Rams shut out in loss to West Aurora
By Bill Stone

CLICK HERE FOR GLENBARD EAST'S TEAM PAGE

West Aurora outside midfielder Jose Gallegos is getting plenty of playing time this season, even starting as a sophomore.

So is his brother, sophomore starting defensive marking back Luis Gallegos.

“I like playing with him,” Jose Gallegos said. “I get along with him. We’re both good players. I think he deserves to be a starter like I do. We’re both sophomores so that’s pretty good.”

The Blackhawks’ bond of brotherhood goes well beyond that. After a rough start and numerous injuries, they have worked together to play their best soccer heading into the Class 3A state playoffs.

On Tuesday, they concluded their regular season on a successful note with a 2-0 victory at Glenbard East in DuPage Valley Conference action in Lombard.

Senior Daniel Rotolo scored both goals for West Aurora (9-7-5, 3-3-1 in DVC) in the second half with assists from Luis Gallegos and senior Miguel Moreno. After starting the season 3-6-1, the Blackhawks finished the regular season with a 6-1-4 record.

“That’s the stat that most impresses me,” West Aurora coach Joe Sustersic said. “We started off poorly, trying to figure out where everyone fits, where everyone best does all of their things, but it was nice today. It was a team effort. We stepped up. Where some guys didn’t get the job done, the next man up did a great job of doing what needed to be done. That’s what we’ve been teaching them the whole time.”

Sustersic especially is pleased that West Aurora finished .500 in DVC action, earning a tie for fourth in the final standings with West Chicago, the only team to beat the Blackhawks during their last 11 games (3-0 Oct. 2). The Rams (3-14-1, 1-6) finished eighth.

The Blackhawks were the only team to beat first-place Naperville North in league play. The Huskies already have clinched the DVC title at 6-1. They’ll share if Naperville Central beats Wheaton Warrenville South Wednesday in the final conference match.

On their Senior Night, the Rams suffered their fifth loss in a row and third straight by a 2-0 margin. The Rams, who have scored just 13 goals this season, were outshot 23-11 but just 8-3 in shots on goal. West Aurora led 5-3 in corner kicks.

“We’ll get things going forward. It’s when we get into the final third that we just haven’t capitalize and just haven’t found ways to bury balls that we need to when we get the chance,” Glenbard East coach Josh Adler said. “It puts a lot of pressure on being really good defending and not having breakdowns.

“I thought we did a pretty good job of managing and equalizing the game throughout the first, probably, 50 minutes. And then, I don’t know, we just kind of lost our rhythm of the game and the game started opening up. That’s just kind of how things have been going throughout the season. We have a really good 40, 50 minutes and then we kind of lose it at some point.”

Such was the case Tuesday. The Blackhawks applied consistent pressure the first 20 minutes but couldn’t convert. As the Rams switched from a 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 for more offense and gained confidence, they nearly took the lead less than two minutes before halftime when senior Samir Ghiasi’s 25-yard blast went off the crossbar.

Just when things seemed to be going against the Blackhawks, they still managed. Part of the challenge in the first half was playing into a steady wind, yet they outshot the Rams 14-5 (4-2 in shots on goal).

By the second half began, the wind had shifted and the Blackhawks continued battling Mother Nature.

“It’s a little difficult when you’re playing against the wind for 40 (minutes), and that’s not an excuse. (But) we played against the wind 65-70 minutes,” Sustersic said. “That’s what happens. I’m not going to complain one way or another. We were playing against the wind, against 11 (Glenbard East players) and that’s what you have to do sometimes.”

One big change for West Aurora during its winning streak has been the progress of a senior-led midfield with Moreno, Danny Talancon and Rotolo, who has shifted from a defensive to attacking center midfielder.

As Glenbard East was pressing in the second half, the Blackhawks took advantage. On a counterattack, Jose Gallegos took a short pass from Nay Sirr and gave a beautiful through ball to Rotolo down the center of the field for a breakaway. He deposited the ball just inside the left post with 30:03 remaining.

“We talked at halftime about trying to make penetrating runs because they have a flat four (defense),” Rotolo said.

West Aurora had been called for offsides twice in the first half.

“I had a man wide open and I just had a chance to look for him. He’s a good player. I knew he was going to finish, and he made the team proud,” Jose Gallegos said. “We just pass the ball, we get along with each other and that’s how we do it. We just get confident.”

Rotolo’s seventh goal of the season was dramatic in different fashion. He took a quick lateral pass from Moreno and blasted a 30-yard shot that found the upper-left corner of the net for a 2-0 advantage with 13:25 to play.

“I just got the ball, had some space and just ripped it,” Rotolo said. “I’ve been trying to take a lot of shots from outside this year and just get some shots on target since I’ve switched (midfield positions), trying to get me in an offensive role.”

West Aurora’s defense recorded its fourth shutout of the season and fourth during its 11-game surge, two of them scoreless ties. What made it even sweeter was the return of junior captain Alex Guillen as goalie for the second half after sophomore Hugo Nunez played the first.

Nunez, West Aurora’s fifth sophomore seeing regular varsity action this season, mostly has played goalie the past eight games during Guillen’s absence. Guillen injured his shoulder making a last-second save to preserve the victory over Naperville North.

“It was nice to see Alex back in goal,” Sustersic said. “Was he rusty? Yes, I’m not going to lie. He came out, and there were a few times he got lucky.”

Glenbard East gave Guillen a test down the stretch. With six minutes left, Ghiasi received a lead pass in the upper left corner of the box, and Guillen charged out. The two players cancelled each other out, and the defense cleared the ball.

With four minutes left, Fredy Ibarra appeared to have a breakaway, but it never materialized. Guillen then grabbed a solid corner kick by Eduardo Diaz with two minutes left.

The Blackhawks use a marking-back defensive strategy with seniors Noel Chavira and Chris Koulos doing most of that work Tuesday with back-line help from fellow starters Luis Gallegos and senior Juan Cerda.

“It actually feels really good getting another shutout, especially with (Guillen) coming up,” Koulos said. “Oh yeah, definitely, (the crossbar shot) was a little defensive breakdown. We played pretty well defensively, just for the crossbar and a couple of times we got beat 1-on-1, but for the most part I thought we did really well.”

For Senior Night, Adler started nine of his 10 healthy seniors – Mike Batiz, Diaz, Ghiasi, Ibarra, Cesar Infante, Juan Jimenez, goalie Seth Quam, Matt Rossetti and Sam Scully. Senior Ammar Al-Ghoul played the second half in goal.
 
After several substitutions in the 15th minute, Ghiasi and junior Carlos Urbina began to form a strong forward tandem. With eight minutes left until halftime, a strong header forced Nunez to make a diving save.

When Quam had a powerful punt past midfield late in the half, it bounced twice before Urbina overlapped it and Ghiasi took control. Ghiasi’s shot rattled off the crossbar.

“Samir cracked a nice ball that if you get it to dip a little bit more, it goes in and it can change the complexion of the game. The good thing is we found a way to generate some opportunities,” Adler said. “When that first goal goes in, I think we got really kind of deflated from the situation and weren’t able to recover and regain our feet.”

For the 3A playoffs, both West Aurora and Glenbard East are seeded No. 13 in their respective West Chicago and York sectionals and face No. 4 seeds on their home field.

In the Neuqua Valley Regional semifinals, West Aurora gets a tough test with Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division tri-champions Neuqua Valley (10-6-2) at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 16 in Aurora. The winner plays No. 5 East Aurora or No. 12 Plainfield Central for the regional title at noon Oct. 20.

“Neuqua Valley is a good team,” Koulos said. “We’re also a good team. We’ve pulled off some upsets and we think we can upset them.”

In the Streamwood Regional semifinals, the Rams play Streamwood (11-7) at 5 p.m. Oct. 16. The winner meets No. 5 Glenbard West or No. 11 Elgin for the regional title at 11 a.m. Oct. 20.

“I told the guys tonight the nice thing is whatever happened before, this your new season, new opportunity. Anything can happen,” Adler said. “I’m looking forward to see how they come out and if they respond with a little urgency because you win, you move on. That’s the fun part. There are a lot of emotions that are behind postseason soccer.”