bryan Mora, but the chance was knocked away by Wauconda first half keeper Preston Chartier.
“My speed was key,” said Chavez. “They (Wauconda) switched a few defenders but none of them were able to keep up with me. I was just trying to take it down the wing and set everyone up.”
Wauconda (7-7-1) did not hang their heads following the narrow defeat. The defensive starting back four of Connor Brannick, Brandon Castellanos, Michael Pulio and Ozzy Segura were organized and able to turn away the possession-heavy Sabres for most of the game.
“Streamwood gave our defense everything they could handle at times,” said Wauconda coach Mike Jacobs. “It almost seemed at those moments that they had 12 players on the field.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them. They really held their own out there today. All of the seniors were standouts today for our team and all year for this program.”
Jacobs offered that the game was truly a positive in the end.
“It is great value,” he said. “They (Streamwood) are disciplined. They are well-coached; they are fast, talented, everything you’d expect from a quality Class 3A team. There is a reason that they are ranked as high as they are.”
There were also a few seniors on the Wauconda squad that played their last game on the turf at Wauconda High School. One of the seniors, Erik Hernandez, shared some of his thoughts.
“So many memories here for me,” said Hernandez. “Playing four years on the varsity team, so many great games and I will miss playing here. The biggest memory was making the regional final last year against Vernon Hills.”
Hernandez was behind Wauconda’s best opportunity to get on the board in the 42nd minute. He worked the right wing through the Sabres defense and set up forward David Ramirez for a low drive from the right of the 18 that was corralled by Streamwood keeper Daniel Dominguez.
Class AA member Wauconda is a fifth seeds in Sub-section A of the Grayslake Central Sectional and will battle Saint Viator, a fourth seed, at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday in the Vernon Hills Regional.
“Historically, they are tough,” Jacobs said. “We have to take them on one half at a time. We can’t take any one phase of our game for granted.”
As for Streamwood, ranked 24th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top25 and the third seed in its own sectional, the Sabres will travel west to Rockford to take on either Hononegah or Harlem at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Guilford Regional.
“We played Boylan earlier this year in the Barrington tournament and won 2-1,” Polovin said. “Anytime you play a team from the Rockford area it is going to be a tough game. Whomever we will be facing will be a nice test for us.”
Starting lineups
Wauconda
GK: Preston Chartier
D: Connor Brannick
D: Brandon Castellanos
D: Michael Pulio
D: Ozzy Segura
MF: Raffaele Consalvo
MF: Chase Hayden
MF: Ethan Yost
F: David Ramirez
F: Erik Hernandez
F: Jorge Morales
Streamwood
GK: Daniel Dominguez
D: Carlos Gonzalez
D: Jose Ibarra
D: Rafa Gil
MF: Bryan Mora
MF: Gregorio Esteves
MF: Jorge Bracamontes
MF: Kristian Niemiec
F: Aldo Lazaro
F: Alex Herrera
F: Alex Chavez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Aldo Lazaro, sr., F, Streamwood
Officials: Randy Davis (center); Milton Carranza; Brett Fankhauser
Scoring summary
Second half
Streamwood: Lazaro (Limon) 75th
Late goal nets 1-0 win over Wauconda, momentum for regionals
By Matt Misiek
WAUCONDA -- Streamwood came in to Thursday evening’s nonconference match with Wauconda looking to turn the page from an eventful match against Elgin on Tuesday.
The Sabres would have become league champions with a win in that Upstate Eight Conference River Division match. However, the final 1-1 scoreline meant the Maroons ended up with the conference honors.
However, that result may not be written in stone.
Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said in a Thursday email that he has sent information that shows an Elgin soccer player competed in outside soccer events this fall to Terri Lozier, the Superintendent of Secondary Education at Elgin Area School District U-46.
She is now conducting an internal investigation. If true, the outside activity is a violation of Illinois High School Association athletic bylaw 3.1, which bars players from participating in same-sport activities outside of the school season.
Illinois High School Association soccer administrator Beth Sauser is aware of the situation and is awaiting a report from Lozier. One possible outcome is that Elgin may have to forfeit games which the ineligible player competed in.
Thursday evening, Streamwood was focused on its foe at Ray Porten Athletic Field. It was clear early that the Sabres were committed to executing their offensive strategy. With a constant passing attack in motion, the visitors tested Wauconda’s back four consistently.
But the defensive effort of the Bulldogs kept the match scoreless for 74 minutes. However, the next minute made the difference in the match. With an assist from fellow forward Jesus Limon, Sabres senior Aldo Lazaro broke the deadlock by placing a low drive from inside the 18 past Wauconda keeper Hector Alfaro.
“I was open and asked for the ball,” said Lazaro, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his timely tally. “Jesus (Limon) was able to get the ball to me.”
Limon took action on the play as soon as he saw the co-captain open.
“I was going to shoot the ball,” he said. “But then I saw Aldo out of the corner of my eye. I said 'I don’t want to be selfish' and passed him the ball.”
Count Polovin among the surprised that Limon didn’t pull the trigger.
“I thought Jesus was going to take the initial shot,” Polovin said. “He played it across and Aldo was there. And Aldo, a big-time player and all-state player, finished it as he always does.”
Another highlight for Streamwood (11-5-2) was the stellar play on the left wing of senior forward Alex Chavez. Although not on the score sheet, Chavez was able to get favorable one-on-one situations and set up numerous scoring opportunities.
He also had a great opportunity on goal in the 37th minute. The attempt was set up by a cross off the foot of Bryan Mora, but the chance was knocked away by Wauconda first half keeper Preston Chartier.
“My speed was key,” said Chavez. “They (Wauconda) switched a few defenders but none of them were able to keep up with me. I was just trying to take it down the wing and set everyone up.”
Wauconda (7-7-1) did not hang their heads following the narrow defeat. The defensive starting back four of Connor Brannick, Brandon Castellanos, Michael Pulio and Ozzy Segura were organized and able to turn away the possession-heavy Sabres for most of the game.
“Streamwood gave our defense everything they could handle at times,” said Wauconda coach Mike Jacobs. “It almost seemed at those moments that they had 12 players on the field.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them. They really held their own out there today. All of the seniors were standouts today for our team and all year for this program.”
Jacobs offered that the game was truly a positive in the end.
“It is great value,” he said. “They (Streamwood) are disciplined. They are well-coached; they are fast, talented, everything you’d expect from a quality Class 3A team. There is a reason that they are ranked as high as they are.”
There were also a few seniors on the Wauconda squad that played their last game on the turf at Wauconda High School. One of the seniors, Erik Hernandez, shared some of his thoughts.
“So many memories here for me,” said Hernandez. “Playing four years on the varsity team, so many great games and I will miss playing here. The biggest memory was making the regional final last year against Vernon Hills.”
Hernandez was behind Wauconda’s best opportunity to get on the board in the 42nd minute. He worked the right wing through the Sabres defense and set up forward David Ramirez for a low drive from the right of the 18 that was corralled by Streamwood keeper Daniel Dominguez.
Class AA member Wauconda is a fifth seeds in Sub-section A of the Grayslake Central Sectional and will battle Saint Viator, a fourth seed, at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday in the Vernon Hills Regional.
“Historically, they are tough,” Jacobs said. “We have to take them on one half at a time. We can’t take any one phase of our game for granted.”
As for Streamwood, ranked 24th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top25 and the third seed in its own sectional, the Sabres will travel west to Rockford to take on either Hononegah or Harlem at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Guilford Regional.
“We played Boylan earlier this year in the Barrington tournament and won 2-1,” Polovin said. “Anytime you play a team from the Rockford area it is going to be a tough game. Whomever we will be facing will be a nice test for us.”
Starting lineups
Wauconda
GK: Preston Chartier
D: Connor Brannick
D: Brandon Castellanos
D: Michael Pulio
D: Ozzy Segura
MF: Raffaele Consalvo
MF: Chase Hayden
MF: Ethan Yost
F: David Ramirez
F: Erik Hernandez
F: Jorge Morales
Streamwood
GK: Daniel Dominguez
D: Carlos Gonzalez
D: Jose Ibarra
D: Rafa Gil
MF: Bryan Mora
MF: Gregorio Esteves
MF: Jorge Bracamontes
MF: Kristian Niemiec
F: Aldo Lazaro
F: Alex Herrera
F: Alex Chavez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Aldo Lazaro, sr., F, Streamwood
Officials: Randy Davis (center); Milton Carranza; Brett Fankhauser
Scoring summary
Second half
Streamwood: Lazaro (Limon) 75th