Streamwood tops Batavia in U8 opener
Sabres control action in 3-0 road win; Bulldogs drop 4th-straight game
By Chris Walker
BATAVIA –Jorge Bracamontes used his speed and vision to create an opportunity and then got knocked down hard in the box during Tuesday’s Upstate Eight Conference River Division game Tuesday night.
After the Streamwood junior got up, he dusted the turf pellets off his jersey and caught his breath as he watched teammate Aldo Lazaro bury the ensuing penalty kick to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead with 29:02 remaining in the first half.
The goal would be all that Streamwood needed as the Sabres blanked host Batavia 3-0 in the conference opener for both teams.
“It wasn’t the easiest 3-0 win, you know, but the one thing we don’t do is ever stop paying, just keep going and going and gojng,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “We can substitute 2-3 guys out and put new guys in and for the most part the speed of play just keeps going.
"We like to possess the ball and move it around quickly and keep them on their toes, and Batavia did a nice job playing, but they we’re doing a lot of chasing as well.”
Bracamontes' takedown and Lazaro's PK conversion ting the PK seemingly inspired the Sabres the rest of the way. A lot of that had to do with the effort Bracamontes displayed to get into the box and draw the foul to put them on the scoreboard. Bracamontes was named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his effort.
“I saw the lane and just took it where I could for a shot, and they sandwiched me in the box and took me down,” Bracamontes said. “I was surprised the refs actually called it so I was happy for that.”
Polovin was impressed.
“Jorge’s run was such a great one because he really hustled and basically made a 30-yard diagonal run all the way into the box,” Polovin said. “He created that by making that long 30-yard run and then sliced through a couple of kids and then got hit and taken down.”
Having Lazaro step in to attempt the PK was an easy decision for Polovin.
“Aldo is automatic,” Polovin said. “You want to reward Jorge for making the run, but Aldo was taking that kick.”
Neither Streamwood (5-2-0, 1-0-0) nor Batavia (1-4-1, 0-1-0) could muster much offense the rest of the first half.
Bracamontes had another opportunity with a little more than four minutes remaining before halftime, but Batavia keeper Treven Ritko-Siros made the save.
Batavia junior Miguel Garcia got free in the final minute before the intermission for an attempt but his shot sailed way too high.
Difficulty creating opportunities continued deep into the second half of play but the Bulldogs stayed close.
Batavia senior Brandon Knapp had a free kick at the midpoint of the second half, but he lined a shot right off of the Streamwood defensive wall. The Bulldogs were unable to pounce on the rebound and attempt another shot before the Sabres cleared it the other way.
Streamwood junior Bryan Mora nearly added to the Sabres lead a few minutes later, but Batavia goalkeeper Jacob Mefford, who had replaced Ritko-Siros, saved his shot.
The Bulldogs could only hang close for so long. Streamwood senior Gregorio Esteves was able to get in-close in the penalty area and slide in a shot with 14:01 left to give the Sabres a 2-0 advantage.
“That was good,” Esteves said. “It was a tough game. That (Joe Corno) was tough, and I actually know him and how he plays. He was my main man to mark, and I thought I did that and getting that other goal was big.”
Batavia probably had its best scoring chance during the 69th minute when junior Joe Grendzinski was able to collect a loose ball, find an opening and unleash a shot. While he got a lot on his attempt, it curved just wide left of the goal and kept Batavia off the scoreboard.
“I think we had a couple opportunities at 1-0 and then at 2-0 it definitely hurt us and then at 3-0 it broke our backs after that,” said Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco, whose team suffered its first shutout of the season. “But they were probably the best all-around team we’ve played all year, and we’ve played some pretty decent teams. But they’re consistent and have some quality players.”
With the game seemingly sealed, the Sabres were able to score a final goal with 35 seconds left. The tally allowed senior Oscar Chavez to follow-up on a missed opportunity moments earlier. About a minute before he had an open look but misfired. This time he buried his attempt to finalize the scoring.
“We gave up three goals but that was to a good team, and if we played different defensively then maybe we don’t give up two or three goals,” Gianfrancesco said. “We’re kind of trying to find out how we can play a little better defensively and try to organize better. I think we were better with that today, with some of that, but it is what it is.”
Gianfrancesco acknowledged that the Bulldogs fell short against a better team and that sometimes you just have to accept that. At the same time, he was frustrated with the team for not playing at its best. Plenty of that though had to do with what the Sabres did to frustrate the Bulldogs.
“Are we not playing that well because of ourselves or was it just because we were playing a quality team with 14-15 guys that are better?” Gianfrancesco questioned. “That was a better team than us from top to bottom, and we tried to take chances and pressed them a bit in the second half. But when we got the chances we didn’t finish those and if we would’ve played more open we would’ve been scored on a lot more.”
Batavia junior defender Ian Wood called Streamwood “the best team we’ve faced this year for sure,” but felt that if the Bulldogs kept their composure and communicated better they’d have a much better chance of winning games like this.
“We passed the ball better than before, but we’re still not communicating like we need to, and we have to get our formation going better,” he said. “I think we get a little too excited and use our energy in the first half or so and then get a little gassed. That seems to happen and then we go down. We need to fix that.”
Gianfrancesco considers the lack of communication a major problem, considering the Bulldogs have already played six games. By now, he expects his team to know how to communicate on the field and to go out and do it.
“Either we can talk to one another or not,” he said. “They’ve never been forced to talk, and all these guys are as quiet as a mouse, and they’ve always been that way. I think the talk was better today, but you’ve got to get better when playing a quality team like this.”
As for Streamwood, Polovin was more than satisfied with how his team communicated in the back and midfield, especially with the unheralded effort of senior Carlos Gonzalez as well as standout 6-foot-3 freshman Jose Ibarra, who definitely has to be considered in the conversation as one of the top members of his class in the state this fall.
“I don’t think (goalkeeper) Daniel (Dominiguez) even had to make a save tonight,” Polovin said. “And that’s great for our defenders to be able to do that for him.
"I told the guys that the one thing I was most impressed with was to get the shutout especially against a team like Batavia. I’ll always take that and to leave here with a 3-0 win, I don’t know what more I can ask for.”
Starting lineups
Streamwood
GK: Daniel Dominguez
D: Jorge Bracamontes
D: Gregorio Esteves
D: Christian Gonzalez
D: Jose Ibarra
MF: Bryan Mora
MF: Kristin Niemiec
MF: Rafa Gil
MF: Michael Rubio
F: Oscar Chavez
F: Aldo Lazaro
Batavia
GK: Treven Ritko-Siros
D: Jack Bradle
D: Miguel Garcia
D: Ian Wood
MF: Nick Cannella
MF: Sal Garcia
MF: Joe Grendzinski
MF: Brayden Kuhn
F: Joe Corno
F: Max Hardin
F: Brandon Knapp
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jorge Bracamontes, jr., D, Streamwood
Scoring summary
First half
Streamwood -- Aldo Lazaro, PK, 12th minute
Second half
Streamwood -- Gregorio Esteves, 66th minute; Oscar Chavez 80th minute
Sabres control action in 3-0 road win; Bulldogs drop 4th-straight game
By Chris Walker
BATAVIA –Jorge Bracamontes used his speed and vision to create an opportunity and then got knocked down hard in the box during Tuesday’s Upstate Eight Conference River Division game Tuesday night.
After the Streamwood junior got up, he dusted the turf pellets off his jersey and caught his breath as he watched teammate Aldo Lazaro bury the ensuing penalty kick to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead with 29:02 remaining in the first half.
The goal would be all that Streamwood needed as the Sabres blanked host Batavia 3-0 in the conference opener for both teams.
“It wasn’t the easiest 3-0 win, you know, but the one thing we don’t do is ever stop paying, just keep going and going and gojng,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “We can substitute 2-3 guys out and put new guys in and for the most part the speed of play just keeps going.
"We like to possess the ball and move it around quickly and keep them on their toes, and Batavia did a nice job playing, but they we’re doing a lot of chasing as well.”
Bracamontes' takedown and Lazaro's PK conversion ting the PK seemingly inspired the Sabres the rest of the way. A lot of that had to do with the effort Bracamontes displayed to get into the box and draw the foul to put them on the scoreboard. Bracamontes was named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his effort.
“I saw the lane and just took it where I could for a shot, and they sandwiched me in the box and took me down,” Bracamontes said. “I was surprised the refs actually called it so I was happy for that.”
Polovin was impressed.
“Jorge’s run was such a great one because he really hustled and basically made a 30-yard diagonal run all the way into the box,” Polovin said. “He created that by making that long 30-yard run and then sliced through a couple of kids and then got hit and taken down.”
Having Lazaro step in to attempt the PK was an easy decision for Polovin.
“Aldo is automatic,” Polovin said. “You want to reward Jorge for making the run, but Aldo was taking that kick.”
Neither Streamwood (5-2-0, 1-0-0) nor Batavia (1-4-1, 0-1-0) could muster much offense the rest of the first half.
Bracamontes had another opportunity with a little more than four minutes remaining before halftime, but Batavia keeper Treven Ritko-Siros made the save.
Batavia junior Miguel Garcia got free in the final minute before the intermission for an attempt but his shot sailed way too high.
Difficulty creating opportunities continued deep into the second half of play but the Bulldogs stayed close.
Batavia senior Brandon Knapp had a free kick at the midpoint of the second half, but he lined a shot right off of the Streamwood defensive wall. The Bulldogs were unable to pounce on the rebound and attempt another shot before the Sabres cleared it the other way.
Streamwood junior Bryan Mora nearly added to the Sabres lead a few minutes later, but Batavia goalkeeper Jacob Mefford, who had replaced Ritko-Siros, saved his shot.
The Bulldogs could only hang close for so long. Streamwood senior Gregorio Esteves was able to get in-close in the penalty area and slide in a shot with 14:01 left to give the Sabres a 2-0 advantage.
“That was good,” Esteves said. “It was a tough game. That (Joe Corno) was tough, and I actually know him and how he plays. He was my main man to mark, and I thought I did that and getting that other goal was big.”
Batavia probably had its best scoring chance during the 69th minute when junior Joe Grendzinski was able to collect a loose ball, find an opening and unleash a shot. While he got a lot on his attempt, it curved just wide left of the goal and kept Batavia off the scoreboard.
“I think we had a couple opportunities at 1-0 and then at 2-0 it definitely hurt us and then at 3-0 it broke our backs after that,” said Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco, whose team suffered its first shutout of the season. “But they were probably the best all-around team we’ve played all year, and we’ve played some pretty decent teams. But they’re consistent and have some quality players.”
With the game seemingly sealed, the Sabres were able to score a final goal with 35 seconds left. The tally allowed senior Oscar Chavez to follow-up on a missed opportunity moments earlier. About a minute before he had an open look but misfired. This time he buried his attempt to finalize the scoring.
“We gave up three goals but that was to a good team, and if we played different defensively then maybe we don’t give up two or three goals,” Gianfrancesco said. “We’re kind of trying to find out how we can play a little better defensively and try to organize better. I think we were better with that today, with some of that, but it is what it is.”
Gianfrancesco acknowledged that the Bulldogs fell short against a better team and that sometimes you just have to accept that. At the same time, he was frustrated with the team for not playing at its best. Plenty of that though had to do with what the Sabres did to frustrate the Bulldogs.
“Are we not playing that well because of ourselves or was it just because we were playing a quality team with 14-15 guys that are better?” Gianfrancesco questioned. “That was a better team than us from top to bottom, and we tried to take chances and pressed them a bit in the second half. But when we got the chances we didn’t finish those and if we would’ve played more open we would’ve been scored on a lot more.”
Batavia junior defender Ian Wood called Streamwood “the best team we’ve faced this year for sure,” but felt that if the Bulldogs kept their composure and communicated better they’d have a much better chance of winning games like this.
“We passed the ball better than before, but we’re still not communicating like we need to, and we have to get our formation going better,” he said. “I think we get a little too excited and use our energy in the first half or so and then get a little gassed. That seems to happen and then we go down. We need to fix that.”
Gianfrancesco considers the lack of communication a major problem, considering the Bulldogs have already played six games. By now, he expects his team to know how to communicate on the field and to go out and do it.
“Either we can talk to one another or not,” he said. “They’ve never been forced to talk, and all these guys are as quiet as a mouse, and they’ve always been that way. I think the talk was better today, but you’ve got to get better when playing a quality team like this.”
As for Streamwood, Polovin was more than satisfied with how his team communicated in the back and midfield, especially with the unheralded effort of senior Carlos Gonzalez as well as standout 6-foot-3 freshman Jose Ibarra, who definitely has to be considered in the conversation as one of the top members of his class in the state this fall.
“I don’t think (goalkeeper) Daniel (Dominiguez) even had to make a save tonight,” Polovin said. “And that’s great for our defenders to be able to do that for him.
"I told the guys that the one thing I was most impressed with was to get the shutout especially against a team like Batavia. I’ll always take that and to leave here with a 3-0 win, I don’t know what more I can ask for.”
Starting lineups
Streamwood
GK: Daniel Dominguez
D: Jorge Bracamontes
D: Gregorio Esteves
D: Christian Gonzalez
D: Jose Ibarra
MF: Bryan Mora
MF: Kristin Niemiec
MF: Rafa Gil
MF: Michael Rubio
F: Oscar Chavez
F: Aldo Lazaro
Batavia
GK: Treven Ritko-Siros
D: Jack Bradle
D: Miguel Garcia
D: Ian Wood
MF: Nick Cannella
MF: Sal Garcia
MF: Joe Grendzinski
MF: Brayden Kuhn
F: Joe Corno
F: Max Hardin
F: Brandon Knapp
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jorge Bracamontes, jr., D, Streamwood
Scoring summary
First half
Streamwood -- Aldo Lazaro, PK, 12th minute
Second half
Streamwood -- Gregorio Esteves, 66th minute; Oscar Chavez 80th minute