Streamwood fights off young Lake Zurich
Sabres gain 3-2 win, miss Barrington final on tiebreaker
By Mike Garofola
BARRINGTON -- Streamwood ended pool play at the Barrington Classic on a high note with a 3-2 win over Lake Zurich on Thursday.
Jorge Bracamontes broke the resistance and hearts of a young Lake Zurich club with his game-winner in the 70th minute to give the Sabres a hard-fought victory at Barrington Community Stadium.
The three points earned by Streamwood manager Matt Polovin's men drew them even with Barrington and Boylan with a 2-1 record and six points in the White Group standings. That sent the trio to a goal-differential tiebreaker which ironically put Barrington, which lost head-to-head to Boylan, in the final. In turn, Boylan, which lost head-to-head to Streamwood, settled ahead of the Sabres into a third place game berth.
"That 2-1 loss to Barrington earlier in the week came back to bite us for sure," said Polovin. "One big thing we took from that was the kind words from Scott Steib (Barrington's manager) and several of his parents who all told us we were a fun and talented team to watch and play against (and) they wouldn't be surprised if we had a long run in the state playoffs.
"Those types of compliments make me feel good about what we're trying to do with this team. Our biggest problem thus far has been finishing our chances against all of our opponents.
"We finally did some of that today against a real feisty Lake Zurich team, but you also saw us miss a couple of quality chances along the way (which) still proves we haven't learned how to put teams away yet."
The task facing a young Lake Zurich squad was apparent early on.
Manager Mike Schmitz had four sophomores and a freshman in his first 11. He knew beforehand that the youth and inexperience of his lads would be tested by an opponent that he described as a technically strong and talented team.
"We've got a bunch of good young players, but the key word is young," Schmitz said. "And along with those five young guys in our lineup, we also have a few others who haven't played at the varsity level. When you go against a team like Streamwood that can possess and attack with speed, you have to be a little worried."
The Bears long-time manager saw his worst worries realized when Rafa Gil steered his corner kick into the far inside netting just seven minutes into this contest.
"Rafa is such a great leader, plus he brings a lot of experience and knowledge of the game (so) we recently moved him into the backline alongside our terrific young freshman (Jose Ibarra) from his long-time spot in the midfield to act as a mentor for Jose," offered Polovin.
With each game played, the left-footed Ibarra continues to impress managers in the park as he plays with the composure of a senior, while tackling, defending and joining the attack as if he's played 80 games for Polovin.
"Sometimes Jose does things that I cannot believe what I've seen, and I have to remind myself he's still just a freshman," admitted Polovin.
For his superb work defending, and joining the Sabres attack to make a difference, particularly in the second half, Ibarra was named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
The wave of black shirts did not relent after the Gil strike, and in the 17th minute, the Sabres (3-1-1) enjoyed yet another breakthrough when Kristian Niemiec unleashed a wicked 30-yard strike into the corner of the net.
"We shouldn't have let up after that second goal, because we kept (Lake Zurich) in the game, and they came back on us," said the senior Niemiec.
That wasn't a fluke for the Lake Zurich kiddie corp.
"That's a real nice trait we've seen in this team. (They) don't fold up and go away, even when they go down a goal or two," said Schmitz with a smile.
Gil stepped in with a sharp tackle to block a close-range attempt from Andrew Juarez in the 23rd minute to inspire a Bears attack which up until this point was stagnant at best.
Barrett Hindman, Mikolaj Wierzbicki, Jordan McCreary and others helped stage a fightback from the Bears (3-2-1), whose backline duo of Andrew Pytlak and Joe Heffernan were winning more 50-50 balls while also providing quality service out of the back. It was clear the Bears were ready to mix it up with the high flying Sabres.
When Streamwood failed to clear a Michael Blasko corner, Austin Myhre made them pay for it when he pulled one back from 22 yards in the 32nd minute.
The first five minutes after the intermission belonged to Streamwood which recorded nearly 95% of the possession while using width and speed to put the Bears under pressure.
But it was clear Lake Zurich was programmed to make things difficult for the Sabres when Heffernan drew his club back level in the 48th minute with his one-timer.
"We were real solid in the first half, and started the second half the same way, but we let up, and Lake Zurich took advantage of our inability to play at the level we were playing," said senior Oscar Chavez, who turned in a magnificent performance in the final 20 minutes of regulation to help the Sabres secure the victory.
What the Bears did for the next quarter hour or so was put a lot of high pressure on the Sabres backline, while also squeezing the life, space and time out of the Streamwood midfield which had trouble getting forward against an inspired Bears club.
Streamwood lost its all-state forward, Aldo Lazaro on a bit of a messy cleets-up tackle during the early stages of the second half, and it took some time for Chavez and his mates to get back on their collective front foot.
"We can play at a high level, and we showed that we could late in the second half, but we've got to do it all of the time instead of 10 or 15 minutes at a time," said Chavez.
Near the hour, the Bears attack ran out of some of its steam. Coincidentally, the Sabres were able to get things up and running.
Christian Lopez and Alex Herrera worked a nice one-two that nearly found Michael Rubio on the other end of it before the Bears backline blocked a trio of attempts inside the box (all off corners). Then Chavez and Carlos Gonzalez were each denied when they called Bears keeper Connor Trebac into action.
Just three minutes after coming on for the Sabres, Bracamontes made his presence felt after Chavez roared up the right side past a pair of defenders before putting the ball to the back post where Bracamontes drove his game-winner the other way and into the far inside netting.
"I went up the side and when I got clear, I saw Jorge on the other side and just played the ball towards him," said Chavez, who made his superb helper sound easier than it looked.
Lake Zurich took the result in stride.
"We've had some ups and downs thus far, so we're just looking for some consistent play while we figure things out," said Schmitz. "But even with this defeat, there were so many positive things to take away from this game."
Lake Zurich will play for 7th place against Marmion at noon on Saturday in Hoffman Estates on the campus of tournament co-host Conant.
Streamwood will try to hold on the momentum from the win.
"Our energy down the stretch was sky-high, and we played with great confidence leading up to that goal by Jorge (again) we just have to be that way more times than not," said Polovin.
The Sabres will seek to post back-to-back wins for the first time this season at 2 p.m. Saturday in the fifth place game against Conant.
Starting lineups
Lake Zurich
GK- Connor Trebac
D- Alex Williams
D- Joe Heffernan
D- Andrew Pytlak
D- Alex Williams
M- Jaden McCreary
M- Lukas Pytlak
M- Mikolaj Wierzbicki
M- Andrew Juarez
F- Barrett Hindman
F- Aiman Naqvi
Streamwood
GK- Hector Alfaro
D- Jorge Ibarra
D- Rafa Gil
D- Christian Lopez
D- Jorge Bracamontes
M- Michael Rubio
M- Bryan Mora
M- Kristian Niemiec
M- Gregoria Esteves
F- Aldo Lazaro
F- Oscar Chavez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jose Ibarra, fr., D, Streamwood
Scoring summary
Streamwood: Gil (U/A) 7', Niemiec (U/A) 17', Bracamontes (Chavez) 70'.
Lake Zurich: Myhre (U/A) 32', Heffernan (Zaccarine) 48'
Officials: Mariusz Folta (referee)
Sabres gain 3-2 win, miss Barrington final on tiebreaker
By Mike Garofola
BARRINGTON -- Streamwood ended pool play at the Barrington Classic on a high note with a 3-2 win over Lake Zurich on Thursday.
Jorge Bracamontes broke the resistance and hearts of a young Lake Zurich club with his game-winner in the 70th minute to give the Sabres a hard-fought victory at Barrington Community Stadium.
The three points earned by Streamwood manager Matt Polovin's men drew them even with Barrington and Boylan with a 2-1 record and six points in the White Group standings. That sent the trio to a goal-differential tiebreaker which ironically put Barrington, which lost head-to-head to Boylan, in the final. In turn, Boylan, which lost head-to-head to Streamwood, settled ahead of the Sabres into a third place game berth.
"That 2-1 loss to Barrington earlier in the week came back to bite us for sure," said Polovin. "One big thing we took from that was the kind words from Scott Steib (Barrington's manager) and several of his parents who all told us we were a fun and talented team to watch and play against (and) they wouldn't be surprised if we had a long run in the state playoffs.
"Those types of compliments make me feel good about what we're trying to do with this team. Our biggest problem thus far has been finishing our chances against all of our opponents.
"We finally did some of that today against a real feisty Lake Zurich team, but you also saw us miss a couple of quality chances along the way (which) still proves we haven't learned how to put teams away yet."
The task facing a young Lake Zurich squad was apparent early on.
Manager Mike Schmitz had four sophomores and a freshman in his first 11. He knew beforehand that the youth and inexperience of his lads would be tested by an opponent that he described as a technically strong and talented team.
"We've got a bunch of good young players, but the key word is young," Schmitz said. "And along with those five young guys in our lineup, we also have a few others who haven't played at the varsity level. When you go against a team like Streamwood that can possess and attack with speed, you have to be a little worried."
The Bears long-time manager saw his worst worries realized when Rafa Gil steered his corner kick into the far inside netting just seven minutes into this contest.
"Rafa is such a great leader, plus he brings a lot of experience and knowledge of the game (so) we recently moved him into the backline alongside our terrific young freshman (Jose Ibarra) from his long-time spot in the midfield to act as a mentor for Jose," offered Polovin.
With each game played, the left-footed Ibarra continues to impress managers in the park as he plays with the composure of a senior, while tackling, defending and joining the attack as if he's played 80 games for Polovin.
"Sometimes Jose does things that I cannot believe what I've seen, and I have to remind myself he's still just a freshman," admitted Polovin.
For his superb work defending, and joining the Sabres attack to make a difference, particularly in the second half, Ibarra was named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
The wave of black shirts did not relent after the Gil strike, and in the 17th minute, the Sabres (3-1-1) enjoyed yet another breakthrough when Kristian Niemiec unleashed a wicked 30-yard strike into the corner of the net.
"We shouldn't have let up after that second goal, because we kept (Lake Zurich) in the game, and they came back on us," said the senior Niemiec.
That wasn't a fluke for the Lake Zurich kiddie corp.
"That's a real nice trait we've seen in this team. (They) don't fold up and go away, even when they go down a goal or two," said Schmitz with a smile.
Gil stepped in with a sharp tackle to block a close-range attempt from Andrew Juarez in the 23rd minute to inspire a Bears attack which up until this point was stagnant at best.
Barrett Hindman, Mikolaj Wierzbicki, Jordan McCreary and others helped stage a fightback from the Bears (3-2-1), whose backline duo of Andrew Pytlak and Joe Heffernan were winning more 50-50 balls while also providing quality service out of the back. It was clear the Bears were ready to mix it up with the high flying Sabres.
When Streamwood failed to clear a Michael Blasko corner, Austin Myhre made them pay for it when he pulled one back from 22 yards in the 32nd minute.
The first five minutes after the intermission belonged to Streamwood which recorded nearly 95% of the possession while using width and speed to put the Bears under pressure.
But it was clear Lake Zurich was programmed to make things difficult for the Sabres when Heffernan drew his club back level in the 48th minute with his one-timer.
"We were real solid in the first half, and started the second half the same way, but we let up, and Lake Zurich took advantage of our inability to play at the level we were playing," said senior Oscar Chavez, who turned in a magnificent performance in the final 20 minutes of regulation to help the Sabres secure the victory.
What the Bears did for the next quarter hour or so was put a lot of high pressure on the Sabres backline, while also squeezing the life, space and time out of the Streamwood midfield which had trouble getting forward against an inspired Bears club.
Streamwood lost its all-state forward, Aldo Lazaro on a bit of a messy cleets-up tackle during the early stages of the second half, and it took some time for Chavez and his mates to get back on their collective front foot.
"We can play at a high level, and we showed that we could late in the second half, but we've got to do it all of the time instead of 10 or 15 minutes at a time," said Chavez.
Near the hour, the Bears attack ran out of some of its steam. Coincidentally, the Sabres were able to get things up and running.
Christian Lopez and Alex Herrera worked a nice one-two that nearly found Michael Rubio on the other end of it before the Bears backline blocked a trio of attempts inside the box (all off corners). Then Chavez and Carlos Gonzalez were each denied when they called Bears keeper Connor Trebac into action.
Just three minutes after coming on for the Sabres, Bracamontes made his presence felt after Chavez roared up the right side past a pair of defenders before putting the ball to the back post where Bracamontes drove his game-winner the other way and into the far inside netting.
"I went up the side and when I got clear, I saw Jorge on the other side and just played the ball towards him," said Chavez, who made his superb helper sound easier than it looked.
Lake Zurich took the result in stride.
"We've had some ups and downs thus far, so we're just looking for some consistent play while we figure things out," said Schmitz. "But even with this defeat, there were so many positive things to take away from this game."
Lake Zurich will play for 7th place against Marmion at noon on Saturday in Hoffman Estates on the campus of tournament co-host Conant.
Streamwood will try to hold on the momentum from the win.
"Our energy down the stretch was sky-high, and we played with great confidence leading up to that goal by Jorge (again) we just have to be that way more times than not," said Polovin.
The Sabres will seek to post back-to-back wins for the first time this season at 2 p.m. Saturday in the fifth place game against Conant.
Starting lineups
Lake Zurich
GK- Connor Trebac
D- Alex Williams
D- Joe Heffernan
D- Andrew Pytlak
D- Alex Williams
M- Jaden McCreary
M- Lukas Pytlak
M- Mikolaj Wierzbicki
M- Andrew Juarez
F- Barrett Hindman
F- Aiman Naqvi
Streamwood
GK- Hector Alfaro
D- Jorge Ibarra
D- Rafa Gil
D- Christian Lopez
D- Jorge Bracamontes
M- Michael Rubio
M- Bryan Mora
M- Kristian Niemiec
M- Gregoria Esteves
F- Aldo Lazaro
F- Oscar Chavez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jose Ibarra, fr., D, Streamwood
Scoring summary
Streamwood: Gil (U/A) 7', Niemiec (U/A) 17', Bracamontes (Chavez) 70'.
Lake Zurich: Myhre (U/A) 32', Heffernan (Zaccarine) 48'
Officials: Mariusz Folta (referee)