Chicagoland Soccer

Alva helps Hawks to regional title win over Larkin

By Seth Hancock

In the words of Yankee great Yogi Berra, “it’s déjà vu all over again” for the Bartlett boys soccer team.

A year ago, Hawks’ goalkeeper Alex Busch faced a barrage of shots with his team holding a one-goal advantage and denied them all to help Bartlett capture its first regional title on St. Charles East’s field.

On the same field but with a different goalie, senior Cristian Alva, the No. 11 seeded Hawks again captured a plaque as Alva helped Bartlett (11-10-2) preserve a 2-1 victory over No. 3 Larkin in the St. Charles East Regional Championship game on Saturday.

“I have seen that before. Last year on this field against St. Charles North (a 1-0 win),” said Bartlett coach Ben Beary.

Diving left, diving right and leaping into the air Alva made eight of his 10 saves in the second half with four coming in the final six minutes.

“This was my first regional title game, and I’m so glad we won,” Alva said. “I didn’t want to lose.”

Leading 1-0 at halftime, Hawks’ senior Charlie Sordini nearly gave his team a two-goal margin five minutes into the second half with a great shot on goal, but it was met by an equally great stop by Larkin keeper Santiago Guerrero.

A minute later the game was knotted at 1-1 after Larkin netted the equalizer with 34:11 left on the clock.

Sensing a shift of momentum in Larkin’s favor, it didn’t take long for the Hawks to retake the lead and the momentum.

With 32:33 on the clock, senior Anthony DiNuzzo took a free kick which met the head of teammate Fabio Aiello. Aiello’s header came near the top left corner of the goalie box and looked likely to miss just wide to the right. Seemingly out of nowhere senior Mark Parzy came racing in to finish the goal off as he found the lower right corner of the net for the 2-1 advantage.

“This feels great,” said Aiello, a senior captain. “Second season in a row with a regional title, this feels awesome.”

From there DiNuzzo, Sordini and senior Joey Morgan had quality scoring chances, but a frantic Larkin offense made sure most of the play was near the Bartlett net.

Helping out Alva in the back were defenders Morgan, senior Landon Saile and junior Carlos Avina who time and time again cleared plenty of balls off of Larkin corner kicks and free kicks.

“That has been our weakness all season long on set pieces,” Beary said. “So it’s something we have worked our butts off in practice, defending those set pieces.”

Midfielders Aiello and seniors Ramiro Arroyo and Christian Castro also came up with some big defensive clears.

With a new defensive unit this season, the Hawks have had their struggles allowing 56 goals compared to 29 last year. But that back line has seen plenty of improvement during regional play which included a 2-1 win over No. 6 Elgin in the semifinals on Tuesday.

“This is the first time all season that you can definitely say that the defense saved the day,” Beary said. “They’ve definitely improved from the start of the season, and I don’t think we’re done yet.”

“We practice a lot on defense, and they helped me a ton tonight,” Alva said.

Larkin’s best opportunities to tie the game came with 3:15 on the clock as Alva made a great stop but the ball deflected back with an open net, but the second Larkin shot sailed over the net. Three minutes earlier, Alva made another great save that deflected back to Larkin with an open net, but Aiello put his body in front of the point-blank shot to preserve the lead.

“I just went up for it,” Aiello said. “I didn’t want them to score. Cristian did an amazing job. If it weren’t for him this game would have been different, very different.”

DiNuzzo scored the game’s first goal nine minutes into the match off of junior Matt Seidl’s assist.
The Hawks will take on No. 2 St. Charles North this Wednesday in the Bartlett Sectional semifinal game at Millennium Field in Streamwood.

“I can’t wait to play them,” Aiello said.

“I’m ready for them,” Alva added. “I’m ready to see St. Charles North again.”

Besides wanting to end St. Charles North’s season for the second straight year, the Hawks are looking for some revenge after a 5-2 loss that the North Stars hosted earlier this season.

“It’s great not only because we ended their season last year, but it’s also a chance to get some redemption on our field after losing over there,” Beary said. “I’m sure they would like to end our season like we ended theirs last year.”