East Aurora is looking for a little respect.
“We have been overlooked this season,” East Aurora coach Jason Rollins said following his team’s 0-0 match against No. 2 Neuqua Valley last week.
The Tomcats (14-2-3) captured their first Upstate Eight conference title Tuesday night with a 2-0 victory against Metea Valley coupled with a 1-1 tie between Neuqua Valley and Lake Park.
Senior defender Ruben Torres and sophomore forward Abraham Kanneh (7 goals, 9 assists) have fueled East Aurora.
“Ruben is the main reason we have only allowed 10 goals in 19 games,” Rollins said. “Abraham plays a key part of our offense with size and strength, while slowing the game down and setting us of for our attack.”
Rollins’ squad may have cracked the Tribune Top 10 this week had it not followed a draw with Neuqua Valley with a 1-0 loss to Marmion the next night.
“In my five years here we have yet to win a regional,” Rollins said. “That is our main focus in the playoffs.
“As long as we play our style and not try to play the style of our opponents, we believe we can compete with anyone. We are playing with confidence and determination, and those are two qualities that are necessary to win consistently.”
Did you know? Elk Grove is the only Mid-Suburban League team to have never played for the MSL Cup. That drought ends Thursday night.
“This is the first time in school history,” said Elk Grove coach Joe Bush, whose team will host Fremd at 7 p.m. “The key for us Thursday is not allowing their forwards to run free in front of our backline and having our midfielders and forwards check back to the ball to limit Fremd’s chances.”
Senior Cesar Rodriguez (10 goals) has scored four goals in his last three games, while midfielder Nick Jordan has five assists in his last four matches. Defensively, Rafal Borys is a big reason why Elk Grove has a 0.82 goals-against average.
Scouting the 1A playoffs: Lisle’s Grant Fitzgerald (21 goals) is a player to keep an eye on. The program’s career goal scoring leader has 82 goals in four years.
“I’m pretty confident we’ll advance to the sectional,” Lisle coach Paul Kohorn said. “We’d probably see Peotone and then Timothy Christian, the defending 1A champs.
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“We lost to Timothy 4-1, but Grant and other players were missing. We would look forward to a rematch with them at full strength.”
* Peotone finished the regular season unbeaten in 19 of its 22 games thanks to the 1-2 punch of Tyler Paeth (19 goals) and Taylor Bezanson (21 goals, 19 assists).
“We went 22-4 last year, and I knew we would be tough,” Peotone coach Kevin Mikuce said. “But this year with four new defenders, as well as a new keeper, I wasn’t sure.
“The guys worked hard over the summer and some of the younger guys grew up quickly. If we can finish and stay together, this team has a very good chance to compete for a sectional title.”
* With senior Sam Austin (14 goals) and goalie Theo Atkinson leading the way, Latin (11-7-1) could pull off an upset or two in the coming weeks.
“We’re looking to be a spoiler,” Latin coach Tom Bower said. “Anything can happen when you get to tournament time.”
Motivated by memories: A year ago, Ridgewood’s season came to an end in the regional final against eventual 2A champion St. Viator. Rob St. John’s squad hasn’t forgotten that loss.
“We didn’t have any seniors on the team last year, so the entire group is back and looking to advance,” St. John said. “We used that loss as motivation to train hard throughout the offseason.
Forward Peter Soja (22 goals) and Rafal Maslowski (5 goals, 7 assists) are two players to watch.
Dark horse in 2A: There was some surprise when Glenbard South grabbed the No. 2 seed in the Class 2A Wheaton Academy Sectional. But don’t be surprised if the Raiders, who are led by David and Michael Pyle, Troy and Eric Good and Matt Kulpa, open some more eyes this postseason.
E-mail Joe Trost at [email protected]