Marquez, Flores flourish in first year at Rock Valley College

Former Hub soccer players start strong with Golden Eagles

Russell Hodges
Posted 3/15/18

Former Hub soccer players Luis Marquez and Atl Flores each played critical roles throughout their respective times with the Rochelle Township High School varsity boys soccer program. While the two strong-legged strikers were separated for a few years, Marquez and Flores have reunited with the Rock Valley College men’s soccer team.

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Marquez, Flores flourish in first year at Rock Valley College

Former Hub soccer players start strong with Golden Eagles

Posted

ROCHELLE — Former Hub soccer players Luis Marquez and Atl Flores each played critical roles throughout their respective times with the Rochelle Township High School varsity boys soccer program. While the two strong-legged strikers were separated for a few years, Marquez and Flores have reunited with the Rock Valley College men’s soccer team.

Marquez played all four years of his high school soccer career with the Hubs, and the former First-Team All-Conference standout helped anchor both the Rochelle defense and the midfield throughout his time at RTHS. Marquez scored one of Rock Valley College’s three goals in a 3-1 victory over Illinois Valley Community College on Sept. 17.

“When I first thought about college soccer I thought it was going to be the hardest challenge I would face as a player,” Marquez said. “Thankfully I was able to adapt… I feel like I controlled the ball well although our defenders on the back line were all incredible players. I feel like I helped control the defense by slowing or speeding up the tempo.”

Flores played his first two high school seasons at Rochelle before transferring to Keith Country Day for his final two years. Flores wasn’t hindered by switching from midfielder to forward with the Golden Eagles, as he scored nine goals for Rock Valley College (6-9-1) this season. Additionally, Flores recorded seven assists and two multi-goal games.

“I felt like my first college soccer season went well,” Flores said. “The thing I did well was playing in a position I had never played in before… Another thing I felt I did better was knowing when to put immediate pressure on the other team’s defenders, so that way my team could recover the ball better.”

A two-time All-Conference Honorable Mention with the Hubs, Flores said the biggest adjustments to the college game were on the mental side of the sport. Flores also said that he’s aiming to continue improving as a forward, emulating professional soccer players he looks up to such as Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane.

“I felt that the college game was more about thinking about what to do with the ball rather than in high school it was just doing it,” Flores said. “In college, I had to learn how to make the right decisions on where to pass the ball, when to attack, and also on when it was the right time to put pressure on the other team. High school was more about just playing the game.”

Marquez said that differences in talent were a factor when comparing high school and college soccer, and he said that his games with Rock Valley College were far more feverish than contests with the Hubs. Both players said that their conditioning at Rochelle has been a contributing factor for their early successes with the Golden Eagles.

“The similarities that both college and high school had were the different talents that each player had,” Marquez said. “The level of talent and the level of intensity in our games was different. Every player was tough in his own way… The one thing Rochelle was able to help me with in college soccer, other than conditioning, was being the last man of the defense.”

“At Rochelle, what helped me the most were the condition drills like the four miles we did in the beginning of the season,” Flores added. “The conditioning really did play a big part throughout my two high school years at Rochelle… I plan to play next year and I can’t wait until the season is here.”