While second-ranked Lincoln-Way and Sandburg have been headlined as top teams in the southwest suburbs, Joliet has been quietly piling up victories.
With their 3-1 victory Saturday over host Lincoln-Way (8-1, 3-1) in a battle of unbeatens, the 10th-ranked Steelmen (9-0, 4-0) proved they may indeed be the southwest’s best.
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“The kids were really up for this game,” Joliet coach Jose Salinas said. “I knew we had a team that could beat them. We were really sharp, and we had to be, because we know that they are an excellent team.”
Joliet seized control of the SICA West with the victory. The Steelmen took a 2-0 lead after Aaron Aguirre scored his eighth goal of the year midway through the first half and Tom Mravle contributed his 13th off an assist from Nathan Meister 3 1/2 minutes later.
Ben Angel scored for Lincoln-Way 13 minutes into the second half, but the Knights struggled against the Joliet defense thereafter. Joliet goalkeeper Jeronimo Estrada made 12 saves overall, while his teammates took 15 shots on goal offensively.
Joliet’s Jorge Arroyo iced the victory with his first goal of the year with 6 minutes left.
St. Charles 2, Naperville North 0: Top-ranked St. Charles (7-1-1) scored twice in the first half and held off the fourth-ranked Huskies (6-2-1) for the shutout. Jeff Lynskey tallied first on an assist from Derek Shanahan with 28:14 left in the half. Mike Murphy slipped past two defenders and beat Naperville North goalkeeper Blake Decker 52 seconds later.
Fremd 4, Barrington 0: Louis Litienta had two goals and Chris Lonteen a goal and two assists to lead No. 3 Fremd (6-1-2, 4-1) in the Mid-Suburban North.
Downers Grove South 3, Palatine 1: Aaron Pollack, Ryan Wunderlich and Chuck Boyle scored for No. 8 Downers South (4-3-4).
Benet 3, Carmel 1: Freshman Nick Aguilar scored two goals, giving him five for the season, for No. 7 Benet (6-2-1). Senior Dan Soldato scored Benet’s other goal. Carmel (6-2-1) got its score on a penalty kick from junior Pat Thomas.
Wheaton North 1, Willowbrook 1: No. 6 Wheaton North (6-1-1) led 1-0 after Steve Zurad scored, but Willowbrook tied the game with 12 seconds to go.
Buffalo Grove 3, Schaumburg 1: Brad Klein, whose first-half goal tied the game for Buffalo Grove, added the game-winner early in the second half. The Bison’s Mitch Steinberg helped hold Schaumburg’s Hamid Mehreioskouei scoreless. Mehreioskouei, who leads the Mid-Suburban League with 14 goals, assisted on Dan Klek’s goal for Schaumburg (5-2-3).
Conant 2, Crystal Lake Central 0: Ron Chiero and Jason King scored on second-half penalty kicks to power Conant (9-2).
Elgin 2, Maine West 0: Ed Wajda scored twice for Elgin (6-1-1).
Lemont 4, Chicago Christian 0: Brian Ludwig, Spiro Tsaldaris, Tim Galos and Brian Masny scored for Lemont (5-2-1).
Morton 3, Kelly 0: Roger Valles, J.P. Mendoza and Mike Bachar scored and Chris Cybulski had two assists for Morton (6-1-1).
Naperville Central 5, Lockport 1: Naperville (6-3) won its fourth straight, using two goals by Tim Weil and one apiece by Mike Turack, Dan Thompson and Mark Gister to down Lockport (2-7).
St. Viator 4, Marian Catholic 0: Tim Storino, Matt Masterson, Tim Grodek and Pat Hurley scored to lead St. Viator (4-3-2, 3-0) in the East Suburban Catholic shutout.
Waubonsie Valley 3, Wheaton-Warrenville South 0: Robby Berkley scored twice and assisted on Mike Radford’s goal for Waubonsie Valley.