Waukegan’s Adrian Moreno started playing soccer in youth leagues when he was 5. The game went beyond exciting.
It was personal.
“Growing up, my older brother Angel was my inspiration,” Moreno said. “He was five years older than me. He was one of the best players I ever saw.
“He was playing against college players in club leagues when he was just 16, but then he tore his ACL.”
Moreno has followed his brother’s path while also carving out his own identity. The senior forward is a cornerstone player for the Bulldogs.
He’s one of four returning starters for Waukegan, which finished 16-3-3 last season, won a Class 3A regional title and shared the conference championship with Libertyville.
Moreno started the 2018 season in spectacular fashion by scoring three goals and adding an assist in the Bulldogs’ 5-0 victory over Maine East.
“My game is based on speed and quickness, and I love having the ball at my feet,” he said. “When I first came up to the varsity as a sophomore, I was small and skinny and I did not expect to make much of an impact.”
Moreno has the explosiveness and quickness to beat defenders off the dribble.
“Adrian has worked very hard to become a more explosive finisher,” Waukegan coach Peter Valdez said. “He is very unselfish. Besides looking to score, he always wants to be part of the attack.”
Moreno is a natural beneficiary of Valdez’s philosophy of sharing the wealth.
“In our system, we like to move the ball from the back and switch sides quickly,” Moreno said. “Last year, we had some great individual players like Noe Hernandez. This year we are not relying on a single player. I think this year’s team is going to be more balanced.”
Moreno takes pride in his game and the importance of family and community.
“I’ve lived in Waukegan my whole life and I have one goal,” he said. “And that is to bring a state championship to our school.”
Fast start: Highland Park defeated Zion-Benton 2-0 in Saturday’s championship game of the North Shore Shootout in Lake Forest.
Sophomore goalkeeper Ethan Fineman, who’s in his first year as a starter, has not conceded a goal. The Giants (3-0) also shut down Lake Forest and Carmel.
Highland Park is already more than halfway to its win total from last year, when the Giants were 5-15-1.
“I was very fortunate because we have a very good back line, and they did not put me into too many difficult situations where I had to make great saves,” Fineman said. “I thought we did a very good job of communicating with them throughout the tournament.”
Fineman demonstrated excellent quickness, anticipation and natural instincts.
“I did not start playing goalkeeper until I was in fifth or sixth grade,” he said. “I started out as a center back, and I have always had a good feel of how defenses work.”
Embarrassment of riches: Offensively loaded Libertyville has revealed another promising finisher.
In the season opener, midfielder Mickey Reilly scored a goal and engineered the offense with pace and rhythm as the Wildcats beat Lyons 4-1 in Saturday’s pool play of the Northside College Showcase at New Trier.
In limited minutes as a sophomore on last year’s 3A state finalist, Reilly contributed one goal and one assist.
“Mickey looks confident and composed on the ball,” Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said. “We talked about him being more unselfish and composed. He showed he could be with his beautiful play.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
