Hawks get first win on Avina's second-half goal
By Seth Hancock

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Bartlett’s boys’ soccer team has been waiting for a leader to emerge on offense all season.

As the Hawks defense has done their job to keep the squad in every game, averaging just fewer than 2 goals allowed per game, the offense has struggled to find the net which has led to an 0-10 start.

Well, Bartlett just might have found a leader for its offense after senior Carlos Avina’s second half goal lifted the Hawks to their first victory, a 1-0 win over the Lisle Lions in the Muscle Milk bracket of the Pepsi Showdown on Saturday at Lyons Township soccer complex.

“I knew it was my time to shine,” Avina said. “I’m mostly quiet out on the field, but they told me I have to speak up. I’m just happy I was able to help us get our first win of the season.”

The goal came just under 10 minutes into the second half after the Hawks earned a corner kick. Sophomore midfielder Mike Parzy took the kick from the right corner and found senior midfielder Zack Audy at the top left corner of the goalkeeper’s box.

Audy then passed over to Avina on the right side who in turn took a left-footed shot and found the net with 30:27 left on the game’s clock past the diving hands of Lisle (7-5) goalkeeper Brian Fiedler.

“My senior leadership was great out there, especially from Carlos Avina on that set play,” said Bartlett coach Ben Beary. “I wasn’t planning on calling that play, but Carlos wanted it.”

“We haven’t been working on it from that side,” said Avina. “We’ve worked on the play from the other side, but I can kick with both my left and right foot. I knew I’d be able to get a good shot.”

The Hawks had several scoring chances in the game, and Beary felt his team had more quality scoring chances in the first half. Avina had two solid shots on goal in the second half before he found the net, and senior forward Matt Seidl had a shot on goal 30 seconds before the Hawks’ tally.

From there, Bartlett had one other solid scoring opportunity as an Avina shot just missed the top right corner of the net after a Parzy corner kick with 5:40 left in the match.

Avina has spent most of the season helping the Hawks in the back as a defender, but he recently moved up to midfield which seemed to be a good move with his goal not only helping Bartlett earn its first win but also giving his squad its first lead of the season.

From there, the Hawks defense did not want to relinquish that advantage.

“We were able to keep the pressure as best we could on their offense,” said junior defender Adam Jones. “We limited them. After the goal, I told (sophomore defender) Andrew Gott that we’re not giving up a goal.”

Bartlett goalkeeper Justin Busch was only called upon to make three saves to preserve the Hawks first shutout of the season, but Beary did feel the defensive effort was not the best of the season.

Beary felt his defense gave Lisle forward Alhaji Kamara too many breakaway opportunities, but he was happy with the effort of Jones who stopped several of those threats before a shot could be taken.

“It wasn’t our prettiest defensive effort, but I have to hand it to Lisle,” Beary said. “Their number 24 (Kamara), he’s quick and they know it. They know what their strength is, and they kept going to him.”

“I’m not really happy with how many opportunities we gave them. This game could have easily gone the wrong way.”

Junior midfielder Joe Butler made a nice defensive stop of his own on Kamara with 16:06 left in the game. Kamara found his way inside the Bartlett box and had an open look at the net, but Butler raced in to block the shot.

Despite sitting at 1-10 overall, the Hawks feel they can surprise some teams late in the season if the defense, which includes seniors Alex Smith and Chris Kibler, can continue to limit their opponent’s chances.

“It feels great to get that first win,” Smith said. “I think we can get a lot more confidence with it. Our passing was probably the best it’s been all season, and our defense limited their shots.”

“I think if we keep working hard and keep finding the net, we can go far in the postseason and shock some teams,” Avina said. “We’re communicating more in the middle which helped, and coach brought up three new freshmen who helped a lot.”

Those three freshmen were forwards Josh Merkel and Igor Zwada and midfielder Oliver Saile. Beary said those three will return to the freshmen squad but may see some more time at the varsity level later in the season.