Lockport’s Jacob Hareza doesn’t hold back when it comes to letting his emotions out on the soccer field, putting his love of the game on display.
Hareza celebrated in a big way after each of his first two goals Tuesday night, running to the corner flag and being swarmed by his teammates. The junior forward got so excited, in fact, that the referee had to tell him to dial it down a bit.
But he was just being himself.
“I feel like you should be able to celebrate goals, but I understand that if you’re beating a team to maybe calm it down a little bit,” Hareza said. “I’m just passionate for the sport. Whenever I go for the ball, I always try my hardest. I feel like it always shows my passion for the sport.”
Hareza had plenty to celebrate, recording the first hat trick of his high school career to lead the visiting Porters to a 5-2 SouthWest Suburban Conference win over Sandburg in Orland Park.
Krystian Rafacz and Ismael Gomez added a goal and an assist each, Kacper Sikon had an assist and Matas Odinas made five saves for Lockport (7-3-1, 1-0).
Mahdi Azabin and Mihir Pradhan scored for Sandburg (3-7, 0-1), while Preston Cooper had an assist.
Hareza cracked the starting lineup as a sophomore on a veteran-laden team last season for Lockport. He also learned a lot.
“Being able to talk to the seniors last year, who are now in college, I feel like they really helped me improve and be a leader this year,” Hareza said. “I want to just help my younger teammates become better so they can step up in the future when I leave.”
Sandburg stunned the Porters when Azabin scored off Cooper’s pass just over two minutes into the game, but Hareza answered for Lockport just over a minute later and the Porters built a 3-1 lead by halftime.
Hareza finished off his hat trick early in the second half, burying a high shot off Sikon’s corner kick to make it 4-1.
Gomez, who capped the scoring for the Porters, wasn’t surprised to see Hareza come through with a huge performance.
“He definitely improved this year,” Gomez said. “He’s a goal scorer. He’s a strong player, and when he’s in front of the goal, he just doesn’t miss.”
Hareza now has nine goals this season as Lockport coach Chris Beal pushes him to continue to assert himself on offense.
“Jacob is a big, physical specimen,” Beal said. “As a sophomore, we were already looking at him as a mainstay in the starting lineup, and now as a junior and when he’s a senior, we definitely have high expectations.
“We’re looking to him to get the stats up, get the goals and create the assists. He’s got different elements to his game and he does most of them really well.”
Hareza knew it was on him to step up and put the ball in the back of the net this season. He was ready for the challenge.
“We lost like 10 seniors, so I knew I’d have to step up this year and be that man,” Hareza said. “But I knew we still had a lot of other players who would help this team, too, and we have a lot of younger players stepping up.”
Hareza has been playing soccer since he was 4 years old, sharing the sport with many of his family members.
But unlike the rest of his family, he’s sticking with it.
“Soccer has always been a thing in my family,” Hareza said. “But most of my cousins stopped playing in high school and then just went to college to study.
“I’m pretty much the only one who’s kept it going through high school, and I’m hoping to play in college.”
