West Aurora edges out Hinsdale South

Updated: September 29, 2011 9:27PM

With two teams struggling to find a consistent offense lately, someone was bound to score.

That turned out to be West Aurora in a 2-0 nonconference victory at Hinsdale South Thursday night. The Blackhawks scored all of their goals in the first half and held off a series of shots by the Hornets in the second half to earn the win.

Alvaro Perez scored with 19:43 to go before halftime and then Matt Koth added an insurance goal with 44 seconds before the break to lead West Aurora.

The Blackhawks (12-7) were coming off a 1-0 loss Sept. 27 against top-ranked and unbeaten Naperville North.

Hinsdale South (3-10-1) was shut out for the third consecutive time and last scored a goal in a 2-1 defeat at Morton Sept. 22. The Hornets have lost seven of their last eight games and played their second of three games against DuPage County Conference foes in a span of eight days.

Hinsdale South hosts Glenbard North at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Hornets already lost to Glenbard East 2-0 Sept. 24, which started Hinsdale South’s current run of scoreless minutes.

The only goal the Hornets have scored against a DVC team this season came in the season opener Aug. 23 when Wheaton Warrenville South won 5-1 in Hinsdale Central’s Red Devil Cup.

Hornets senior goalkeeper Paras Patel said he isn’t feel any extra pressure despite the team’s current offensive woes.

“It’s tough. There is not much we can do on offense and defense,” said Patel, who has started nearly every game since midway through his sophomore season. “We’re working on it. Some days the offense plays good; some days the defense plays good.”

Perez scored his second goal of the season off a rebound when Koth’s initial shot ricocheted off Patel. Koth scored off Olivier Dasilveira’s perfect cross, which set up Koth’s left-footed blast to the left side of the goal past Patel.

Alex Guillen earned the shutout and turned back Hinsdale South’s best chance to score in the second half on Jeremy Leganski’s shot in front of the goal off a corner kick for the Hornets with 29:21 to go. Leganski had two other shots earlier that could not find the net.

After Hinsdale South coach James Van Denburgh replaced six starters with all of his remaining reserves on the bench with 14:26 remaining, Adam Garcia took two shots in a span of three minutes, but could not score.

The Blackhawks did not take a shot on goal in the second half.

“We’re not putting pressure [on offense],” Perez said. “We’re not able to finish. That’s our problem. He have our shots, but we are not able to finish.”

West Aurora started the season 7-2, but fell into a funk while having to rely on scorers Koth and James Brink.

“We’re more of a defensively-matched team,” Blackhawks coach Joe Susteric said. “We try to keep getting opportunities and chances. It was nice to score some goals.”

After playing Glenbard North, Hinsdale South plays Oswego Tuesday to open the Waubonsie Valley Invitational. Two of the Hornets’ wins this season have come at home.

“It has been tough indeed,” Van Denburgh said. “Everyone is frustrated. We’re working hard, but we’re not seeing results. It’s been a tough season. It’s been tough seeing wins. It seems the chips are not falling in our direction.”

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