Sabres ready for regional play after tying Bulldogs

By Dan Santaromita

When Streamwood fell behind in the second half against Batavia 0n Tuesday, it had to be a familiar feeling for the Sabres.

However, the team equalized against the run of play to pull out a 1-1 draw on senior night in an Upstate Eight Conference River Division match at Millennium Field.

"At this point in the season, being the last regular season game, we needed to have a really strong game against a team like that," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said.

"I'd love to have had the win of course, we had a lot of chances again, but we'll take the tie right now."

Polovin's reaction was the opposite of Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco.

"We can't score, it's the same stuff," Gianfrancesco said. "We need to get better at putting balls in the back of the net, creating opportunities, playing with some intensity.

"We don't do that, then we're not going to do very well tomorrow against St. Charles North and we're not going to do very well in the regional."

Gianfrancesco's frustration was evident after the team has only scored three goals in its last five matches and has gone winless during that streak.

The coach said the only thing the team did well was transition.

"We've got some very talented players, but sometimes we don't come to play," he said.

The first half was mostly even and goalless. Both sides were able to get into the final third and create shots, but neither goalkeeper had to make any tough saves.

After allowing Streamwood a few chances to start the second half, Batavia (7-7-5, 2-2-1) took control of the match. The Bulldogs took the lead in the 50th minute following a set piece.

Lalo Cuautle's free kick into the area wasn't initially cleared and Michael Hindel was able to slide onto the ball to knock it into the net.

Even after the goal, the Bulldogs kept the run of play, but couldn't convert numerous corners to double the lead.

Those missed opportunities came back to haunt Batavia when Streamwood converted a set piece of its own.

Sabres' defender Victor Aguilar hit a well-struck free kick from the left that curved onto Alejandro Avalos' lunging leg for the goal.

"I'm looking for pretty much people making the runs in towards the goal, crash the goal somehow and someone will luckily hit it in," Aguilar said of his free kicks, of which there were a few dangerous ones past midfield.

Batavia almost answered a couple minutes later, but Calvin Baez's screamer zinged just wide of Jose Resendiz (11 saves) in goal.

"I think we played really well against Batavia, they're a very good team," Polovin said. "They've got some excellent players our there.

"They've got (Cody) Balogh, Anthony Torres, Cody Witkowski, Justin Carey, they've got some top players out there."

Witkowski caused the Streamwood defense problems but he was unable to create a goal, either for himself or his teammates with any of his chances.

"We were trying to communicate and stay tight with the forwards and not let them make their runs," Aguilar said. "We tried to get to the ball first."

Batavia keeper Ben Steskal (8 saves) made a few quality saves, but Streamwood was unable to put difficult shots on goal.

The Sabres have scored more than one goal only twice this year.

"We haven't had many games where we're scoring a lot of goals, but we don't give up," Polovin said. "We keep pressing and pressing and pressing and you know it worked.

"We had that free kick and Alejandro came flying across took his leg up and got it before the goalie got it."

Streamwood, who finished 2-3-1 in the UEC River, now looks forward to the playoffs. The Sabres plays at York on Saturday in a Lake Park Regional quarterfinal match.

Despite a losing record, the Sabres have a lot of confidence. They have one of the better keepers in the area in Resendiz and a solid back line that can keep them in games.

"We're a young team and we competed with Batavia," Aguilar said. "If we work hard and we really want it we can take York. We can beat them."

The problem for Streamwood has been replacing Ivan Arce, who went down with injury early in the season. His absence has left the Sabres struggling to find goals.

Polovin knows they will have to finish chances like the one they did Tuesday night.

"If we can play against a team like Batavia and do that well I definitely feel that against York on Saturday that we'll give them a game," he said. "If we can put our chances in, that's another story."