Boys soccer: Herscher wears down Streator in second half for ICE Conference win

STREATOR – With the notable exception of a pair of goals scored by all-state Herscher midfielder Jaden Jaime, the Tigers and Streator Bulldogs were playing a pretty even match for the opening 50 minutes of Tuesday’s Illinois Central Eight Conference opener.

The final 30 minutes, however, were not quite so even.

The visiting Tigers scored three goals over a 1-minute, 15-second stretch in the middle of the second half – including Jaime’s third and fourth of the evening – to pull away for a 5-1 victory at Streator’s new home field at the James Street Recreation Area.

“We lost a lot of seniors last season and have a lot of new leadership this year,” Streator coach J.T. Huey said. “Part of this development for these guys is learning to take energy, take control, be positive leaders. Sometimes it takes a hard knock in the teeth to wake that up, right?

“Some of the stats were probably pretty tight today until the end when [Herscher] pulled away. But what beat us is we didn’t get some officials’ calls, we didn’t get some goals in the back of the net, their keeper made some nice plays, and then we started getting frustrated, getting chippy on each other.

“That’s what lost the game. I think both teams were playing very, very well – equally – except for their No. 1. [Jaime] is nuts.”

Herscher (1-1 overall, 1-0 ICE) led 2-0 at halftime thanks to Jaime’s first two strikes, with 19:47 remaining and 0:48 left in the half, both times taking advantage of an overextended Bulldogs backline. Streator (2-2-1, 0-1) cut that deficit in half when junior Noah Russow was tackled from behind in the box and cashed in the penalty kick with 35:27 remaining in regulation.

It was the first time the increasingly frustrated Bulldogs had been able to score on the good chances they were creating. They nearly matched high-powered Herscher in first-half shots on goal (10-8) and kept that going early in the second half. But as the clock ticked down, the Tigers took over.

Moved from right to left wing by coach Alan High late in the opening half, Herscher’s Luis Parra proved his coach’s instinct correct with a left-side strike 14:08 into the second half that put the Tigers ahead 3-1. It also opened up the Tigers’ aforementioned three goals over 75 seconds that essentially put the match away – Jaime connecting on a penalty kick and then scoring on a great crossing pass from Parra less than a minute later for Herscher’s fifth and final goal.

“It’s our second game playing against people who aren’t ourselves, and our backline, only one of them started last year,” High said, “But I thought they did a pretty good job, much better in the second half. We had a few yips back there ... but up top, they’re really starting to jell up there.

“You saw the second half, quick one-two touch, no-look. It’s going to be one of those things where if we’re hitting our stride like we did in that six-minute stretch more consistently as the season goes on, it’s going to be an entertaining year.”

While shots on goal were neck-and-neck early, by the game’s end the Tigers carried a 23-13 advantage.

Streator starting keeper Noah Camp made 13 saves against five goals allowed, receiving some strong defensive help from the likes of Keaton Yedinak, Nick Pollett and Jordy Sanchez. Camp’s counterpart, Herscher freshman Henry Crane, recorded a dozen saves. Andrew Vogel came on in relief of Camp and stopped all five shots he faced.

The Bulldogs hit the road the next two days, visiting Blooomington Cornerstone Christian on Wednesday before heading to Lisle on Thursday for their next ICE Conference match.

“Part of this development for these guys is learning to take energy, take control, be positive leaders. Sometimes it takes a hard knock in the teeth to wake that up, right?”

—  J.T. Huey, Streator boys soccer coach