Boys Soccer: Hubs reverse early deficit to beat Mendota

Rochelle scored five unanswered goals to win 5-1

Russell Hodges
Posted 9/30/18

Monday marked the first time in over one week that the Rochelle varsity boys soccer team took the field for game action. The Hubs showed some rust early on, but the boys powered through to upend one of their toughest opponents on the schedule.

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Boys Soccer: Hubs reverse early deficit to beat Mendota

Rochelle scored five unanswered goals to win 5-1

Posted

MENDOTA — Monday marked the first time in over one week that the Rochelle varsity boys soccer team took the field for game action. The Hubs showed some rust early on, but the boys powered through to upend one of their toughest opponents on the schedule.

After falling behind 1-0 early in the first half, the Hubs feverishly pressured the Mendota defense, scoring five unanswered goals to beat the Trojans 5-1 and improve to 12-0-1 on the season. Five different Hubs scored in the victory, and Rochelle will look to carry the positive momentum into conference games against Ottawa (Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.) and LaSalle-Peru (Thursday at 4:30 p.m.) later this week.

“Being down 1-0 at first really helped open our eyes,” junior Max Torres said. “We were tough on ourselves when we were losing and we need to work on that... I feel like they want to prove that they’re way too good to be a 1A school and that they can compete with the bigger schools. This win will help us understand that we can’t underestimate any team.”

Mendota entered Monday’s game with a 16-3 record, and the Trojans certainly looked the part early on. But the Hubs battled back with two goals courtesy of senior Adolfo Flores and junior Austin Brown to take the lead 2-1 before halftime. Freshman Josue Orozco added another Rochelle goal minutes into the second half to give the Hubs a 3-1 advantage.

“This game was more tiring because we haven’t played this hard recently outside of practice,” Brown said. “They play hard and they’re aggressive. They have really fast kids and they control the ball really well. Mendota is one of the better teams we’re going to play this year.”

Senior Jessee Infante put Rochelle ahead 4-1 late in the second half, and sophomore Zane Walters tapped the ball into the Mendota net off a corner kick in the 80th minute for Rochelle’s final goal. The Hubs received the No. 2 seed in the IHSA Class 2A Sterling Regional this past week, and Rochelle will begin its postseason run by facing either No. 7 Dixon or No. 9 Sterling on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 5:30 p.m.

But the Hubs will next worry about completing their conference schedule, and Rochelle can move closer to its first conference championship in over 10 years with wins over Ottawa (on the road) and LaSalle-Peru (at home) this week.