When Eduardo Hernandez moved from Maywood to Northlake midway through his freshman year, he was excited about the chance to be a part of the Leyden boys soccer program.
Hernandez made the varsity team at Proviso East as a freshman, and thus had the chance to see West Suburban Gold foe Leyden up close.
“I had seen how (Leyden) played with each other and moved the ball,” said Hernandez, who is now a junior on the Eagles. “I knew they had a great coaching staff. I was really looking forward to playing for them.”
It wasn’t long before Leyden coaches also became enamored with Hernandez, who began the 2016 season on the sophomore team. He was called up to varsity midway through the season.
“His impact was immediate. He was one of our best players,” said Leyden coach Mark Valintis, who said Hernandez was placed on the sophomore team initially to help him get acclimated to the new program.
A year later, Hernandez became a standout for the Eagles, finishing as the team leader in goals (17) and assists (22) and helping Leyden win the Class 3A Leyden Regional. The Eagles (18-4-2) lost 2-0 to Glenbrook North in the New Trier Sectional semifinals on Oct. 25.
Valintis said Hernandez is a special talent, but said one of Hernandez’s best qualities is his unselfishness.
“He’s only a junior, and in my 11 years, he is probably the most complete player I’ve coached,” Valintis said. “He can finish and score with the best of them. But I think what strikes me even more is his ability to play the game the right way. You look at his 22 assists, and that could have been 32 or 38 if we had finished some easy chances.”
Valintis continued: “(I’m impressed by Hernandez’s) vision, his knowledge and his seeing things develop three, four, five, six passes down the road. It really opened up our attack once we realized, ‘Hey, he’s not just going to score goals, but will play the right way.'”
This season, Hernandez teamed up with attackers Mateusz Makowiec (12 goals) and Francisco Toral (15) as the Eagles employed various formations, including a 3-5-2, 4-3-3 and 4-5-1.
Good with his back to goal, the 5-foot-11 Hernandez often served as a target man in the Eagles’ attack. Hernandez regularly battled opposing defenders for position, flicking on headers to teammates or collecting passes and turning to face the goal.
Once in possession, Hernandez’s first instinct was to find a teammate, rather than look for individual glory.
“Soccer is a team sport and getting everybody involved makes everybody so much better,” Hernandez said. “Sometimes you might have a tough angle (for a shot). Some players might think about shooting and getting the goal, but I think about the team first. I like winning, and you can only win as a team.”
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Hernandez added: “When you involve the rest of the team, they respect you and it creates chemistry. They trust you and know that if you don’t have an open shot, and they do, you will pass it to them.”
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press