ROCHELLE — The Rochelle boys soccer team won the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference this past season, and the Hubs are eyeing another title after earning back-to-back convincing victories to open Interstate Eight Conference play in 2019.

Senior Austin Brown and junior Brayan Orozco each scored twice on Thursday, when the Hubs cruised over the Morris Redskins 6-0 and improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in I-8 Conference action. Junior Zane Walters facilitated the offense with two assists, while senior Max Torres and sophomore Josue Orozco each scored once for Rochelle.

“We’ve been working very hard on keeping the ball out wide and it’s working,” Brown said. “We’re getting on the scoreboard but we need to work on communicating more. We need to play as a team and we can’t be selfish. We need to capitalize on every chance we have.”

Brayan Orozco put the Hubs up early in the first half, scoring both of his goals in the eighth and 10^th minutes on assists from Walters and Josue Orozco. Leading 2-0, Rochelle took advantage of an error by the Morris defense when Torres booted an errant Redskin pass into the Morris goal in the 34^th minute. Shortly after, Brown took the ball unassisted into the Morris penalty area and found the net in the 38^th minute.

The Redskins had no answer for the Rochelle offense, which continued pressuring Morris in the second half. Walters played Josue Orozco on a cross for a goal in the 46^th minute, and Torres connected with Brown on a through ball in the 77^th minute. Senior keeper Alexis Quintanilla and the Rochelle defense, meanwhile, kept Morris out of the goal for their fifth shutout.

“It feels great to start the conference scheduled with two wins,” Quintanilla said. “We need to continue working as a team and we need to communicate more. I feel pretty confident about our team… We’ve been dedicated on defense and our communication has been everything.”

Sandwich

Rochelle opened Interstate Eight Conference play against Sandwich on Wednesday, when the Hubs dominated the Indians 7-0 behind three goals from Brayan Orozco, three assists from Walters and three assists from Josue Orozco, who added two goals of his own. Brown finished with one goal and one assist, with junior Josh Hurtado recording his first goal of the season. Freshman keeper Jarret Milan totaled seven saves in the victory.

Rochelle took an immediate 1-0 lead after Walters assisted Brayan Orozco in the first minute of play. Orozco added his second goal in the 26^th minute before his brother Josue scored in the 31^st minute and the 35^th minute. Hurtado put the Hubs ahead 5-0 in the 65^th minute before Brayan Orozco scored in the 69^th minute and Brown found the net in the 79^th minute.