Boy soccer: Maroons grab first league win

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ELGIN -- Elgin came out on Thursday afternoon at Memorial Field and played the type of soccer game that coach Dave Borg has been looking for all year.

The Maroons were aggressive and physical, two areas of play that have eluded Elgin most of the year, and the result was a 2-0 win over South Elgin, giving Elgin its first Upstate Eight Conference victory of the season.

"We needed to win a physical game," said Borg. "We've been a part of a lot of them and we get pushed around a lot so it was nice to come out on top for once. I think our kids played pretty clean. I think both teams were pretty clean. It was a great win."

Added Storm coach Mark Neville: "At times when we needed to step up and be a little more physical and make a run here or there, we kind of stood around. (Elgin) took the initiative on some of those runs and plays with the ball."

After a long pass from forward Ismael Hernandez, junior Omar Jasso dribbled down the sideline and found the back of the net to give Elgin (3-13, 1-5) an early 1-0 lead only four minutes into the game. The Storm (5-7, 1-4) had several chances in the first half to even up the score but found many of its shots hitting the post or sailing over the crossbar.

One of those occasions was when Michael Alfini attempted a shot off a rebound, but was denied as the ball hit the crossbar. And even though the Storm controlled possession for most of the first half, the Maroons made it count when they threatened.

With 13 minutes left in the half, Josue Chavez broke free and dribbled down the left sideline, only to see Storm goalkeeper Ryan Hicks come up with a diving save. But Hernandez was right there and scored on the rebound to give Elgin its second and final goal of the match.

"(South Elgin) was missing to the right, to the left, hitting the crossbar and that usually happens to us, so maybe it was our day today," said Borg.

Elgin dominated the majority of the second half ,but when the Storm threatened to cut into Elgin's lead, goalkeeper Osiel Ravadan stepped up for the Maroons. The junior had six of his 11 saves in the second half to help preserve the shut out. Elgin looked to add on to its lead but had four scoring opportunities negated by offsides calls.

"That's what the offsides shows," said Borg. "We're at least trying to make our runs and that's what we haven't been doing. I think the second half showed that we were the dominant team today."

"We were seeded 21st out of 21 teams in our sectional. South Elgin was ahead of us and we got all 20s across the board from every team out there. So I know there's no respect for us right now so we came out and told ourselves that we're not taking anything except a victory today."