Bohlin scores twice to lead Storm past rival Hawks

By Curt Herron

With one of its main offensive threats sitting on the bench, South Elgin needed to find someone else who could produce a spark against rival Bartlett.

And that someone proved to be senior Dan Bohlin, who stepped in the fill the void for the Storm in their Upstate Eight Conference match on Tuesday.

Bohlin scored a goal just 6:37 into the match and then added another score less than eight minutes later to lead South Elgin to a 2-1 victory at Millennium Field.

So despite the fact that Bart Mazurek couldn't play due to yellow cards picked up in his four-goal effort on Monday against Streamwood, the Storm managed to win its sixth straight match.

Tuesday's triumph was an historic one for South Elgin (7-1-1, 3-0), which already has established a new program record for victories in a season.

But the win also was big for the Storm from a pride standpoint since many of its players are from Bartlett so beating the Hawks (8-4, 2-2) was an added bonus.

The victory comes just a day after South Elgin claimed its first win over Streamwood and two weeks after it claimed its initial victory over St. Charles East.

"Since this has been a season of firsts for us, we might as well continue that trend," Storm coach Mark Neville said. "I don't think the kids knew about the seven wins until I told them.

"Tonight when he got the opportunities, Dan had a nice clean touch on the ball and put it on frame and got two goals on it. With Bart out we played a 4-4-2 so we had an extra guy in the back.

"Bartlett likes to play the ball side to side and keep possession and that gave us time to get organized. For the most part everybody stayed in shape and organized so it ended up working out."

After Bartlett opened the match with a few long attempts that were hauled in by keeper Ryan Hicks, the Storm converted on their first good scoring chance.

With 33:23 left in the first half, Bohlin took a pass from Kevin McElwain and connected for a score that quickly established the tone for South Elgin.

The Hawks tried to answer with just under 29 minutes left in the half when Eric Kennebeck got free up top but Hicks came out of the net to deflect his attempt.

South Elgin increased its advantage to 2-0 with 25:41 left before the break after Bohlin gathered up a loose ball following an assist from Matt Shipon and proceeded to put a shot into the lower corner.

"It was rough with Bart getting the soft red in the last match so everyone had to step up their games," Bohlin said. "Whether it was the forwards, midfield or defense, we all played great games.

"It was good to get two quick goals since it took away their energy. This was a huge win for us since a lot of people on our team are from Bartlett so there were crosstown bragging rights at stake.

"In past years we haven't had a lot of seniors but this year most our roster are seniors so it's great to have that. There definitely have been a lot of firsts for us already this season."

That left matters up to the Storm's defense of center backs Devin Crockett and Ryan Piszczek, left back Edwin Jaramillo, right back Ben Kantor and keeper Hicks.

Although neither team was able to find the net again until late in the match, there were still plenty of good scoring chances over the next 50-plus minutes.

Bartlett's Fabio Aiello sent in a free kick that forced Hicks to make a diving save on with 22 minutes left in the half and Onyx Gonzalez responded with a shot a short time later.

Following the midpoint of the initial half, the Hawks received good shot tries from Alex Ortiz and Mike DiNuzzo while Nick Pawlowski had a shot on goal for the Storm.

South Elgin had another opportunity with just over 11 minutes left in the first half when Gonzalez got off a short shot that was stopped by Hawks keeper Jeff Gal.

Bohlin looked like he might get his third goal in the final minutes of the opening half, but Aiello effectively shut down the play to keep it 2-0 at the break.

"These guys have been our rivals since Day 1 and that just inspired us from the opening kickoff," said McElwain, who's one of the Storm players from Bartlett.

"Any time you lose a player who scored four goals in the last game it's going to hurt you. We really needed Dan to fill Bart's spot and he stepped up for us.

"Every year we've made leaps and bounds with this program. After we graduate, hopefully the juniors on this year's team will pick things up for next season."

The Storm opened the second half with a pair of good chances from Shipon but Gal stopped a free kick and Brian Roman cleared a short shot.

After Hawk Tommy Russo and Bohlin exchanged line drives that both sailed just over the net, there was a long gap of nearly 15 minutes where neither squad seriously threatened.

That drought ended shortly after the midway point of the second half when Gal sent in a long free kick that was headed forward to Hicks for the stop.

Ortiz sent another liner in a short time later for the Hawks, who finally collected their first score with 11:34 remaining in the match.

That's when Ramiro Arroyo was tripped up in the box and Joe McCullough placed the subsequent penalty kick into the lower corner of the net.

South Elgin had one more good chance in the late going when Bohlin sent a cross to Gonzalez, who headed the ball but it was stopped by Gal.

"A lot of our guys grew up playing against the Bartlett kids," Neville said. "So it's kind of like St. Charles East where it's tough and physical but a friendly matchup, which is nice for a coach."

Man of the match: Dan Bohlin

South Elgin needed someone to step in and fill the void on offense caused by Bart Mazurek being sidelined for the match.

As the Storm met up with rival Bartlett in Tuesday's Upstate Eight Conference clash, they found that person in Dan Bohlin.

The senior scored just 6:37 into the match and then added another goal less than eight minutes later to give his team a 2-0 lead.

That proved to be all of South Elgin's scoring as it held off a late Hawks challenge to claim a 2-1 win at Millennium Field.

With the victory, the Storm has won six straight and improved to 7-1-1, establishing a new program mark for wins in a season.

Storm starters vs. Hawks

Storm Schedule