Boys Soccer: Rochelle overwhelms Ottawa

Hubs dominate with 8-0 win to stay unbeaten

Russell Hodges
Posted 9/5/18

Sophomore Zane Walters watched senior teammate Jessee Infante’s corner kick soar through the air during the early minutes of Rochelle’s varsity boys soccer match against Ottawa on Thursday.

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Boys Soccer: Rochelle overwhelms Ottawa

Hubs dominate with 8-0 win to stay unbeaten

Posted

ROCHELLE — Sophomore Zane Walters watched senior teammate Jessee Infante’s corner kick soar through the air during the early minutes of Rochelle’s varsity boys soccer match against Ottawa on Thursday.

Leading 1-0 after Infante scored on an assist by junior Max Torres in the second minute, the Hubs earned a corner kick from the southwest area of the field. Infante booted the ball right over the Ottawa penalty area, and Walters rose for a perfect header into the Ottawa net to give Rochelle a 2-0 advantage in the fourth minute.

Thursday’s matchup was all Rochelle, as the Hubs dominated the Pirates by a score of 8-0 to improve to 6-0 on the season and 1-0 in Northern Illinois Big 12 West competition. The Hubs will resume play at LaSalle-Peru on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m.

“I was able to get off of my man and the ball came right to me,” Walters said. “We train really hard together and we go through a lot of conditioning. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Rochelle didn’t spend much time putting Thursday’s game out of reach for the Pirates. Infante set up senior midfielder Adolfo Flores for his first goal of the game in the 15th minute, and freshman Josue Orozco kicked a soft ball in the middle of the Ottawa penalty box to Torres, who crushed his second goal of the game in the 18th minute to put the Hubs up 4-0.

“We work really hard,” Flores said. “Our coach [Brad Male] keeps us in check, and he makes sure we’re not getting too confident and that we continue working hard. We’re hoping to get many more wins this season.”

After Infante set Torres up earlier in the first half, Torres returned the favor with a pass to Infante for his second goal of the game in the 30th minute. Soon after, sophomore Juan Cincire dribbled the ball into the Ottawa penalty area, finding Infante who then hit a short cross to sophomore Brayan Orozco, who scored in the 31st minute to put Rochelle ahead 6-0.

Flores, who missed the first week of the season due to a hamstring injury, was excited to keep the positive momentum going with a big win on Thursday.

“It feels great,” Flores said. “I know we have a lot of quality players and it feels amazing to be back out here. I want to work harder than ever.”

Freshman Ethan Tooley joined the scoring party about halfway through the second half, bouncing in a goal off Infante’s fourth assist of the game in the 56th minute. Infante then completed his hat trick when Tooley found him on a through ball for Rochelle’s final goal in the 67th minute. The Hubs remained undefeated with the win, and Flores said he and his teammate hope to keep it that way going forward.

“We talked in the locker room about how we want to finish the season undefeated,” Flores said. “We’re looking for the regional title, and it’s been a while since Rochelle won anything. We’re hoping to claim that and push higher than ever.”