It’s abracadabra with Abderrahmane
Shepard’s Elhoumaidi, who loves to push up and score goals, excels as ‘anchor on our back line’
From his central defender position, Shepard senior Abderrahmane Elhoumaidi takes great pride in his ability to shut down the opponent’s top scorers.
“Everything starts from the goalkeeper and the defenders forward,” he said. “I love playing defense. I definitely want to do my part in the back and be vocal to help lead my team.”
Elhoumaidi also is a threat offensively. The Astros like to get him into the mix on set pieces because of his size, toughness and hard shot. He’s always eager for the opportunity to move forward.
“It’s fun to get up there and have a chance to score,” he said. “I scored three goals last season, and if I can make a difference for my team with goals, that’s great.”
Elhoumaidi scored his first goal of the season Wednesday in a 2-1 South Suburban Red victory over Reavis.
The Astros (2-0, 2-0) are hoping to win their third straight South Suburban Red championship.
“That had never been done before in school history, winning two straight championships,” Elhoumaidi said. “It meant everything to us and we want to defend that title.
“We didn’t know what this season was going to end up being, but we knew we wanted to go after whatever we could. Since there’s no playoffs, we definitely want that conference title.”
Shepard, which lost many key players from those back-to-back
conference championship teams, has a new coach in Zeno Toscas. That makes Elhoumaidi’s presence especially vital.
“He is an anchor on our back line,” Toscas said of Elhoumaidi. “He’s not only a very talented player, he’s a very intelligent young man and he knows the game of soccer. He loves the game of soccer.
“He’s really stepped up this year. He’s one of our captains. He’s a great leader.”
Elhoumaidi said he has played soccer since he was 6 or 7 years old.
“It allows me to express myself and have fun with my friends,” he said. “It brings everyone together.”
On that note, Elhoumaidi is thrilled to be back together with his teammates after a long wait.
“We work for each other,” he said. “We have a really good bond. I’ve played for four years with a lot of these guys. It’s just really nice to be out here with them.”
Getting offensive: Homewood-Flossmoor coach Charlie Ward chose to shift seniors Jackson Arnold and Ian Hoereth out of the defensive line into the center midfield this season to help the Vikings increase possession and generate more time on the attack.
“They are both very strong in all aspects of the game,” Ward said of Arnold and Hoereth. “They should give us a powerful midfield that will be difficult to handle both in the air and on the ground.”
Forward Ethan Lindquist is another senior who will be tough for defenses to handle.
H-F is looking to make some noise in the SouthWest
Suburban Blue after returning six starters from a team that finished with a 13-7-1 record.
After a season-opening 2-1 loss to Andrew, the Vikings picked up a big 2-1 win Thursday over Lincoln-Way Central.
Southland showdown: After Bloom and Thornton co-op shared the Southland Athletic Conference title last season, they are scheduled to play three times this year, with the first set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Bloom.
“Bloom had a ton of young talent in 2019,” Thornton coach David Gonzalez said. “I am pretty sure they will be stacked again. It should be fun to play them.”
Thornton opened its season Saturday with a 6-1 win over Eisenhower.