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Matt Lewandowski is always happy when his team can win a tournament, but the Huntley coach was especially pleased with what the Red Raiders winning their own tournament could mean as the season progresses.
The Red Raiders tied Guilford, 1-1, on Thursday before they took down Woodstock North, 4-1, on Friday and Larkin, 3-2, on Saturday to win their tournament. Huntley started and ended the tournament with two tough back-and-forth matches where the team secured a tie and a win.
“It’s always fun to win tournaments, especially when it’s your own,” Lewandowski said. “It gives us a little bit of credibility to what we’re seeing as a coaching staff that even though we graduated 15 guys, we can still make things happen. We have 15 new guys who are ready to fight and battle, and they’re going to be just as capable as last year if they set their minds to it.”
Forward Hudson Nielson had a strong weekend for Huntley, scoring a goal against Guilford to secure his team at least a tie. He finished with four assists against Woodstock North and two more against Larkin to finish the tournament with one goal and six assists.
“It’s good to see the guys are willing to dig down deep and battle and fight hard to get a win,” Lewandowski said.
Huntley entered Tuesday’s match against Libertyville with a 4-1-2 overall record and 1-0 in the Fox Valley Conference. The Red Raiders have played some different styles of play during the nonconference portion of the season to prepare for FVC action.
Lewandowski and his players hope a tournament win will help lead them to a strong run.
“I think we all know our conference is super tough, super tight,” Lewandowski said. “Everybody battles in their kind of way and you’re going to see different styles of play come out here. Having tough games early really sets us up for that and ultimately having tough games and tough conference battles sets us up well for the postseason at the end of the year.”
Dundee-Crown’s youth movement
Dundee-Crown showed its youth in the first half of its 4-2 win over Hampshire on Thursday.
The Chargers took an early 1-0 lead but couldn’t score more because of numerous offsides calls even though they kept moving the ball down the field.
D-C coach Rey Vargas thought that was because of the younger players he has added to the roster this season.
“They’re seeing things happen, and they’re getting a little anxious and don’t wait for the plays to develop,” Vargas said. “These are younger guys who are still trying to catch the vibe of the varsity level, and we’re trying to work through that.”
Vargas has three sophomores, Christopher Gerardo, Gaby Herrera and Christian Gerardo, along with one freshman, Sebastian Sanchez, on the roster this season. All four have earned some playing time, and Herrera scored a goal against the Whip-Purs.
The mixed group is something the Chargers aren’t used to, but players such as senior Miguelangel Pena have enjoyed the youthful additions.
“It’s a good experience,” Pena said. “They bring something new, a hunger playing on the field.”
Vargas saw his team come together in the second half against Hampshire by increasing the intensity and forcing the Whip-Purs to play under pressure. The Chargers scored three second-half goals and overcame a late push to hold on to their first FVC win of the season.
“It’s just a matter of getting adjusted to the pace of this game and the physicality of it,” Vargas said. “Having them understand what we’re trying to do as far as formation and how we want to break things apart.”
McHenry still looking for its lineup
McHenry coach Tony Caruso still is putting the puzzle together when it comes to the type of lineup he wants to deploy once FVC play begins.
The Warriors have started the season 4-2, losing their past two matches to Wauconda, 3-0, and Palatine, 2-1, and Caruso still wants to see some more matches before finalizing a lineup.
“I have some ideas about who can play where. I’ve got a good feel about if I have to move some guys around, it may be more beneficial for us,” Caruso said. “It’s just feeling it out at the beginning here and maybe in a couple weeks make adjustments.”
Caruso said outside midfielder JJ Tapia has done a good job from the outside to give his team both goals and assists while Sebastian Jimenez and Zaid Jimenez have both taken control defensively, which will give Caruso more freedom to move people around.
“Coming up here in the next couple of weeks, after Sept. 20, we’ll have a better handle of who can play where,” Caruso said.
Hampshire’s best match of the season
Hampshire coach Chayenne Martinez thought his team played its best match of the season despite losing to Dundee-Crown.
“We progressed forward and played a man down for a majority of the second half and still got a goal,” Martinez said.
Martinez was most encouraged by how his team prepared for its FVC opener. The Whip-Purs spent the week working on tactics and slowed the pace against the Chargers, switching where needed to in order to cover all areas of the field, and they held onto the ball longer and became more dangerous up front.
Hampshire played a man down after a red card with 21 minutes left in the match and got within 3-2 with 2:36 left after a goal from Juan Martinez. The Whip-Purs’ coach was excited to see how his team could build off a strong showing as the season progressed.
“I explained to my players, the scoreline doesn’t reflect how well we played,” Chayenne Martinez said. “We were there even with a man down, and everyone recognizes how well we played given the situation we were in.”