ELGIN -- Elgin boys soccer coach Dave Borg believes that overall team depth is going to be an important piece of the puzzle for his squad this season as the Maroons attempt to wade through a challenging schedule.
On Tuesday, the Maroons got a chance to flash some of that untested, but balanced talent with a 4-0 victory over tournament host St. Edward in the season opener for both teams.
Elgin tallied all four of its goals in the first half, including two in a span of less than 30 seconds to jump-start the scoring.
When it was all said and done, Elgin, a Class AA school, used 26 players to wear down and severely hinder any hopes of an offensive attack by St. Edward, a Class A program. For the match, the Maroons held a lopsided 11-1 edge in shots on goal, including an 8-0 advantage in the first half before Borg started making frequent lineup changes.
"We have a lot of guys that can play, but a lot of those guys out there are young guys," said Borg, who started four freshmen. "We are happy to get the win and be 1-0, but we know we have a lot of work to do. Overall, it was a good start and I was pleased with the result."
One of Elgin's many newcomers, sophomore Raul Hernandez, pulled off a memorable debut on the varsity level with a pair of goals 27 seconds apart to get the Maroons off and running. In the fourth minute, Hernandez headed a cross sent into the middle of the box by junior Jose Quevedo past helpless St. Edward goalie John Duggan (seven saves).
Seconds later, Hernandez was celebrating again after getting behind the Green Wave defense on a breakaway and easily chipping a shot over the head of Duggan in a one-on-one situation.
"It was pretty much the whole team that helped me score those goals," said Hernandez. "It wasn't just me by myself. They set me up to score."
Elgin pushed the lead to 3-0 in the 25th minute when junior Omar Jasso displayed a nifty move that allowed him to elude one defender deep in Green Wave territory and tuck a shot in near post past Duggan.
Less than two minutes after that, the Maroons capped off their first-half scoring spree with a goal by Quevedo.
"To get two goals right away out of (Hernandez) was big for us," Borg said. "That kind of got us going and relaxed us a little bit. I thought we played a pretty good stretch of really good soccer in the first half."
St. Edward, which was defeated twice by Elgin last season, including a forgettable 10-0 result, didn't muster a shot on goal until senior Miguel Martinez unleashed a scorching 20-yard free-kick into the arms of Elgin goalkeeper Osiel Ravadan in the 77th minute.
St. Edward also had scoring opportunities on two separate corner-kick chances -- one in each half -- but each time Ravadan came off his line to thwart the threat.
"I think in the second half we stepped up a little and got some offense going," St. Edward coach Tim Brieger said. "I was impressed. Our goal was to play a better second half than first half and we did that. I told the guys we are only going to get better playing bigger team's like (Elgin) and I think they understand that."
The St. Edward Tournament will continue Thursday. St. Edward will host defending tourney champ Cary-Grove, while Elgin visits Westminster Christian. On Saturday, Westminster and St. Edward will kick off a doubleheader at the school followed by Elgin vs. Cary-Grove.
"We want to win this tournament," Borg said. "We lost to Cary-Grove last year and we are looking forward to that game (on Saturday). They are a good program."
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