As the youngest brother and the third Eisenhower soccer player in his family, Felipe Arriaga has always felt extra motivation to work harder in order to keep up with his siblings.
Arriaga’s older brothers, Gael and Alan, never took it easy on him on the soccer field. Felipe, a senior midfielder, knows that made him better.
“Being the youngest, I always got picked on,” Arriaga said. “My brothers always challenged me to be my best. Even now when I play with them, it’s always great to learn from them as I keep developing as a player.”
Arriaga has emerged as a leading playmaker for the resurgent Cardinals. He scored two goals and dished out an assist Thursday night to lead visiting Eisenhower to a 3-0 South Suburban Red win over Shepard in Palos Heights.
Adrian Padilla added a goal for Eisenhower (7-2, 4-0), while Moises Ramos made three saves to record the shutout. Francisco Remigio, Brian Rodriguez and Emilio Avila led the defense.
Neftaly Orozco finished with six saves for Shepard (4-7, 1-3).
Arriaga, meanwhile, is happy he has been able to produce some major stats so far this season so he can let his brothers hear about it. He’s up to seven goals and 11 assists.
“There’s always competition throughout the family, talking about who’s scoring goals and who’s not scoring goals,” Arriaga said. “They’re always giving me a hard time, so I’ve got to be able to tell them something back.”
Arriaga did not score on the hard shot he fired in the 28th minute. It hit the post, but Padilla was there to tap in the rebound to break a scoreless tie.
Arriaga wasn’t held off the scoreboard much longer, though. Less than two minutes later, he fought off a defender and found the back of the net. He added his second goal in the 34th minute when he stole the ball from a defender and fired in a quick shot.
Those are the kinds of plays Eisenhower coach Iran Rodriguez has become accustomed to Arriaga making lately.
“He’s one of our captains and he’s always coming through,” Rodriguez said. “He has the most assists and goals on our team. It’s nice that even when our other star player is out, Felipe can step up. He took the lead and carried us.”
The other star Rodriguez was referring to is James Acevedo, who has five goals and four assists but is currently injured.
Arriaga knew it was on him to help fill that void.
“James is a great player,” Arriaga said. “He brings a lot to our team. He was our leading scorer until he got hurt. Of course, when he’s hurt, I have to step up, but we also have a lot of other players who can step up, too.”
Remigio is confident that, if the Cardinals’ defense can do its job, Arriaga will help them score goals.
“He’s talented by himself,” Remigio said. “He’s good at feeling the pressure from the back and turning into space and driving forward. But it also helps that we have a lot of chemistry.
“His ability to connect with our teammates around him leads to us seeing a lot of success and I think it’s why we’ve been able to score a lot more goals than last year.”
The Cardinals have already surpassed their win total from last season, when they finished 6-6-5.
“This year feels different,” Arriaga said. “It’s like we’re all connected. We have no more egos. We just all love to play soccer and we’re having fun.”
It’s giving Arriaga flashbacks of watching from the stands as his older brothers played for successful Eisenhower teams.
“I watched a ton of games here,” he said. “It’s amazing to finally play. I always dreamed of it when I was a little kid, in fourth or fifth grade watching them play and watching them develop.
“After watching those teams over the years, it’s fun to see how we can compare to them now.”
Originally Published:
