Sabres improve to 4-2 with win over Batavia
By Gary Larsen

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Mario Rodriguez is a prime example of what rededication can do for you. After netting nine goals last season, a 5-14-4 season that ended in a 1-0 regional loss in overtime, the talented Streamwood senior did something his coach loved to see happen.

He put his nose to the grindstone.

“He saw the way his season ended last year, and for the whole rest of the school year and into the summer he was in the weight room, and working on his speed,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “The work he put in is definitely showing in his game.”

Rodriguez scored in Thursday’s 4-2 win for Streamwood over visiting Batavia, giving him eight goals for the year, and the individual results for Rodriguez thus far have reflected his team’s results through 6 games of the 2012 season.

The Sabres are now 4-2 on the year with essentially the same team as last year, and this year’s team has already deposited 25 goals in net through six games, after scoring 24 goals in 23 games last year.

“We’re creating more chances,” Rodriguez said. “And it’s the whole team. We all worked hard in the offseason, and we’ve been moving the ball around more and getting more chances. We’re just a better team now. We were young last year and now we have more experience, so that has helped us.”

“Part of it is confidence and we worked really hard over the summer – not just as individuals, but as a team, too. And we don’t like to play selfish.”

Mother Nature gave a skilled, quick, and unselfish Streamwood team a stiff wind at its back in the first half of Thursday’s Upstate Eight game, and the Sabres wasted no time bringing the attacking heat to the Bulldogs.

“They have great combinations and they’re quick with the ball,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said of Streamwood. “They play off each other really well, and with the wind in the first half they were coming at us. So we played a little more compact, which sort of forced them to play more direct.”

Through 15 minutes, Streamwood sent one hard-hit shot after the next in on Batavia keeper Michael Rueffer, but the senior met every challenge. Rueffer left his line aggressively when it was called for, and stayed on his line to make quality saves throughout.

The game’s first goal came when Rueffer made a nice stop on a shot taken from the left side at 17 minutes. The rebound shot fell to the far post, where Streamwood’s Christian Vences was there to clean it up into net.

The senior Rueffer and junior keeper Nick Foster are splitting time in net, and both showed solid shot-stopping ability against a Streamwood team with multiple players able to put good balls on frame.

“(Rueffer and Foster) kept them in the game and it’s not like we didn’t challenge them,” Polovin said.

For a Batavia team that lost 17 players from last year’s side, Rueffer and Foster will continue to handle pressure as the Bulldogs acclimate to varsity play.

“Only four of us returned so it’s a whole new team, and obviously varsity soccer is a lot faster and a lot more physical,” Batavia junior defender Nick Samperi said. “After four games, we should be more settled in but it’s still going to take a little time. In our first game this year we were playing slow and not playing physical, and now we’re playing a lot faster and more physical. It just comes with experience. We have to keep improving and we’ll get there.”

Despite spending most of the first half defending, Batavia knotted the score at 29 minutes on a Gabe Monarrez goal set up by a free kick.

Streamwood regained the lead in the final minute of the first half, after Nestor Ascencio was tripped in the box and Rodriguez converted the penalty kick. Foster took over in net for Batavia in the second half and made a pair of quality saves before his side tied the game at 65 minutes.

A Streamwood hand-ball call gave Batavia’s Kevin Collins a penalty kick. Streamwood keeper Bryan Contreras made the stop but Collins swooped in and buried the rebound to tie the game.

“That got us a little nervous and we need to stop making those small mistakes in the back,” Rodriguez said. “We beat St. Charles East (1-0 on Sept. 28) because we didn’t let them score, and that’s the way we need to play. We’re good in back, we just need to stop making those little mistakes.”

With the score tied 2-2 Batavia was reinvigorated. The Bulldogs spent the next 10 minutes of play at a higher level, a 10-minute span that Gianfrancesco can hold up as an example to his young team.

“I think our guys gained some confidence when we tied it 2-2, and we were looking more for feet and we were being more physical. We were winning fifty-fifties,” Gianfrancesco said. “Now it’s just learning to take advantage of that situation, because we had a few opportunities but they ended up being turnovers. It’s just experience in those situations, that’s all it is.

“Again, it’s the ‘P’ word – it’s patience. It’s hard to tell a high school boy to be patient, especially when they’re looking at the score line and reading the media coverage and how other teams are doing in the area. So we’ve got to do a good job of keeping them focused.”

Samperi also saw the value of reminding his side of what’s possible, and what needs to improve.

“Our team plays sixty-five minutes and then we let up in the last fifteen,” Samperi said. “We need to be a complete team and play the whole game. As you can see, when we were tied 2-2, we played some great soccer. We were a whole different team and we need to play like that the entire game.”

Streamwood, however, seems to have the weaponry that will give the Sabres a chance to win any game. The tie lasted until the game’s 73rd minute, when Foster made a diving stop that led to a Streamwood corner kick. The kick found the carpet near the far post, where Avalos buried it for the 3-2 lead.

Streamwood added a late goal from Edwin Rueda, and Polovin was happy with the win.

“Any time you can beat any of the Tri-cities teams, it’s a good day,” Polovin said. “Mark does a great job with Batavia and this year for him has to be more of a rebuilding year, considering the talent he graduated.”

Polovin also tipped his hat to two of the chief architects of his attack.

“It starts with our two center mids, Nestor (Ascencio) and Christian (Vences),” Polovin said. “Those two are partners in crime. They do everything together, and those two are our playmakers. You might be able to stop one, but then you’ve got the other one to deal with. Vences has nine assists and three goals now, and with Nestor at holding mid this year, it’s a perfect spot for him.

“Nestor is so fun to watch. He’s so sly with the ball. You think you’re going to stop him and he just makes a quick little spin move to get out of trouble and find someone, and then get the ball back. He’s a lot of fun.”

Senior and three-year starter Alejandro Avalos has also shined.

“Alejandro has been on fire,” Polovin said. “He has speed and a knack to go to goal, and he can make guys on defense look silly sometimes. And Edwin Rueda is technically gifted for a freshman. He’s at outside mid and he’s fun to watch, too. He’s not afraid to take guys and take shots, or be aggressive.”

Gianfrancesco liked what he got from his two goalkeepers and singled out Samperi’s play on Thursday.

“Nick has been solid in back,” Gianfrancesco said. “We moved him from the outside to the inside and the last two games we’ve had him there, he has been the most solid guy there, with his leadership and everything. And Zac Grahovec up top really finds and holds the ball for us, and that makes a big difference for us.

“I thought our guys played very well in back, a lot of talk, a lot of communication. A couple of (Streamwood’s) goals came on rebounds after a save, where we just failed to track back. And those are just things that need to be fixed so we’ll keep working on that stuff.”