Boys soccer: Rock Island turns up the heat in season-opening win over Streator

STREATOR – A scheduled 4:30 p.m. match pushed to a 6 p.m. start by the forecast and then to 7 p.m. by a wet-bulb temperature that stubbornly refused to drop to the IHSA-mandated 84.5 degrees, the 2024 boys soccer season did not get off to a fast start Monday for Rock Island or Streator.

When the match did finally get going, though, the visiting Rocks provided plenty of speed.

Rock Island’s team speed kept the ball on the Bulldogs’ side of the pitch for almost the entire first half and much of the second as well, leading to a 4-0, season-opening loss for the hosts as the Streator boys program played its first match at its new James Street soccer facility.

“I think their speed caught us off guard a little,” Bulldogs coach J.T. Huey said, “and we lacked that kind of attacking speed from the middle third to the attacking third.”

The Rocks (1-0) finished with a whopping 18-3 advantage in shots on goal, an indicator of their ability to dominate possession and repeatedly, relentlessly, inevitably force the ball into the Bulldogs’ defensive backfield.

It took 16 minutes and 2 seconds for Rock Island to punch in its first goal past starting Streator keeper Andrew Vogel (eight saves, two goal allowed), a third-shot opportunity from senior striker Jesus Sosa after a pair of Rock Island shots were repelled and immediately gathered in by the white-clad visitors.

Jonas Cortez added a second Rock Island goal with an endline attack, making it 2-0 Rocks by the close of the opening half.

“Our boys are learning how to play together as a team, so getting in that groove early really helped us out,” Rock Island coach Zach Vroman said. “When you can score four goals in a first game in extreme heat on a tough field against a good team, that’s a good start to our season.”

Be it the Bulldogs adjusting to the Rocks’ speed, the oppressive heat slowing the overall pace down or a combination of the two, Streator (0-1) held its own a bit better in the second half.

The Bulldogs managed their only two legitimately threatening attacks on Rock Island keeper Abanga Asukulu (three saves, no goals against) – a corner kick headed around the box a few times before ultimately getting cleared and a Miguel Lopez hustle breakaway in the final 10 minutes that he lofted just over the crossbar – and toughened up defensively, led by junior Joe Hoekstra, seniors Blaize Bressner and Jordy Sanchez and especially 12th-grader Aaron Henson.

“I felt like they were a lot faster than us,” Henson said. “Their strikers were definitely fast than us. Either me or Jordy stepped back a little bit more to be able to run and cut them off. It worked most of the time, although a few times we got caught too far back.

“But we did a lot better against them this year than we did last year. That’s a win in my book.”

Rock Island did get a Ben Goeh goal past Streator goalie Seth Zito (four saves, two goals allowed) to make it 3-0 with just under 32 minutes to play, then added a Ramadhan Sango penalty kick with 3:19 remaining to account for the 4-0 final.

In 2023′s season opener, the Rocks defeated the Bulldogs 6-1.

“I think the highlight for us was, I feel way better about our defensive posture now than I did in the previous year,” Huey said. “We had some guys – Aaron Henson, Blaize and Hoekstra – stepping it up for us from a defensive standpoint. I was not disappointed defensively.

“We have to be a little faster stringing things together, but here’s my takeaway: Last year’s Rock Island game was a 6-1 game. We played to a 3-0 game – PK at the end, 4-0, whatever – and I feel like our calibration’s higher because of that. We played solid.”