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West Aurora reached new heights in 2009 By Gary Larsen The season is over for West Aurora, but in coach Joe Sustersic’s 9th season at the helm this year’s Blackhawks elevated the program to new heights. “I’m really proud of them. No one thought they had a chance and ten years from now they can look back at themselves as one of the best teams we’ve ever had at West,” Sustersic said. “Someday they can tell their kids about how good they were.” West Aurora went 18-4-2 this year, 4-2-1 in DuPage Valley Conference play, and posted 12 shutouts in 2009. They only gave up 17 goals in 24 games, while putting 70 goals on the scoreboard. If you had a chance to see the Blackhawks at the height of their powers this year, you saw a team that featured crazy ball skills, unselfish play, and an attack that out-possessed opponents in nearly every game it played in 2009. West Aurora went 32-11-3 over the last two seasons, and Sustersic will bid farewell to a group of seniors that were determined as young players to make their mark at the varsity level. “This was the first group at West Aurora that really talked about higher aspirations,” Sustersic said. “They were that freshmen team that says ‘we’re going to try to go to state’, when other people were just happy to make the varsity and play.” Senior defenders Loren Galloway, Rodolfo Jimenez, and Henrry Perez were instrumental in helping protect junior goalkeeper Abel Diaz, who was asked to step into a starting role after returning all-state keeper Steve Walan was lost for the season due to a knee injury. Galloway grew into a starting varsity role in back, and both Jimenez and Perez were offensive players before settling into defensive roles for the Blackhawks. “To see those guys step it up and assume those roles has been phenomenal,” Sustersic said. Perez was as good a central defender as any around this season, and arguably West’s most valuable player. For versatility, the Blackhawks had senior Victor Alfaro. Alfaro posted a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over Wheaton Warrenville South to end the regular season, and followed that with a goal and an assist in a regional-opening win over Batavia. Alfaro next tucked a sweet left-footed shot inside the post from 20-plus yards out to put the Blackhawks up 1-0 on Naperville Central. “I think Victor Alfaro has played every position in soccer except goalie,” Sustersic said. “And I think he could do that, too, if he had to. He really stepped it up. He had a great year and he was a great leader on the team this year.” No team has the success that West enjoyed this year without the work that Jomar Mendoza, Irvin Bernal, and Joe Chavez embraced on the outside at midfield. There’s little glory in running up and down the sideline for 80 minutes every game, but 18 wins wouldn’t have been possible without Mendoza, Bernal, and Chavez. “They knew they weren’t the glamour players but they did what was needed and they were great role players for us,” Sustersic said. “They did the blue-collar work we needed to be successful.” Senior Jesse Ortiz was an assist machine this year, posting 20-plus assists while posting 13 goals this year. Ortiz and Mendoza are the only two players at West that play club soccer in the offseason. The rest of the Blackhawks were forged in the old tradition of field rats. “They’d play wherever they found an open field, whenever they could get together and play,” Sustersic said. Other seniors departing the program include Mike Vazquez, Christian Breimann, Angel Perez, and Humberto Laguna. The Blackhawks return roughly 30 goals between juniors Ben Ness and Adrian Aceves next year. Juniors Josue Martinez and Mario Alvarez keyed West’s midfield play all season, and they’ll also return for a team that again figures to be able to put goals on the board. “The class of 2010 might be the benchmark for everyone else,” Sustersic said. “But we’ve got five starters coming back and two guys that scored 15 goals apiece up front, and a goalie that had 13 shutouts this year.” |
West Aurora's 2009 results
Postseason play
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