Blackhawks do enough to edge Bartlett

By Curt Herron

West Aurora's soccer team has relied on a good approach during its first three matches of the season.

Don't allow the other team to score and your chances of collecting a victory are a whole lot better.

That strategy has worked successfully for three straight games as the Blackhawks are off to a 3-0 start.

On Thursday the Blackhawks claimed a 1-0 triumph over Bartlett on Thursday in a West Aurora tournament game in Aurora.

As a result of the win, the Blackhawks handed the Hawks (2-1) their first loss of the year and moved closer to a title.

The West Aurora defense, led by senior Henrry Perez, limited the Hawks to few chances on the rainy and windy evening.

Meanwhile, the Blackhawks only capitalized on one of their many opportunities but made the lone goal they did get stand.

With 37:50 left in the match, Jesse Ortiz sent a pass in front of the net to Adrian Aceves, who put in the short shot.

The win proved to be a hard-earned one for the Blackhawks, who made the long trip to Normal Community the previous night.

"I think the problem that we faced today was that our kids weren't mentally ready for the game," Blackhawks coach Joe Sustersic said. "We got up for the Normal game last night and didn't get back here until 10:30.

"Give credit to Bartlett since they played aggressively from the first moment. They rose up a level while we didn't play well other than the last 10 minutes of the first half and first 20 minutes of the second half.

"We didn't generate enough offense through the midfield since we played a lot of kick ball. We played to Bartlett's strengths. But also give credit to our defense since they bent a few times but they didn't break."

During a largely-uneventful first half, the Blackhawks finally started to come to life during the final 11 minutes.

Jomar Mendoza sent a grounder to Hawks goalkeeper Jeff Gal, who also stopped a header by Aceves a short time later.

Bartlett's best scoring chance for much of the opening half came with just over seven minutes left before the break.

Charlie Sordini briefly got free and was heading toward the Blackhawk net before Perez slid in and broke up the play.

In the second half, West Aurora applied the pressure quickly as Mario Alvarez got off a shot shortly before Aceves' goal.

Later in the half, Aceves, who now has three goals, had two more good scoring opportunities that were both stopped by Gal.

Ben Ness and Alvarez also had shot attempts that were corralled by the Bartlett keeper during the final minutes of play.

Blackhawks keeper Abel Diaz faced few serious scoring threats as he went on to collect his third shutout of the season.

"We played really hard today and stepped it up better in the second half better than in the first half," Diaz said. "We needed to loosen up a little bit more after the first half and we started communicating more.

"We've got a lot of good players who have been together since middle school. Our seniors know what they're doing and the sophomores and juniors are all stepping up and showing that they want to play on the varsity."

West Aurora player of the match: Henrry Perez

By Curt Herron

After seeing his squad post a third straight shutout on Thursday, West Aurora coach Joe Sustersic left no doubt as to who his player of the match was.

Senior Henrry Perez not only was all over the place on the defensive end but also was getting into the mix when the Blackhawks were on the attack.

Thanks in part to the efforts of the returning all-sectional performer, the Blackhawks edged Bartlett 1-0 in Aurora to improve to 3-0 on the year.

"I thought Henry played really well," Sustersic said of his sweeper back. "He did a good job of organizing and at times I think he was our best offense and he even had a chance to score up front."

The Blackhawks had many good scoring opportunities than did Bartlett, but they only converted one of those chances, doing so early in the second half.

As a result, West Aurora needed to rely on its defense in order to prevent the Hawks from picking up their third straight victory to open the season.

With Perez leading the way, the Blackhawks didn't allow Bartlett to get anything going when it had the ball, making life easier for keeper Abel Diaz.

"Today our offense wasn't connecting all that great but we had possession most of the time and our defense was shutting them down," Perez said. "They weren't getting the ball and if they can't score they can't win.

"We did a good job of talking and regrouping and getting the ball out when we needed to. In three games we've got three shutouts and we're aiming for 15 shutouts this year and I think that we can achieve that goal.

"Our team has been doing pretty good so far. We've got 10 returning varsity letterwinners and the young guys are also stepping up really well. And we get along on and off the field and that's important for a team."