Senior Day win over Hononegah gives Storm win No. 10

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By Seth Hancock

Led by the birthday boy, South Elgin finished its home schedule with a 3-2 nonconference victory over the Hononegah Indians on Tuesday afternoon.

Senior striker Mike Kozielek celebrated his 18th birthday by scoring two goals, and his efforts also helped the Storm (10-4-5) celebrate their Senior Day.

“He did a really good job for us,” said South Elgin coach John Uveges. “But that’s Koz. He always does a good job, and it was nice to see on his birthday and on Senior Night.”

Hononegah had the upper hand at first, scoring the game’s first goal just four minutes into the match.
However, the Storm quickly bounced back by taking control of the possession. Senior forward EJ Hernandez and senior midfielders Bryan Irwin and Danny Fry, along with Kozielek and junior striker Phil Saccameno, applied constant pressure to the Indians’ net.

“They played well together,” Uveges said. “It was a little unorthodox because we played all the seniors and we had a lot of guys playing out of position, but it was a good team effort and the guys adapted to their positions.”

The Storm’s first strong scoring chance came with 21:20 left in the first half as senior midfielder Vince Szalay, Kozielek and Saccameno each ripped a shot on goal within seconds of each other, but Hononegah withstood the barrage.

The equalizer came with 17:40 left in the first half as Fry played a ball up the left side to Kozielekn, who in turn raced into the goalie box and timed his shot just right to find the net.

“We’re definitely finally all coming together and playing really well as a team,” Kozielek said. “We’re playing together, passing the ball around and communicating and we’re able to create good scoring chances.”

Kozielek and Fry helped lead the Storm’s next scoring attack with solid passing, and Fry passed to Saccameno who scored with 7:51 left before the break for a 2-1 halftime lead. Saccameno took the ball into the top right corner of the box and baited the Indians’ keeper to come out towards the ball when Saccameno ripped a shot off into the top left corner of the net.

Kozielek found the lower left corner of the net eight minutes into the second half for a 3-1 lead on an Irwin assist.

The Storm did control the possession most of the game, but Hononegah was able to find some holes in the South Elgin defense to take some strong shots on goal which helped the Indians pull to 3-2 with 1:17 left in the game.

Senior goalkeeper Jarod Schieler made eight saves including several strong stops on point blank shots.
“In my opinion, if he’s not the best goaltender I’ve seen compared to the other teams we’ve played he’s at least tied for the best,” Uveges said.

Junior defenders Alberto Bustamante and Spencer Scott each had quality scoring opportunities in the second half.

The Storm’s other seniors include Sean Burnette (defender), Jeremy Weber (midfielder), David Left (striker), Bret Hildebrandt (defender), Oscar Mendoza (midfielder) and Dan Riehle (defender).

Since defeating Hoffman Estates 2-0 on Sept. 15, the Storm has been undefeated at their new home stadium with a 3-0-2 mark.

South Elgin will finish the regular season against a tough Deerfield team, and the No. 12 seeded Storm will play No. 5 regional host West Chicago.

“We just have to play the way we have to be successful in the playoffs,” Kozielek said. “We have to have energy and work as hard as we can, and we can do pretty well in the postseason.”

“We need to finish when we play West Chicago,” Uveges said. “Tomorrow is a big test. I believe Deerfield is ranked in the top 10, and it’s a good game to head into the postseason with.”