Rochelle varsity boys soccer coach Brad Male thought he had lost senior Jessee Infante to a serious knee injury when the Hubs battled the Mendota Trojans on Monday.
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OTTAWA — Rochelle varsity boys soccer coach Brad Male thought he had lost senior Jessee Infante to a serious knee injury when the Hubs battled the Mendota Trojans on Monday.
Infante went down in the second half of Monday’s match and did not return, but the senior captain was ready to play when Rochelle traveled for its conference game against Ottawa on Tuesday. Infante scored three goals and added two assists, leading the Hubs over the Pirates 5-2 and helping Rochelle improve to 13-0-1 overall and 4-0-1 in NIB-12 West play.
“It’s always scary when one of your players goes down,” Male said. “It was scary given the nature of his injury that day. He rebounded and came back strong, which was good to see.”
Ottawa caught the Hubs on their heels early in the match, scoring goals in the seventh and ninth minutes to take a 2-0 lead over Rochelle. The Hubs cut Ottawa’s lead in half when freshman Josue Orozco scored on Infante’s assist in the 20th minute.
Rochelle followed with two quick goals by Infante in the 37th and 38th minutes, with Orozco assisting Infante’s first, to jump ahead 3-2 at halftime. Ottawa was only the second team this season to score at least twice against the Hubs.
“They got a jump on us early and we didn’t react quickly enough,” Male said. “We have to continue playing the way we’ve been practicing, and we need to make sure we continue looking for each other and playing a team game.
Infante completed the hat trick with another goal in the 67th minute courtesy of Orozco’s second assist of the game. Infante then assisted Orozco’s second goal in the 75th minute to put the Hubs ahead by three goals. Orozco, one of three Hubs (Infante and sophomore Brayan Orozco) to score double-digit goals this season, has given Rochelle a tremendous boost up front on his first season with the program.
“It’s really exciting to see the level Josue plays at,” Male said. “The more playing time he gets with these guys, the more continuity we’ll have. He’s been a big boost for our team.”
Senior Mason DeLille totaled two saves for the Hubs, who outshot Ottawa 22-4. Rochelle will return to action with another conference game against LaSalle-Peru at home on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
