Boys soccer: Senior-led Royals on a roll

Raziel Somarriba and Michael Beruqin

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There is senior leadership. And then there is senior leadership.

The Larkin boys soccer team has it -- almost to a ridiculous level.

"Our top 15 players are seniors," Royals coach Ken Hall said. "It's definitely a luxury."

It sure has been for the Royals (13-1) this season, who have clearly used that camaraderie to steamroll their way to a promising start to the season.

For a program that has never advanced to the State Finals, or even won a conference championship for that matter, it's hard for the Royals not to get just a little bit excited about what the near-future might have in store for them.

"I would say we are a little surprised, but at the same time we expected to win and be a good team this year," said one of those seniors, defender/sweeper Fernando Alvarez. "Some of us have been playing together for a long time and we believe in each other. Our goal is to win state and go farther than the sectional finals."

Today, Larkin will face Loyola at 10 a.m. at Toyota Park in Bridgeview -- home of the Chicago Fire -- for the right to be crowned champions of the prestigious Pepsi Soccer Showdown.

The Royals came into the 32-team tournament seeded second -- behind Schaumburg -- and have done nothing to tarnish those expectations, rattling off victories against Marist, Fenwick, Lyons and Geneva by a combined score of 9-3. Loyola (10-4) began the tourney as the eighth seed, but have been just as impressive while advancing through bracket play, including picking up victories against St. Charles North and Schaumburg.

"This is special and very important to us," senior forward Michael Beruquin said. "This would be just like winning State to us. If we can win this it would be really big. I'm very pumped up to play and to get a chance to play at Toyota Park."

The key for the Royals thus far has been their balance across the field -- as well as their experience. In addition to Beruquin (7 goals, 8 assists) up top, Larkin has another dangerous scorer in senior Raul Sandoval (area-best 15 goals, 6 assists). In the midfield, Larkin relies on seniors Danny Hinterlong (3 G, 14 A), Mike Gloss, Carson McFadden, AJ Southammavong, Luis Moldonado, Justin Bragg and David Hernandez. Defensively, the Royals turn to seniors Nestor Almanza, Misael Hernandez and Alvarez. Alvarez is regarded as one of the state's top defenders. Senior Raziel Somarriba is the team's goalkeeper.

"We aren't a team with one or two guys that stand out all the time," Hall said. "We have eight guys that can score goals and I have 16-17 players that could all be starters. I've never coached a deeper high school team."

In short, Larkin can score and defend.

"We know we can score and we have a good defense," Sandoval said. "Most of us have played together so long since we were with the Elgin Pumas. I can tell when we are not playing at the level we need to. We yell at each other and we push ourselves to get better, but there are no hard feelings. Everyone gets along and we all want to do well this year."

Hall believes if Larkin just plays as it has all year long to date, the Royals should have a good chance of celebrating the Pepsi Soccer Showdown's championship.

"First and foremost, the guys are excited to be playing at Toyota Park. This is a great opportunity for them and they realize that," Hall said. "We have to look at it as just another game, but it would be wonderful to win the championship." high school soccer