Sabres blanked by Warriors in UEC crossover

By Eddie Burns

A night after sustaining a numbing loss, Streamwood came out flat against Waubonsie Valley and the Sabres paid dearly.

Streamwood played with Waubonsie for the initial minutes of their match on Tuesday, but then the Sabres allowed a pair of goals shortly before halftime and it ultimately led to a 2-0 Waubonsie victory in Aurora.

"It was a very frustrating night," Streamwood senior Ivan Arce said. "This is just our second game – we have a lot of young players.

" I've been on varsity for four years and I have the most experience and have to show the younger players how to play through the game when it gets tough and that can happen when you're down all of the time."

The Sabres (0-2) played extremely well for the first 68 minutes of their season-opening match on Monday against Glenbard North, only to allow three late goals to suffer a 3-2 defeat.

Streamwood didn't appear to be reeling from the impact of Monday's defeat in the early stages of Tuesday's match against Waubonsie, but once the Warriors (1-0) scored their first goal, Arce could sense the team got down and when that occurred, Waubonsie scored again.

"Once they got that first goal and we just got down and our defense – I'm not trying to blame our defense – but Waubonsie was suddenly getting through them a lot more easily and our midfield wasn't getting the ball out," Arce said. "We have to go a little bit harder instead of giving in. We'll learn."

Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said his team matched Waubonsie's speed but it couldn't keep up with the Warriors' physicality.

"We couldn't connect passes in the first half for some reason," Polovin said. "Waubonsie had a bit more muscle than we did and they were knocking us off the ball. I just don't have those big guys who can knock them back.

" We try to rely mostly on our speed and if you rely on guys who will knock you off the ball it doesn't matter how much speed you if you can't control the ball and blow past guys; that is what is going to happen – unfortunately."

The Sabres regrouped after intermission and put together a solid second half, one in which they played with a purpose.

Streamwood had more dangerous scoring chances. Gilberto Alba and David Perez had some scoring moments in and around the Warriors' net.

"The first half we seemed like we were running around and we were wasting energy out there," Polovin said. "The second half we moved the ball, but we have to get more shots.

"We have to use that possession and do something positive with it – like getting shots on goal – good things will happen and we couldn't do it tonight for some reason."

Polovin stressed that the squad only returns two seniors with significant playing time from last season, so the early portion of the campaign will be a work in progress.

However, Polovin did single out Jesus Lopez's effort and he would like to see more players join the attack led by Arce.

"Ivan works his butt off out there and I'd like to see some more support so he doesn't try and do everything," Polovin said. "It will happen; we're only two games into the season."

Streamwood is at Downers Grove North as part of the Lake Park Invite on Thursday.