Tomcats excel in all phases, will face Neuqua Valley next

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AURORA -- From the opening tap, East Aurora dominated St. Charles East, and that hasn't happened too often over the years in the matchup of these Upstate Eight Conference rivals.

After Jose Ortega's goal barely three minutes into the game set the tone, the Tomcats excelled at all phases of the game and battered the Saints 4-1.

With the victory, East Aurora improved to 15-5-3 overall and 5-1-2 in the conference heading into its showdown Thursday afternoon at Neuqua Valley, the state's No. 1-ranked team.

"I think we can hang with them," said Tomcats coach Jason Rollins of the tall task of facing such a highly-rated opponent, also noting that his team hung with fifth-ranked Wheaton Warrenville South earlier in the year.

East Aurora will have to play the way they did against St. Charles East to pull off the upset Thursday.

The Tomcats were quicker to the ball than the Saints, winning almost all the 50-50 balls. Their passing, including a number of touch passes, was superb. And their dribbling and ball-faking bedeviled the Saints all night long. Add to that the physical play that made the St. Charles East hesitant to contest loose balls, and the Saints were fortunate to get the ball anywhere near the attack zone.

"It was senior night, so we came out pumped and wanted to impress the crowd that came out to watch us," said Rollins of his experienced squad. "And we lost to (the Saints) last year. But this is our year."

Ortega found himself with an open net after a teammate shot the ball off a St. Charles East defender. The freshman midfielder deposited the ball in the net for a 1-0 East Aurora lead, a goal that Rollins said deflated the Saints a bit.

The Tomcats had the field advantage in the first half, not only with the wind behind them but also the familiarity of having played on the well-worn turf of Roy E. Davis Field.

The result was an 11-1 differential of shots on goal, with the field seemingly tilted toward the goal. Beleagured Saint goalkeeper Charlie Lyon had to make diving and sprawling saves on shots by Sergio Lechuga and Emmanuel Ayala just to keep St. Charles East within a goal.

"Our strength this year has been our speed," said Rollins. "We get to every ball. When our movement off the ball is good, our speed is that much harder to deal with."

Alejandro Junez, a senior forward, scored a spectacular goal with 15:56 left in the half. He received the ball about midfield and sprinted with the Saint defender toward the right side of the goal before shooting it in the left corner, putting East Aurora up 2-0 at the break.

Any thoughts the Saints had of a comeback were dashed by Junez only 31 seconds into the second half. When a shot by Mauricio Barrales was deflected, Junez was wide open for the goal, similar to Ortega's goal in the first half. It was Junez' 24th goal of the season.

"That's how we want to come out each half, take it to them, put the pressure on, and get the momentum," said Rollins. "Junez is lightning fast. His speed and movement without the ball enables him to create plays."

Lechuga completed the Tomcat scoring with a penalty kick after Adrian Magana was tripped in the penalty area.

Ben Fowler avoided the shutout for the Saints against East Aurora reserves. He boomed home a rocket shot from 20 yards out with 5:12 remaining.

St. Charles East, in somewhat of a rebuilding season, dropped to 8-9-3 overall and 2-5-2 in the Upstate Eight Conference with the defeat.

Soccer: East Aurora 4, St. Charles East 1