It doesn’t really matter where West Aurora’s Pedro Delgado is on the field.
The senior forward always thinks he can score.
His coach, Joe Sustersic, believes there may even be an alter ego involved.
“He doesn’t want to tell you, but he has Superman underneath that shirt at times,” Sustersic said. “He knows how to shoot. He’ll take a shot from half field if I would tell him to.
“He knows he can shoot whenever he’s open. There’s no trouble with that.”
With his big left foot, Delgado set the tone Tuesday night for the Blackhawks in a 3-2 Upstate Eight Conference win, stunning Elgin with a goal from over 25 yards out a minute into the game.
Ten minutes later, Delgado scored again on a long free kick as host West Aurora (13-4, 4-1) built a three-goal lead on the Maroons (9-1-2, 3-1).
Mason Aguirre put in a rebound of a shot by Power Selemani late in the first half for the Blackhawks. Elgin climbed back into it during the second half on the strength of goals from Alex Villarruel and Ian Diaz, who cut the deficit to one in the final two minutes.
Knowing that Elgin entered with a nine-game winning streak, Delgado was ready to strike early and often.
“I looked at their record and knew I had to go at them,” Delgado said. “In the first half, that was my mentality to the max. Force it, send it, and as soon as I get the ball, I’m looking toward the goal.”
Delgado said his decision to shoot is a quick one. He also doesn’t need to see much to know what to do with the ball.
“I take a quick second and I shoot,” Delgado said. “As soon as I’m swinging my foot, I see (the goalkeeper) and I know where to shoot it. I’ve had similar goals like that.
“I know I have a good left foot. I know I can put it on frame. I know what to do.”
That aggressiveness is what Sustersic has come to expect of Delgado.
“He’s one of the best finishers we’ve had at West, and we’ve had a lot of them,” Sustersic said. “He’s really a finisher. I’m not saying a shooter. He’s a finisher. Pedro knows what to do.
“There are times we have to put some reins on him and pull him back a little bit. He’s an asset to what we have.”
Following an uncharacteristic first half, Elgin wasted little time getting back into the game.
Villarruel’s goal came 1:43 into the second half to cut it to 3-1. The Maroons controlled the play for much of the time before Diaz got the deficit to one, making the final two minutes a mad scramble.
“Second half, we were a different team, more dominant,” Elgin coach Jimmy Romano said. “We were on their end most of the time, all over them. The slow start hurt us, coming back from behind.
“They came and put a couple early on us. It’s hard to come back from that, but our guys fought.”
Romano was happy the tough loss came now and not in a couple of weeks during the playoffs.
“We have to learn from this,” Romano said. “We have to be better. This is not our identity. This is not who we are, and our guys know that.”
With the rugged schedule the Blackhawks have played, wins over good teams are now nothing new for them. Delgado hopes that the energy displayed Tuesday remains over the next month.
“We just attack fully with confidence,” Delgado said. “We have to bring this to the playoffs, too.
“As long as we stick together, that’s all that matters.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
