Storm christens new home field with a win


Photos courtesy of Judy Piszczek

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By Kevin Chroust

If you build it, they will come.

And apparently they will score in the first five minutes.

In its first official game action, the new South Elgin stadium debuted Thursday with a Field of Dreams kind of feel—new bleachers and corn stalks growing right up to the east fences with farmland beyond.

Kevin Costner didn’t show, no one had to step off the field to save a choking child, and shin guards and a Size 5 soccer ball replaced mitts and bats, but the feel-good script played out and played out early.

The Storm got a pair of early goals from Mike Kozielek and rode them to the first true home win in school history—a 2-0 non-conference victory over visiting Hoffman Estates.

“That’s huge,” South Elgin coach John Uveges said. “When you win the first day on the field, it’s a good feeling.”

After the new field was introduced to a larger than normal soccer crowd, the Storm (5-3-2) wasted little time making sure they were the first to score on the fresh grass.

Kozielek ran onto a ball played over the top by defender Bret Hildebrandt on the right side. Two Hawks defenders closed on the ball, but Kozielek beat them to the spot, squeezed between them, absorbed contact in the box, stayed on his feet and shelved the first goal in his stadium’s history in the match’s fifth minute.

“After just watching the play develop, it was pretty easy to make the run and get it done and put it in the net, and it felt good being able to relax right off the beginning,” Kozielek said. “I just kept sticking with the play and never gave up.”

The senior struck again in the 15th minute when he broke in alone on Hoffman Estates keeper Michael Gordon.  Kozielek kept his cool and control of the ball while distancing himself from the Hawks’ defense, then placed a low shot in the left corner for the 2-0 lead.

“He finishes extremely well,” Uveges said. “He is one of the best players around.”

It was a day on which the Storm were able to make the most of their speed up top with a direct attacking style. Along with Kozielek, EJ Hernandez and Phil Saccameno frequently rushed into the box on breakaways or balls played over the top of the defense.

“I’ve got four guys that I have a lot of confidence in up front, and they can play,” Uveges said.

It’s not a style the Storm strive for each match, but it was there for the taking Thursday.

“It was definitely matchups today,” Kozielek said. “Normally, we try to do more of a possessive style, not direct through. We try to come through the outside mids and everything, but today we kind of figured out the back wasn’t as strong as usual so we were able to go right up the center.”

Hoffman Estates had a pair of first-half scoring chances, but neither time was able to put the ball on frame.

The win continues a week of highs for the Storm. The inaugural match Thursday came two days after a big road win against a Lake Park team that entered the match with one loss.

“This is a carry over from our Lake Park game,” Uveges said. “We played a tremendous game against a very talented team, and we did the same thing today.”

Kozielek said turning things around this week has everything to do with the team being more complete mentally and completing games.

“It has been the mindset,” Kozielek said. “We weren’t on the same page in the beginning of the year, and it kind of showed in the few games we lost in the last few seconds of games. We’re all playing full games, not halves. It’s a lot better.”