Storm makes one of few chances count to edge Warriors

By Kevin Chroust
Photos courtesy of Judy Piszczek

South Elgin fired just one bullet Thursday evening against Waubonsie Valley, but it was a bull's-eye.

That bull’s-eye came in the 63rd minute after a first half in which the Storm dodged a flurry of bullets.

That was all the offense the Storm needed in a 1-0 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division victory over the Warriors in Streamwood.

"The first half we kind of sat back on our heels," Storm coach John Uveges said. "We knew we weren't possessing the ball the way we needed to and we actually changed that.

"That was nice to see and we were able to strike in the end so it worked out really good."

After a dominant 15 minutes by Waubonsie (2-5-1, 1-2-1 UEC Valley) to open the match, momentum slowly shifted.

With 17:33 left in the match, Storm midfielder Danny Fry played a through ball into the middle of the box while Alberto Bustamante ran on from the right.

He beat his defender to the ball and played a one-touch volley past Warriors goalkeeper Sean Elvert and into the back of the net.

The match started with the Warriors constantly finding their way into the Storm penalty area, but they were unable to finish on any of their chances.

In the sixth minute, Waubonsie midfielder Justin Fox seemingly beat Storm keeper Jarod Schieler, but defender Bret Hildebrandt was able to clear the shot and the ensuing rebound off his keeper's line.

"They got a couple quick shots and I happened to be in the right spot twice in a row," Hildebrandt said. "We fixed it, though, in the second half and came back and won."

Six minutes later, Warriors midfielder Jason O'Brien headed a corner kick off the cross bar, and less than a minute after that, one of his teammates put a shot off the post.

"We've got to put our chances away," O'Brien said. "We didn't capitalize on those chances. We made a lot of mistakes. We can't just take it for granted that we're going to go out and win against anyone."

Warriors coach Angelo DiBernardo liked what he saw out of his team in the first 10 minutes, but he thought something was lacking in the 70 that followed.

"The game is 80 minutes and we stunk the place up," DiBernardo said. "We played fairly well at the beginning, but our players need to understand they need to play from beginning to end.

"I think psychologically, after we missed those chances, we hit the post a few times, I think they got down on themselves."

Conversely, Uveges said he would like to see stronger starts out of his young group, which improved to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in conference.

However, he thought his team gradually figured things out and was pleased with the possession game it developed as time wore on.

He hopes it carries over into next week when the Storm hosts Lake Park on Tuesday.

"Yesterday we had a really tough time with East Aurora," he said. "We truly lost both halves, so to come back today and beat Waubonsie, that's always a big thing. Hopefully we can continue this."