Bartlett aims for repeat against Streamwood
But host Sabres look to avenge 2019 loss
By Chris Walker
It’s really hard to believe, but it’s only been a little more than 13,000 hours since Sean Cox found a way to score twice in less than eight minutes to lift Bartlett to a thrilling 2-1 victory over Streamwood on Sept. 30, 2019.
The teams will for the first since then on Wednesday evening in a game moved an hour later to 7:30 p.m. at Millennium Field in Streamwood. The host Sabres are ranked no. 7 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
It’s a much different year, but the game on the field is the same. Cox returns for the Hawks, while four-year varstity starter Jose Ibarra is back leading the Sabres.
Bartlett (0-2-0) has seen little action compared to many of its counterparts, including Streamwood (2-1-1) which fell 3-1 to St. Charles East on Monday.
The Hawks, meanwhile, look forward to their Upstate Eight Conference season debut and better things ahead. They opened with a 7-1 nonconference loss against St. Charles East prior to falling 4-1 to Elk Grove last Friday.
“We know that (Streamwood) has gotten some good results, and they have some returning players with Jose (Ibarra),” Bartlett coach Vince Revak said. “The first couple of games we’ve been trying to figure out our system. Our defense, we only have two returners and not starters, so we have like a fresh back four. We kind of woke up against Elk Grove, but we gave it away. We had a ton of chances.”
Cox leads the offense, but the Hawks have some nice pieces around him.
Streamwood surrendered its first three goals of the season in Monday’s loss to St. Charles East. All three scores came from converted set pieces. Obviously, that's production that Bartlett hopes to emulate, but first they’ve got to earn those chances.
“We gave up two on corner kicks and one from 20 yards, a free kick,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “We held them, but it doesn’t look that way when you look at the score. We shut down any offensive threats other than that, and we’ve shut out Waubonsie Valley and St. Charles North.”
On Tuesday, St. Charles North doubled up St. Charles East 4-2.
“We beat St. Charles North, and then they beat East. How crazy is that?” asked Polovin. “And we tied (defending Class 3A state champ) West Chicago 0-0. That game was windy and rainy all night, but we had our chances.”
Bartlett turned to Cox to turn around the game the last time the teams met, and once again he'll play a pivotal role.
“Sean Cox is one of our most dangerous players," Revak said. "And we played sophomore Patryk Pabian up-top at Elk Grove. We usually only have one no. 9 striker, but they played really well. We’ll see if they can keep the momentum going.”
Hawks senior Cesar Palomares is insanely fast on the ball and will look to be a difference-maker in the midfield along with senior Edgar Leon.
“If (Leon) can control the game, we should definitely be a dangerous squad,” Revak said. “You don’t expect a ton of chances against them, so we’ve got to bury ours. We expect a low-scoring affair that could come down to who makes the first mistake.”
Ibarra and Streamwood’s defense gets a lot of attention, and deservedly so. Freshman Marcos Gutierrez is holding his own playing center back alongside Ibarra while fellow frosh Bryan Huerta and brothers E.J. Satsatin and Ethan Satsatin are playing well. The group has yet to surrender a goal in the run of play.
“It’s tough to get by them, and it showed against St. Charles East,” Polovin said.
The Sabres offense has shown signs that it’s close to breaking out.
“We’ve got guys who can score goals, and the last couple games we’re getting a lot of chances," Polovin said. "It’s probably going to take one or two goals and then it’s going to open up.”
Perhaps tonight is the night.
“I think playing against Bartlett, one of our rivals, is always big,” Polovin said. “A lot of the guys know each other.
"We want to get back to having shutouts. We had no goals let up in the first three games and then gave up three. They (the defenders) were mad and rightly so; they should be.
"Since there aren’t any playoffs the main goal is to win conference. This is our next chance.”
But host Sabres look to avenge 2019 loss
By Chris Walker
It’s really hard to believe, but it’s only been a little more than 13,000 hours since Sean Cox found a way to score twice in less than eight minutes to lift Bartlett to a thrilling 2-1 victory over Streamwood on Sept. 30, 2019.
The teams will for the first since then on Wednesday evening in a game moved an hour later to 7:30 p.m. at Millennium Field in Streamwood. The host Sabres are ranked no. 7 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
It’s a much different year, but the game on the field is the same. Cox returns for the Hawks, while four-year varstity starter Jose Ibarra is back leading the Sabres.
Bartlett (0-2-0) has seen little action compared to many of its counterparts, including Streamwood (2-1-1) which fell 3-1 to St. Charles East on Monday.
The Hawks, meanwhile, look forward to their Upstate Eight Conference season debut and better things ahead. They opened with a 7-1 nonconference loss against St. Charles East prior to falling 4-1 to Elk Grove last Friday.
“We know that (Streamwood) has gotten some good results, and they have some returning players with Jose (Ibarra),” Bartlett coach Vince Revak said. “The first couple of games we’ve been trying to figure out our system. Our defense, we only have two returners and not starters, so we have like a fresh back four. We kind of woke up against Elk Grove, but we gave it away. We had a ton of chances.”
Cox leads the offense, but the Hawks have some nice pieces around him.
Streamwood surrendered its first three goals of the season in Monday’s loss to St. Charles East. All three scores came from converted set pieces. Obviously, that's production that Bartlett hopes to emulate, but first they’ve got to earn those chances.
“We gave up two on corner kicks and one from 20 yards, a free kick,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “We held them, but it doesn’t look that way when you look at the score. We shut down any offensive threats other than that, and we’ve shut out Waubonsie Valley and St. Charles North.”
On Tuesday, St. Charles North doubled up St. Charles East 4-2.
“We beat St. Charles North, and then they beat East. How crazy is that?” asked Polovin. “And we tied (defending Class 3A state champ) West Chicago 0-0. That game was windy and rainy all night, but we had our chances.”
Bartlett turned to Cox to turn around the game the last time the teams met, and once again he'll play a pivotal role.
“Sean Cox is one of our most dangerous players," Revak said. "And we played sophomore Patryk Pabian up-top at Elk Grove. We usually only have one no. 9 striker, but they played really well. We’ll see if they can keep the momentum going.”
Hawks senior Cesar Palomares is insanely fast on the ball and will look to be a difference-maker in the midfield along with senior Edgar Leon.
“If (Leon) can control the game, we should definitely be a dangerous squad,” Revak said. “You don’t expect a ton of chances against them, so we’ve got to bury ours. We expect a low-scoring affair that could come down to who makes the first mistake.”
Ibarra and Streamwood’s defense gets a lot of attention, and deservedly so. Freshman Marcos Gutierrez is holding his own playing center back alongside Ibarra while fellow frosh Bryan Huerta and brothers E.J. Satsatin and Ethan Satsatin are playing well. The group has yet to surrender a goal in the run of play.
“It’s tough to get by them, and it showed against St. Charles East,” Polovin said.
The Sabres offense has shown signs that it’s close to breaking out.
“We’ve got guys who can score goals, and the last couple games we’re getting a lot of chances," Polovin said. "It’s probably going to take one or two goals and then it’s going to open up.”
Perhaps tonight is the night.
“I think playing against Bartlett, one of our rivals, is always big,” Polovin said. “A lot of the guys know each other.
"We want to get back to having shutouts. We had no goals let up in the first three games and then gave up three. They (the defenders) were mad and rightly so; they should be.
"Since there aren’t any playoffs the main goal is to win conference. This is our next chance.”