The Riverside Brookfield Bulldogs men’s soccer team scored its third win against conference rival Elmwood Park 7-1 on Tuesday, September 28th. This win improved their record to 3-8 overall (3-5 Conf.). The team has been struggling against tough non-conference teams. The team does not have a chance for the conference title they were shooting for; however they still have a chance for the regional title.
All of the game’s goals were scored in the first half of play. To start the Bulldogs strong, Junior Ruben Chavez scored the opening goal. Chavez would finish the game with a hat trick. Two other goals came from senior captains T.j Armic and Alejandro Amaya. Also leaving the game with goals were Hrvoje Zolo (Sr.) and Cateyano Chavez (Soph.).
In the second half the both teams would not score a single goal. The second half consisted of Bulldog dominance with excellent ball control and goalkeeping by junior goalkeeper Max Ohle.
Ohle in the net has been great for the team this year. He missed a couple of games earlier in the season to a groin injury; thankfully he has been healthy since recovery and will be a valuable asset for the rest of the season.
“The injury of Ohle was a huge moral blow to the team, but now he is back, healthy and most of all ready for regionals,” said Armic.
Thursday they played another conference rival Timothy Christian. RB would walk away the victor with a 5-2 win. This win brought their record to 4-8 (4-5 Conf.) on the season. This win makes the team 3-1 in their last four games.
Scoring for the team were R. Chavez two goals, Tyler Polanski one goal, C. Chavez one goal, and Eddie Marentes one goal. This displayed another example of the explosive offensive style of play they have.
On Friday they faced long time rival Ridgewood Rebels at Shuey Stadium. The Bulldogs lost against the Rebels the last time they met 4-2. Looking for revenge from the last loss they would play a very tough game.
This game would have a very questionable ending. The game would end in a tie 2-2 without an overtime period, however this was a conference game so the concern was that the game should of have been continued into overtime. R. Chavez would leave the game with a pair of goals on the night.
EXTRA: Read full coverage of 2-2 tie controversy here.
The tie leaves the team with the record of 4-8-1 (4-5-1 Conf.) which isn’t what they hoped for this season. Amaya said, “We started off really bad but we have improved and grown a lot as a team.”
Thursday the dogs played new conference rival Glenbard South at Glenbard. Glenbard South was just added to the Metro Suburban Conference last year. The Raiders have been giving the team problems all year. In the first meeting they had Glenbard walked away with a devastating win 1-2 at our home field. This game would be completely different RB was shutout in a rough 5-0 loss.
With only two scheduled games left in the season the dogs are out of the running for conference. Their next two match ups are October 12th and 15th at the lovely Shuey stadium. They will play Illiana-Christian and Ridgewood.
The Dogs have had a long season compared to last years, but they still have high hopes for the regional competition. They will be faced up against St. Francis in their first match. They beat them last year and Polanski said, “To win this game we are going to play hard, watch their film, feed Ruben, and get the W.” The game is October 20th at Shuey Stadium.
