Fighting for a victory after suffering a tough conference loss against Sycamore this past Wednesday, Rochelle’s varsity soccer team found itself locked in a back-and-forth battle against the LaSalle-Peru Cavaliers in another Interstate 8 match this past Thursday.
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ROCHELLE — Fighting for a victory after suffering a tough conference loss against Sycamore this past Wednesday, Rochelle’s varsity soccer team found itself locked in a back-and-forth battle against the LaSalle-Peru Cavaliers in another Interstate 8 match this past Thursday.
With both teams tied at 2-2 and only minutes remaining in the match, Rochelle forward Jared Montano received a pass from the midfield and saw room for a breakaway down the near sideline. The junior forward brought the ball into the LaSalle-Peru box and, with the Cavalier defenders expecting a cross toward the middle, booted a no-doubter into the LaSalle-Peru net. Montano’s goal in the 77th minute sealed a 3-2 win and improved Rochelle’s record to 6-6.
“It felt really good,” Montano said. “We were much more in sync with each other than we were against Sycamore. We weren’t as ready against Sycamore as we were today, but I think we’ll play much better if we face Sycamore again. Scoring that goal boosted my confidence a lot. I was prepared to make a play and I was excited to be able to score for my team.”
LaSalle-Peru struck first in the conference matchup, scoring in the 10th minute to take a 1-0 lead. The Hubs responded immediately, however, with senior forward Josue Orozco finding freshman forward Alberto Casillas for the equalizer during the 11th minute to tie the match. The Cavaliers found another goal in the 33rd minute, scoring to surge ahead 2-1 at the half.
Looking to tie the match once again, Rochelle leaned on its leading goal scorer to make a play. That’s exactly what Orozco did, leaping forward and successfully heading the ball into the LaSalle-Peru net to make it a 2-2 match during the 52nd minute. Both teams possessed the ball evenly over the next 20-plus minutes until Montano’s goal gave the Hubs the advantage. Rochelle outshot LaSalle-Peru 18-6 and totaled 11 shots on goal to four for the Cavaliers.
“We’re feeling good and I think we have a chance to win the conference tournament,” Montano said. “We’ve had some tough matches where we weren’t in sync with each other, but we know what we can do when we’re working together. We just have to fix a few things.”
Sycamore
The Rochelle Hub varsity soccer team hosted Sycamore for an Interstate 8 Conference match this past Wednesday, falling 11-0 to drop to 5-6 on the season.
