Blackhawks cap 6-0 start with Oregon Invite title

From staff reports

West Aurora capped off a busy opening week of the season by capturing Saturday's championship at the Oregon Tournament.

The Blackhawks won four pool before advancing to the title match, where they met Juarez of the Chicago Public League.

Both squads were unable to find the net in regulation play, so the tournament championship was decided on penalty kicks.

Coach Joe Sustersic's Blackhawks made all five of their attempts while the Eagles were denied on one of their five tries.

West keeper Able Diaz made the stop in the PKs and finished with five saves during the match to post his fourth shutout.

Mario Alvarez, Matt Koth, James Brink, Josue Martinez and Josue Mejia all converted their attempts during the shootout.

Saturday night's win capped a 6-0 week for West, which return to action on Wednesday with a 6:30 pm match at Batavia.

In the Blackhawks' other matches on Saturday, they beat Princeton 1-0 and claimed a 4-1 victory over Monmouth-Roseville.

The win over Monmouth-Roseville was notable since it was Sustersic's 100th victory during his tenure at West Aurora.

In that victory, Alvarez led the was for the Blackhawks by registering two goals while assisting on another score.

Benni Ness and Roberto Chavez also scored goals while Daniel Rotolo and Brink chipped in with assists for the winners.

Against Princeton, Martinez scored the lone goal while Mike Vazquez added the assist and Diaz picked up the shutout.

On Friday, West opened tournament play with a 9-0 victory over North Boone and a 6-0 triumph over the host school.

Ten different Blackhawk players scored goals in those two matches while nine different West athletes added assists.

West kicked off its season last Monday with another long trip in which it claimed a 5-1 win at Machesney Park Harlem.

The Blackhawks, who play at Oswego on Saturday, have their first home match next Tuesday against Naperville Central.