Reavis senior midfielder Chuy Pantoja was a midseason call-up to the varsity two years ago as a sophomore.
With the coaching staff looking to get him some more consistent playing time, he’d started the year with the JV squad but quickly showed he was ready to contribute to the varsity.
It was quite the start for Pantoja, who’s been a key player for a talented Rams squad over his varsity career.
He scored two goals and added two assists as host Reavis beat visiting Shepard 6-2 on Oct. 9.
The Rams (11-5-2, 9-0-1 South Suburban Red) had clinched their third straight conference title on Oct. 7 with a 4-2 win at rival Oak Lawn.
“It all started my sophomore year,” Pantoja said. “We progressed as a team, started building that chemistry, just hanging out on and off the field. It’s phenomenal. After beating Oak Lawn, we knew we had conference in the bag. This was a test to see if we could keep our composure knowing we won something big.”
Along with Pantoja’s big effort, senior Vladyslav Yaremkiv tallied a hat trick and junior Erik Romero scored a goal. Sophomore Christopher Ramos and freshman Jayden Velediaz added an assist each.
Senior goalkeeper Pawel Hreska recorded two saves in a scoreless 65 minutes in net.
Reavis coach Mark Gniadek said he loved how his team’s been playing of late.
“It was a great week,” Gniadek said. “A lot of guys played a lot of minutes doing really good stuff and keeping the energy up. A great week in conference for sure. For Chuy, it’s great. He rarely comes off the field for us.”
Pantoja is a team captain along with fellow seniors Galileo Figueroa and Dawid Witkowski.
Pantoja said when he was a sophomore, senior Ahmed Dhalia was a huge presence as a leader for the Rams. Now that it’s his turn to lead, Pantoja has dived in headfirst to the role.
“Ahmed took us under his wing,” Pantoja said. “He was a phenomenal player.
“Now, it’s a three-peat for us. At times, it’s tough (leading). We have a lot of sophomores. Our backline is full of Class of 2028 players. You stay patient and our guys have gotten the hang of it real quick after you tell them what to do and what to get better at.”
Reavis controlled possession and stayed on the attack most of the game, going up 4-0 at halftime. When Shepard answered with two quick goals midway through the second half, Pantoja and Yaremkiv answered with a goal each.
Pantoja scored on a pretty header, diving forward at point-blank range to make a play on the ball on an assist from Velediaz. He then assisted on Yaremkiv’s score on a corner kick.
Yaremkiv is in his second varsity season at Reavis.
He grew up in Ukraine, moved to London when he was 10 and then moved to the U.S. during sophomore year.
The hat trick bumped his season total to 10 goals.
“I’m buzzing,” Yaremkiv said. “It feels great. Three goals was my goal, to score the hat trick. It happened to be on senior night. It feels great.”
Shepard senior goalkeeper Neftaly Orozco piled up 13 saves against a relentless Reavis attack. Junior Bryce Johns and senior Michael Camarena scored a goal apiece.