SOUTH ELGIN – At the start of a match, Sebastian Kopanicak knows his role is to prepare for the game from the bench. 

As he sits, Kopanicak studies how opponents react to the Hawks front-line attack.

He’s looking for something to exploit when he gets the call.

Whenever his time comes, like it did in Bartlett’s 5-1 victory over South Elgin on Tuesday night, Kopanicak is ready to pounce.

“Coming off the bench I always want to make an impact as soon as I come on the field,” he said. “No matter what it is, offensive or defensive, I just want to make an impact. And tonight, that’s what I did.”

Did he ever. 

Kopanicak, a junior midfielder, scored twice and added an assist as the Hawks (3-2-2, 1-0-0) debuted in the new Upstate Eight Conference West Division with a dominating win.

“Having a guy like him who is dangerous coming off the bench, that’s a weapon,” Bartlett coach Anthony Glorioso said. “Usually, you’re only as good as your bench players are, and he’s a really good player. He wants to start, but he loves where he’s at.

“He’s getting playing time, and he knows that he can study the game for the first 10 or 15 minutes and learn from it.”

Kopanicak capped a 2-on-1 charge for his first goal of the night. It gave Bartlett a 2-0 edge that held through halftime. He started a give-and-go with Raul Arismendi before making good on the return pass.

“We were possessing the ball pretty good in the attacking third,” Kopanicak said. “We got it around the goal line, and Raul crossed it to me to finish it. I put it in the back of the net.”

His second goal was the biggest of the night for the Hawks. It came just moments after South Elgin cut its deficit to 2-1 in the 42nd minute.

“That goal was very important for us to get the win today,” Kopanicak said. “After they scored to make it a one-goal lead they got excited thinking they can come back. By getting the two-goal lead again, it brought us back up.”

Glorioso praised his team’s ability to respond quickly, something they failed to do against Wheeling earlier in the season. Also leading 2-0 at halftime in that contest, the Hawks settled for a 3-3 tie.

“Yeah, it’s one of those struggles we’re actually having this year,” Glorioso said. “We always say the first five (minutes of the game or second half) or next five (minutes after a goal) are important, because anything can happen. You’ve gotta get mentally ready. 

“We’ve been scored on in the next fives multiple times this year. So as a group, after (the Storm) scored that first one, they mentally were like, ‘Ok, this can’t happen again.’ 

“I think they’re starting to get the understanding that we’re going to have to shut them down a little bit sooner now. It’s just something we’ve got to work on. We can’t fall asleep for a minute-and-a-half or two minutes.”

Goals from Marco Costabile and Oliver Gomadski closed the scoring. 

The win brought the Thunderhawk Cup back to Bartlett, it’s a travelling trophy the rivals compete for each season.

Bartlett took the lead in the 11th minute on a Preissig header off a Dzemal Dzambegovic corner kick.

“Bartlett’s talented, and they came out and just made us feel real small right away,” South Elgin coach Jerzy Skowron said. “We were never really able to get out of that funk in the first half.

“Then things started to change in the first five minutes of the second half. I’m like, ‘Here we go.’ And then, just like we’ve been doing all season, a stupid mental lapse on defense and here we go sinking again.”

It was a goal from Matthew Lipp that -- momentarily -- got the Storm back into the contest.

Lipp capped a 2-on-1 with Adam Kiel to make it 2-1 in the 42nd minute.

“Jack Schmidtke turned and played a beautiful ball to Adam,” Lipp said. “Then Adam looked across at me. I made eye contact with him, and he played a beautiful ball. I just slotted it into the open net. Pretty easy.”

But just as soon as the Storm (3-7-1, 0-1-1) gained momentum, it disappeared. 

Kopanicak’s second goal stole it.

“It was shocking, but I felt like we could have bounced back, because the first two minutes of the half we did bounce back,” Lipp said.

The Storm actually had the game’s first good scoring-chance. Ben Krueger fed Kiel for a point-blank shot that was blocked by Hawks keeper Daniel Martinez in the fifth minute.

Later, while down 1-0, Krueger nearly tied it after he bulldozed his way through a pair of defenders but Martinez turned him away again.

Krueger had another scoring chance moments later but still couldn’t solve Martinez.

For his part, South Elgin keeper Ethan Messer kept his team alive late in the first half, making two key saves in the final seven minutes. But in the end, the Storm never provided the offense it needed to beat Bartlett.

Lipp didn’t mince his words when asked for his opinion.

“I have a lot of thoughts right now, but my main one is our effort in the game,” said Lipp, a sophomore co-captain. “I feel like our effort … there was just no passion. We come in the second half and score two minutes in, and they come back and score three goals.

“We’re not putting in enough effort like we should be. And if we give effort there may be more chance of us changing the score instead of it being 5-1. But you can’t go back in time.”

Skowron agreed with his young leader.

“Bartlett deserves all the credit in the world for the win, and the way they won today,” he said. “Is there a four-goal difference between us? I don’t think so. I think Bartlett just has a tougher mentality than we do right now.”

Starting lineups

Bartlett
GK: Daniel Martinez
D: Adan Rueda
D: Nate Preissig
D: Ryan Wozny
D: Jack Conner
M: Raul Arismendi
M: Alexander Perez
M: Omar Castro
M: Will Ehlers
F: Marco Costabile
F: Dzemal Dzambegovic

South Elgin
GK: Ethan Messer
FB: Quentin Albert
FB: Isaac Marquez
FB: Ben Krueger
CB: Pablo Correa
CB: Jair Garcia
CM: Emiliano Morales
CM: Eduardo Lopez
CM: Alan Munoz
F: Matthew Lipp
F: Adam Kiel

Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Sebastian Kopanicak, jr., MF, Bartlett

Scoring summary
First half
Bartlett: Nate Preissig (Dzemal Dzambegovic), 11’
Bartlett: Sebastian Kopanicak (Raul Arismendi),

Second half
South Elgin: Matthew Lipp (Adam Kiel), 42’
Bartlett: Kopanicak (Preissig), 43’
Bartlett: Marco Costabile (Kopanicak), 56’
Bartlett: Oliver Gromadski, 59’