DeKalb and Sycamore continue their neighborly rivalry on Monday (Sept. 27) and that starts another series of Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference East Division soccer showdowns on Tuesday (Sept. 28) and Wednesday (Sept. 28).
Last week laid the foundation for the a league race that promises to be full of interesting showdowns that lead into the second half of the home-and-home series. Here’s a team-by-team look at what’s ahead after last week’s action.
Hubs become front runners
While a Tuesday visit to Kaneland was cut short by lightning, the 0-0 tie enabled Rochelle to remain red-hot and a follow-up 2-1 victory at DeKalb boosted the Hubs’ unbeaten streak to eight straight and put RHS atop the loop at 3-0-1.
Now boasting four of the league’s top 19-rated point producers, Rochelle - now 7-3-2 after starting the year 0-3-1 - hosts Yorkville on Tuesday before visiting Morris on Thursday and ending the week with a home date against Earlville-Leland.
Assistant coach Hector Garcia continues to direct the Hubs in head coach Kevin Lamb’s absence and looks to No. 4 and 5 point producers Ramon Lopez (12 pts. – 5g/2a) and Justin Kammes (9 pts. – 3g/3a) to lead the way.
Barbs continue string of league matches
DeKalb continues its all-NIB12 East all-the-time run of contests with three more of a string of eight straight conference battles.
After a 2-1 setback at home against Rochelle, DHS (7-2-4 / 2-1-0) and Sycamore meet on Monday and the Barbs then trek to Morris on Tuesday (Sept. 28) before hosting Kaneland on Thursday (Sept. 30).
“Rochelle played with a lot of enthusiasm and unfortunately, we didn’t,” McIntosh noted. League scoring leader Joe Ferguson hopes to boost his tally of 21 points (9g/3a) as does No. 2 scorer Sammy Lake at 16 points (5g/6a).
Knights face marathon slate
After the lightning-shortened scoreless draw with Rochelle, Kaneland (5-4-1 / 2-1-1) cruised to a 5-0 victory at Yorkville.
Coach Scott Parillo hopes his Knights are ready for seven matches over an eight day span. After hosting Sycamore on Tuesday (Sept. 30) and starting the second half of the league schedule with a Thursday (Sept. 30) visit to DeKalb, KHS has three games over the weekend in the Algonquin Jacobs Invitational followed n Oct. 4 with a visit to Belvidere and an Oct. 5 visit from Morris.
Alex Gill remained the loop’s No. 3 point producer with 15 and the top set-up man with seven assists. He and his teammates will be out to avenge a 1-0 loss to DeKalb from their conference inaugural.
Spartans hope to get healthy quickly
Sycamore’s focus this week aside from getting healthy is getting back into the league race.
The Spartans (4-7-2 / 1-2-0) begin with the rivalry match Monday (Sept. 27) with DeKalb and then visit Kaneland Tuesday (Sept. 28) before hosting Yorkville on Thursday (Sept. 30). Tyler Wallace paces Sycamore with eight points (4g) which makes him one of six players sharing the No. 6 rung on the scoring ladder.
Foxes’ schedule has them on the run
Yorkville hits the road this week playing at Rochelle on Tuesday (Sept. 30) and then at Sycamore on Thursday (Sept. 30) to start the second tour of NIB12 East contests.
The Foxes (4-8-0 / 1-3-0) were coming off back-to-back victories before coming up way short in a 5-0 loss to Kaneland. Artan Emini and Javier Cervantes are both members of that “sixth-place club” for scoring with eight points with Cervantes having four goals while Emini adds four assists to a pair of goals.
Morris wants more league success
After losing its first three NIB12 East contests, Morris posted a 1-0 shutout of Sycamore before ending the week with a 4-0 non-conference loss to Minooka.
The Redskins (3-8-0 / 1-3-0) have nothing but league matches ahead starting with Tuesday’s (Sept. 28) home date with DeKalb and Thursday’s (Sept. 30) visit from Rochelle. Against the Hubs, MHS will be seeking to avenge a 2-1 loss that started served as their conference opener. Diego Luna (3g/2a) and Chava Villanueva (4g) are also members of that “sixth-place club” with eight points.
Northern Illinois Big 12 East Standings
(Heading into Sept. 27)
Schools Conference Overall
Rochelle 3-0-1 / 7-3-2
DeKalb 2-1-0 / 7-2-4
Kaneland 2-1-1 / 5-4-1
Sycamore 1-2-0 / 4-7-2
Yorkville 1-3-0 / 4-8-0
Morris 1-3-0 / 3-8-0
Current Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference East Scores
# - denotes divisional game
Monday / Aug. 23
Plainfield Central 2, at Yorkville 0
Tuesday / Aug. 24
Kaneland 4, at Marengo 0
Hononegah 1 at DeKalb, 1
Morris 0, at Coal City 0
Hinckley-Big Rock 6, at Rochelle 0
Freeport 1, at Sycamore 1
Thursday / Aug. 26
Yorkville 1, at Plainfield South 7
Morris 2, at Joliet Catholic 2
Friday / Aug. 27
Rochelle 2, vs. Woodstock 2 / in Auburn Knights Invitational
Rochelle 0, vs. Rock Island 3 / in Auburn Knights Invitational
Sycamore 0, vs. Rockford Guilford 1 in Auburn Knights Invitational
Sycamore 3, vs. Sterling 1 in Auburn Knights Invitational
Saturday / Aug. 28
Yorkville 1, vs. Burlington Central 4 / in Burlington Central Tourney
DeKalb 3, Wheaton St. Francis 0 / in Burlington Central Tourney
Rochelle 0, vs. Harlem 4 / in Auburn Knights Invitational
Sycamore 1, vs. Rockford Christian 1 in Auburn Knights Invitational
Monday / Aug. 30
Morris 2, at Tinley Park 1
Dixon 1, at Rochelle 2
Tuesday / Aug. 31
Kaneland 5, vs. Yorkville 1 / in Burlington Central Tourney
Sycamore 2, at Dixon 0
Thursday / Sept. 2
Kaneland 0, vs. Burlington Central 3 in Burlington Central Tourney
DeKalb 1, vs. South Elgin 4 / in Burlington Central Tourney
Rochelle 3, at Sterling 2
Saturday / Sept. 4
DeKalb 3, vs. Kaneland 1 in Burlington Central Tourney
Yorkville 1, vs. Wheaton St. Francis 6 in Burlington Central Tourney
Tuesday / Sept. 7
Yorkville 3, at IMSA 1
Boylan 0, at DeKalb 0
Princeton 3, at Morris 1
Belvidere 2, at Rochelle 3
Harlem 3, at Sycamore 1
Wednesday / Sept. 8
Kaneland 0, at Hinckley-Big Rock 1
Belvidere North 1 at Rochelle 2
Thursday / Sept. 9
IMSA 2 at Kaneland 3
Sycamore 2 at Aurora Marmion 4
Saturday / Sept. 11
DeKalb 2 at Freeport 0
Plainfield South 4 at Morris 0
Monday / Sept. 13
DeKalb 1 at Hinckley-Big Rock 0
Wilmington 1 at Morris 5
Tuesday / Sept. 14
DeKalb 1, at Kaneland 0 - #
Sycamore 1, at Yorkville 0 - #
Morris 1, at Rochelle 2 - #
Wednesday / Sept. 15
Plano 1, at Yorkville 3
Thursday / Sept. 16
Kaneland 3, at Morris 0 - #
Yorkville 0, at DeKalb 2 - #
Rochelle 2, at Sycamore 1 - #
Friday / Sept. 17
DeKalb 2, vs. Mundelein 2 / in Prairie Ridge Invitational
Sycamore 0, vs. Crystal Lake South 3 / in Rockton-Hononegah Tournament
Saturday / Sept. 18
DeKalb 0, vs. McHenry 0 / in Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge Invitational
DeKalb 2, vs. Prairie Ridge 0 / in Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge Invitational
Sycamore 0, vs. Rockford Christian 1 (1-3 PK Shootuout) / in Hononegah Tournament
Sycamore 3, vs. Elgin St. Edward 0 / in Hononegah Tournament
Tuesday / Sept. 21
Rochelle 0 at Kaneland 0 - #
Morris 0 at Yorkville 1 - #
Wednesday / Sept. 22
Yorkville 3 at Coal City 1
Rochelle 2 at DeKalb 1 - #
Thursday / Sept. 23
Kaneland 5 at Yorkville 0 - #
Sycamore 0 at Morris 1 - #
Saturday / Sept. 25
Minooka 4 at Morris 0
Monday / Sept. 27
DeKalb at Sycamore, 4:30 pm - #
Tuesday / Sept. 28
Sycamore at Kaneland, 4:30 pm - #
Yorkville at Rochelle, 4:30 pm - #
DeKalb at Morris, 4:30 pm - #
Thursday / Sept. 30
Kaneland at DeKalb, 4:30 pm - #
Yorkville at Sycamore, 4:30 pm - #
Rochelle at Morris, 4:30 pm - #
Friday / Oct. 1
Kaneland in Algonquin Jacobs Invitational, 4:30 pm
Saturday / Oct. 2
Kaneland in Algonquin Jacobs Invitational, 9 / 11 am
Earlville-Leland at Rochelle, 10 am
Monday / Oct. 4
Kaneland at Belvidere, 6 pm
Sandwich at Yorkville, 6:15 pm
-Steve Nemeth
