Proviso West gets off to a slow start

It may take a few more days before Proviso West soccer coach Vic Montoya knows the first and last names of all the players.

Montoya wasn't permitted to work with the team until his hiring was approved by the Proviso High School District 209 Board.

The hiring wasn't placed on the board agenda until the Aug. 18 meeting. He had been tentatively hired by Proviso West athletic director Mark Schneider in early June.

The late approval prevented Montoya from using any of the 25 contact days allowed in the summer by the IHSA.

It also kept Montoya on the sideline when the season officially started on Aug. 13.

"I'm still getting to know their personalities and their strong points," Montoya said. "Next year we're going to start on the first day."

Montoya has previous varsity head coaching experience of the boys and girls teams at Lyons Township.

Montoya understands the challenge to elevate the program at Proviso West to the point where it can be competitive in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division.

"I wanted to go to a school to see if I could build it up to the next level," Montoya said. "There's so much to learn in a very short amount of time. These are great character kids and they want to improve. They are doing everything I ask."

The lack of conditioning in the offseason showed up on Aug. 27 when the Panthers lost 5-2 to Elmwood Park in the opening round of the Proviso West Tournament.

Elmwood Park broke the game open with three goals in the second half.

"They started getting tired and that's when we had the breakdowns," Montoya said. "You stop thinking when you get tired physically."

Edgar Gomez gave Proviso West its one-and-only lead at 1-0 on a goal less than five minutes into the game.

The Panthers pulled within 3-2 midway in the second half on a goal by Franco Alcocer on a restart with assists from Eduardo Gonzalez and Jose Rodriguez.