Rueda's shot lifts Streamwood
over St. Charles North
Junior's free kick gives Sabres wild 4-3 win at Toyota Park
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BRIDGEVIEW — No other sport mixes the random and the precise quite like soccer. One moment is governed by a very rational order and other times chaos reigns.
"Soccer is that two or three minutes after either scoring a goal or giving up a goal," St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said. "You sometimes tend to lapse in your mental judgment."
The best players know how to take advantage. Edwin Rueda saw his opportunity and was not going to let it slip away.
The Streamwood senior midfielder took advantage of a key absence and drilled a free kick from about 14 yards out from the left edge in the 64th minute that proved a dramatic conclusion to the Sabres' stunning 4-3 victory over the no. 11 North Stars at Toyota Park on Saturday.
Amazingly it was the Sabres' first conference win and also denied the North Stars the opportunity to clinch the Upstate Eight River title.
Rueda's game-winner marked an incident-packed game that saw the North Stars fight back from separate two-goal deficits and create the equalizer just moments before. "You find a way to claw yourself back into a game like that and get an equalizer, and you can't make mental mistakes," Willson said.
"That's what we did and it ended up costing us the fourth goal."
Rueda also recorded a crucial assist and earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match distinction. Just moments earlier, St. Charles North forward Matt McCullough finished off a counter on a sharp cross from Garrett Morgando to forge the game's only tie at 3-3 in the 62nd minute.
Rueda answered in dramatic and somewhat unorthodox action. The game-winner was set up after a North Stars' foul on the left wing initiated the startling sequence. The North Stars' 6-foot-3 senior keeper Zack Norton was issued a yellow card for complaining about the call and was forced to the sideline. His replacement, Pier Ricossa, is a talented sophomore who stands 5-foot-7.
Rueda drilled a perfectly positioned liner high inside the back post. "That was just pure smarts on Edwin's part when they had to change goalies," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. "He saw the other goalie was only half the size of the starting keeper, and I told him to look at his options and go for the goal.
"He put it right in there perfectly."
Rueda has 10 goals and eight assists for the Sabres (8-6-4, 1-1-3). "Even if it was the other keeper, I think I would have gone for the same spot," Rueda said. "I'm happy that we came out with a win against a good team like North. We took advantage of what was there, and we created plays and we got goals in.
"They tied us and then we came up with the win, and that's all that matters."
A bit stunned by the sequence, St. Charles North (12-4-3, 4-1-0) recovered sufficiently to mount several significant scoring opportunities of its own in the final stretch. Streamwood performed ably to deny those chances. Defender Aaron Villegas made a great clearance on the line off a header by the North Stars' Ryan Olson.
Streamwood junior keeper Nick Gaviria played the second half. He made two game-saving stops on point blank North Stars' shots, including one from his knees. "As goalies we've been working very hard on our agility, reactions and reflexes," he said. "I know they were putting a lot of pressure, but I trust my boys on the back.
"As long as they stay organized and keep focused for the last 10 minutes, that's the most important part of the game."
Streamwood stunned the North Stars with three goals in the final 25 minutes of the first half. "I don't know who that team was in the first half," said Willson of his club. "I haven't seen them all year long. I don't know if it was a matter of adjusting to the field. I don't necessarily think the size of the field was great for us, but that just wasn't who we are or what we've been all season long."
The Sabres played with vigor and confidence in running out to leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in the first half. The goals developed both in the field of play and off set-pieces. Defender Rafa Gil started the offensive thrust by weaving through two defenders and forcing Norton to run off line as he slipped a shot past him in the 15th minute.
"It's something we've been working on hard the whole week in practice," Gil said. "I guess the goal just came, and I was a little surprised [Norton] came out."
The teams combined for three goals during a furious five-minute burst late in the first half. Streamwood forward Donnie Sosa elevated and finished on a header from a wonderful cross from Brian Benitez in the 33rd minute.
St. Charles North forward Dylan Mientus answered when he cleaned up a rebound on the back post in the 34th minute. In a foreshadowing of Rueda's game-winner, twice the Sabres responded to North's goals with their own.
Defender Erie Ortiz scored a rare header goal off a Rueda corner in the 38th minute that restored the Sabres' two-goal advantage. "We're not known for our height," Polovin said. "We are sometimes sneaky, and we're very quick. Erie getting that one was huge, because he's kind of a pest out there. He just runs around and if you lose sight of him, he is going to pounce."
North Stars' standout midfielder Alex Amro pulled the North Stars within 3-2 in the 54th minute.
Rueda said the atmosphere of playing at Toyota Park was unlike anything he ever experienced on a standard high school field. Gil said the team was exhilarated to have the early lead but also got tired in the second half and that was what contributed to the North Stars' comeback.
"I really enjoyed playing here, and it was beautiful," Rueda said. "We worked the whole week on getting the lead, and we knew we had to keep it.
"It's just a great win."
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK: Zack Norton
D: Hanson Hagemann
D: Brandon Stricker
D: Garrett Morgando
D: Carter Held
M: Ryan Olson
M: Alex Amro
M: Luke Denson
F: Johnny Acevedo
F: Peter Willis
F: Dylan Mientus
Streamwood
GK: Daniel Dominguez
D: Aaron Villegas
D: Rafa Gil
D: Ivan Gonzalez
D: Erie Ortiz
M: Aldo Lazaro
M: Edwin Rueda
M: Bryan Mora
M: Alex Chavez
F: Brian Benitez
F: Donnie Sosa
Man of the match: Edwin Rueda, MF, Streamwood
over St. Charles North
Junior's free kick gives Sabres wild 4-3 win at Toyota Park
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BRIDGEVIEW — No other sport mixes the random and the precise quite like soccer. One moment is governed by a very rational order and other times chaos reigns.
"Soccer is that two or three minutes after either scoring a goal or giving up a goal," St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said. "You sometimes tend to lapse in your mental judgment."
The best players know how to take advantage. Edwin Rueda saw his opportunity and was not going to let it slip away.
The Streamwood senior midfielder took advantage of a key absence and drilled a free kick from about 14 yards out from the left edge in the 64th minute that proved a dramatic conclusion to the Sabres' stunning 4-3 victory over the no. 11 North Stars at Toyota Park on Saturday.
Amazingly it was the Sabres' first conference win and also denied the North Stars the opportunity to clinch the Upstate Eight River title.
Rueda's game-winner marked an incident-packed game that saw the North Stars fight back from separate two-goal deficits and create the equalizer just moments before. "You find a way to claw yourself back into a game like that and get an equalizer, and you can't make mental mistakes," Willson said.
"That's what we did and it ended up costing us the fourth goal."
Rueda also recorded a crucial assist and earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match distinction. Just moments earlier, St. Charles North forward Matt McCullough finished off a counter on a sharp cross from Garrett Morgando to forge the game's only tie at 3-3 in the 62nd minute.
Rueda answered in dramatic and somewhat unorthodox action. The game-winner was set up after a North Stars' foul on the left wing initiated the startling sequence. The North Stars' 6-foot-3 senior keeper Zack Norton was issued a yellow card for complaining about the call and was forced to the sideline. His replacement, Pier Ricossa, is a talented sophomore who stands 5-foot-7.
Rueda drilled a perfectly positioned liner high inside the back post. "That was just pure smarts on Edwin's part when they had to change goalies," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. "He saw the other goalie was only half the size of the starting keeper, and I told him to look at his options and go for the goal.
"He put it right in there perfectly."
Rueda has 10 goals and eight assists for the Sabres (8-6-4, 1-1-3). "Even if it was the other keeper, I think I would have gone for the same spot," Rueda said. "I'm happy that we came out with a win against a good team like North. We took advantage of what was there, and we created plays and we got goals in.
"They tied us and then we came up with the win, and that's all that matters."
A bit stunned by the sequence, St. Charles North (12-4-3, 4-1-0) recovered sufficiently to mount several significant scoring opportunities of its own in the final stretch. Streamwood performed ably to deny those chances. Defender Aaron Villegas made a great clearance on the line off a header by the North Stars' Ryan Olson.
Streamwood junior keeper Nick Gaviria played the second half. He made two game-saving stops on point blank North Stars' shots, including one from his knees. "As goalies we've been working very hard on our agility, reactions and reflexes," he said. "I know they were putting a lot of pressure, but I trust my boys on the back.
"As long as they stay organized and keep focused for the last 10 minutes, that's the most important part of the game."
Streamwood stunned the North Stars with three goals in the final 25 minutes of the first half. "I don't know who that team was in the first half," said Willson of his club. "I haven't seen them all year long. I don't know if it was a matter of adjusting to the field. I don't necessarily think the size of the field was great for us, but that just wasn't who we are or what we've been all season long."
The Sabres played with vigor and confidence in running out to leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in the first half. The goals developed both in the field of play and off set-pieces. Defender Rafa Gil started the offensive thrust by weaving through two defenders and forcing Norton to run off line as he slipped a shot past him in the 15th minute.
"It's something we've been working on hard the whole week in practice," Gil said. "I guess the goal just came, and I was a little surprised [Norton] came out."
The teams combined for three goals during a furious five-minute burst late in the first half. Streamwood forward Donnie Sosa elevated and finished on a header from a wonderful cross from Brian Benitez in the 33rd minute.
St. Charles North forward Dylan Mientus answered when he cleaned up a rebound on the back post in the 34th minute. In a foreshadowing of Rueda's game-winner, twice the Sabres responded to North's goals with their own.
Defender Erie Ortiz scored a rare header goal off a Rueda corner in the 38th minute that restored the Sabres' two-goal advantage. "We're not known for our height," Polovin said. "We are sometimes sneaky, and we're very quick. Erie getting that one was huge, because he's kind of a pest out there. He just runs around and if you lose sight of him, he is going to pounce."
North Stars' standout midfielder Alex Amro pulled the North Stars within 3-2 in the 54th minute.
Rueda said the atmosphere of playing at Toyota Park was unlike anything he ever experienced on a standard high school field. Gil said the team was exhilarated to have the early lead but also got tired in the second half and that was what contributed to the North Stars' comeback.
"I really enjoyed playing here, and it was beautiful," Rueda said. "We worked the whole week on getting the lead, and we knew we had to keep it.
"It's just a great win."
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK: Zack Norton
D: Hanson Hagemann
D: Brandon Stricker
D: Garrett Morgando
D: Carter Held
M: Ryan Olson
M: Alex Amro
M: Luke Denson
F: Johnny Acevedo
F: Peter Willis
F: Dylan Mientus
Streamwood
GK: Daniel Dominguez
D: Aaron Villegas
D: Rafa Gil
D: Ivan Gonzalez
D: Erie Ortiz
M: Aldo Lazaro
M: Edwin Rueda
M: Bryan Mora
M: Alex Chavez
F: Brian Benitez
F: Donnie Sosa
Man of the match: Edwin Rueda, MF, Streamwood