Lincoln-Way West junior David Flores had a tough time carving out a role for the Warriors last season.
It was his first with West after moving from Lincoln-Way Central when the district shifted boundaries following the closing of Lincoln-Way North.
“Last year, I was young and I was new here and it was tough,” he said. “I didn’t play much, but we had a lot of seniors and I understood. It just motivated me to get better for this year, and I’ve improved a lot.”
Flores, who also plays volleyball at West, cracked the starting lineup this year as a midfielder and has five goals.
He was the biggest hero Sunday as the Warriors captured the championship of the PepsiCo Showdown’s Lurie Children’s Hospital Bracket. Flores scored two goals in the 4-1 win over St. Patrick.
It was redemption for Flores and the Warriors, who lost to Huntley a year ago in a tournament championship game.
“Last year, I choked on a good chance for a goal,” Flores said. “So it felt good to score this time. We really wanted to win this championship.”
Flores got the Warriors going, scoring just six minutes in off a throw-in from Luke James and a flick from Kyle Seymour.
He added a second-half goal on a corner kick that took a strange hop off the turf and found the net untouched.
Flores is always dangerous on corners and has become one of the team’s top passers.
“David is one of the guys who we look toward to be offensively creative,” West coach Matt Laude said. “He’s very smart and very crafty with the ball and we look to him to be a big offensive threat.”
The Warriors (7-5-1) have been clicking offensively. They’ve won five of their last six games, scoring at least three goals in each victory.
“This team is amazing,” Flores said. Our chemistry is great. Especially after one more year of being at West, I’m a lot more comfortable now. The seniors have really taken me in.”
Net protectors: For Sandburg, success starts with strong defense.
The Eagles (7-1-3) have four shutouts and allowed one goal in each of their other seven games.
“(Junior goalkeeper) Connor Baker probably doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves,” Sandburg coach Desi Vuillaume said. “He’s made some great saves and is doing a great job for a player who’s new to varsity.”
Senior defenders Vasili Vouris and Dan Kaleciak have given Baker plenty of help, while senior midfielder Jimmy Margas does a bit of everything.
“(Margas) is a constant force for us,” Vuillaume said. “We can play him anywhere we want and he’ll do good things.”
Sandburg will be an interesting case when sectional seeds are determined later this week. Marist is the only team with a winning record that the Eagles have beaten, but their only loss was 1-0 to highly regarded Naperville Central.
Powerful Providence: No area team is scoring more consistently than Providence (9-5-1).
While going 6-1-1 over their last eight games, the Celtics have piled up 45 goals.
Senior Silvio Gkizas’ return after missing last season with a broken leg has been huge. Senior Scottie Slocum moved to forward after beginning the season as the goalkeeper and has made a big impact.
Providence, though, is getting offensive contributions from all over its lineup.
“We have a lot of weapons,” Providence coach Dan Potempa said. “We have guys all over the field who can find the back of the net. It’s exciting.”
Steve Millar is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.
Top 10
With records through Tuesday and last week’s ranking in parentheses
1. Mount Carmel 13-1 (1)
2. Reavis 11-2-3 (3)
3. Lockport 7-2-4 (4)
4. Bremen 12-3-2 (2)
5. Argo 7-3-1 (5)
6. Stagg 9-3-2 (8)
7. Sandburg 7-1-3 (9)
8. St. Laurence 8-4-1 (7)
9. Andrew 6-6-1 (NR)
10. Lincoln-Way West 7-5-1 (NR)
Player of the Week: Junior midfielder Fernando Barragan scored three goals in Reavis’ win over Shepard, two in a victory over Bremen, and one in a win over Oak Lawn.
