Blackhawks bounce back from loss to blank Panthers

By Steve Nemeth

West Aurora coach Joe Sustersic admitted he didn't know what to his squad would do on Saturday after having their unbeaten start ended Wednesday at Batavia.

That's why he was understandably relieved after the Blackhawks bounced back with a 3-0 road shutout triumph at Oswego.

"I'm really happy to see us rebound because I didn't know if they'd be feeling sorry for themselves after that loss," Sustersic said.

"So to come back from that defeat and have the offense produce three goals is especially nice because we've been struggling a little in that respect."

While Oswego's Luis Abrego was wide right on the game's first big opportunity and also skied a shot over the net in the opening half, it was West Aurora (7-1) that owned a 1-0 intermission advantage.

Cesar Garcia set up Danny Rotolo on the left wing and the sophomore chipped a 15-yard floater inside the right post for his first goal of the season.

Just under six minutes into the second half, Garcia had a 1-v-1 opportunity thwarted when Oswego keeper Ryan Totsch rushed out for a stop.

However, the collision left Totsch shaken up and teammate Luis Gallardo, who started in goal for the initial 40 minutes, had to don his keeper's jersey again.

Not quite nine minutes were missing when West Aurora's Mario Alvarez launched a free kick from the left wing that Matt Koth smartly headed into the goal from eight yards out.

"In soccer they often say a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous and with a lot of our players being new to varsity, I was still a little concerned," Sustersic admitted.

His unease may have jumped a little more in the next two minutes as Oswego's Nathan Kyes boomed an attempt off the left post with 30:06 still to be played.

"I definitely thought that was going in and I was hoping it would change the game for us," Kyes said.

"After tying Geneva in our opener and playing (Naperville) Central tough, maybe we got a little too cocky. I just know we worked hard this summer and now we’ve got to find a way to refocus."

While Totsch returned to the Panther net with 17:35 left in the match, West Aurora continued to keep the OHS offense in check while countering with its own attack.

There was 8:51 remaining to be played when Collin Malina's through ball led to Benni Ness blasting a left-footed shot that trickled past Totsch and into the net for the 3-0 margin that would complete the scoring.

In addition to having three different players set up by three other players, Sustersic could also relish the fact that junior back-up goalie Fernando Ortiz's debut as a starter ended with a shutout.

"With Abel (Diaz) injured, I knew I had to step up, so getting a shutout makes the win extra nice," added Ortiz, who also admitted breathing a sigh of relief following a one-handed save on a second-half breakaway for the Panthers.

Statistically the match was a little tighter with West Aurora owning a 15-13 advantage in overall attempts and an 11-6 edge in on-target tries.

Ortiz made six saves for the Blackhawks while Gallardo tallied five and Totsch had three stops for Oswego, which did have a 4-1 lead in corner kicks. Both teams were whistled offside twice.

"Unfortunately we played about as bad as we can play. We didn't communicate, we didn't move the ball well, we didn't mark; we pretty much failed at every facet of the game," Oswego coach Travis Carlisle lamented.

"Granted West Aurora made our job difficult, but in our first two matches we showed we're able to defend pretty well. So we were hoping to find some answers on offense today, instead we've got more questions to address."

Oswego (0-2-1) is back in action on Tuesday with a 4:45 p.m. contest at Lyons Township as part of the Pepsi Showdown.

West Aurora returns home to open DuPage Valley Conference play with a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday home date against Naperville Central. The Redhawks were 2-0 victors in last year's DVC meeting.