By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

The Aurora boys soccer team is on fire.

The fourth-ranked team in the state in Division III is on a 17-game unbeaten streak since losing 3-2 to Strongsville in the season opener.

Since then, the Greenmen are 14-0-3 heading into Thursday’s Division III district semifinal at 7 p.m. at home against Norton.

“We’re preaching non-stop. Our goal is 20 wins, and 20 wins gets you the state championship,” head coach Louis Kastelic said. “So every day that we’re getting a win, we’re putting a mark on the board and acknowledging what we’ve been able to accomplish thus far, making sure we realize we don’t take anything for granted and we play one game at a time. If we play the way we’re capable of, we definitely think we have a shot of winning it all.”

Aurora qualified for districts by routing visiting Bedford 10-1 Oct. 18 in a sectional final that was shortened to one half due to the rule stating that a lead of at least eight goals at halftime or during the second half be called.

“It was pretty obvious the teams were not even,” said Kastelic. “The nice thing for us was I got a lot of guys in the game. I played the starters for about the first 15 minutes, and then the reserves came in, and there was no drop in the level of play.”

Leading the way with two goals and two assists apiece were seniors Jordan West, a forward, and Kam Warnke, a center midfielder. West’s 26 assists this season are the second most in the state in Division III.

“Both Jordan and Kam have been there all year for us. Those are two guys we rely heavily on, Jordan especially,” the coach said. “Kam is a guy who can just go box to box. He has no limits to his play — he can play with his feet, he can help us offensively, he can help us defensively. Those two have grown up together and played basically their entire lives together with a couple of the other guys, so they kind of feed off one another. When one is doing well, the other is trying to outdo him while focusing on the team results.”

Another big contributor was senior forward Adam Charles, who had a goal and two assists off the bench.

“Adam is always there. He know his role,” said Kastelic. “He has a desire to get in on all the action when there’s a lot of offense, and then when we need him defensively he can hold the ground for us. He’s going to get out there for 15, 20 minutes and give those first-string guys a rest, and then he’ll come back in and do it again the next time we ask him. It’s really nice to have him and other guys like him.”