Gordy Gurson, Bobby Hurwitz lead impactful Illinoisans to Cedar Rapids Rampage

CEDAR RAPIDS — You could say Gordy Gurson and Bobby Hurwitz are in each other's heads.

The second-year Cedar Rapids Rampage teammates have been playing together for so long, they often can predict the other's move on the field before it is made.

'I know where he's going to be,' said Hurwitz, a midfielder/defender who will try to help Cedar Rapids (7-2) win its seventh Major Arena Soccer League game in a row Saturday at 2 p.m. against the expansion Florida Tropics at the U.S. Cellular Center. 'He knows where I'm going to run. I know where he's going to want the ball to finish, so it's kind of nice. It's easy to play when you know where each other is going to be. You don't even really have to think about it.'

Gurson and Hurwitz — two of six Illinois natives on the Rampage roster — met during the 2011 finals of a Chicago-area adult league tournament following their freshman year of college. With both seeking a transfer destination (Gurson from the University of Memphis, Hurwitz from Harper (Ill.) College), they decided to resume their respective careers in Chicago at NAIA-level Robert Morris University.

'We were talking and we were like, 'We've got to go to the same place,'' Gurson said. ''We're both one of the top players here.' We've wanted to win everywhere we went.'

The pair helped the Eagles win the 2011 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference title and Gurson, 24, was named player of the year — the first of his three all-conference seasons.

Gurson and Hurwitz began their MASL careers with the Seattle Impact during the 2014-15 season. Separate midseason dealings routed both to St. Louis, where Gurson finished a 46-goal season and was named league rookie of the year.

After a 1-10 start to its 2015-16 expansion season, Cedar Rapids acquired both players and won four of its last nine games.

This season, Gurson has scored a team-high 12 goals along with seven assists, while Hurwitz has established a career-high with five goals. The Rampage are 7-2 and in first place in the MASL Central Division.

'I've been a lot more comfortable this season,' said Hurwitz, 25. 'My coach (Hewerton Moreira) has given me the confidence to go out there and do my thing. I'm starting to understand the system more. In years past, I wasn't really in a system. Now that I'm able to be in the system, it's kind of helping me to be in the right places at the right times.'

The duo have been instrumental in bringing a quartet of fellow Illinois players to Cedar Rapids.

Former Robert Morris teammate Jon Pachar, 24, joined the outdoor Rampage United over the summer, while 27-year-old defender Seth 'Phibo' Arriaga was in Seattle with Gurson and Hurwitz.

Rampage forward Derek Huffman – who played collegiately at the University of Illinois-Chicago – helped eliminate the Rampage United from the semifinals of last summer's Premier League of America tournament as a member of RWB Adria. As an MASL rookie, Huffman, 28, has become a burgeoning offensive force with three goals in the last two games.

'We had to force him to come to the tryouts,' Gurson said. 'He came out here and he made a difference at the tryouts. Hewerton saw the potential and he's starting to come along now that he's starting to get games under his belt. You can tell that he was a rookie at the beginning, and now he's starting to play more with some swagger, I would say.'

The biggest Illinois arrival has been rookie goalkeeper Brett Petricek, the league leader with seven wins who played youth soccer with Gurson as teenagers. After surrendering 160 goals in 20 games (eight per game) during last year's 5-15 expansion season, the Rampage have limited opponents to five goals per game this season (45 in nine games) with the 25-year-old Petricek manning the goal.

'I've played with Brett since I was 16 years old,' Gurson said. 'He used to play forward. He and I were the forwards and we used to rotate. He was a year older than me. Then he started playing keeper and I gave him a call. … It was hard getting him to come in, but once he did I think he's having the time of his life now.'

The club is opening the arena at 11 a.m. for an on-field New Year's Eve celebration with an assortment of children's activities and concession specials.

l Comments; douglas.miles@thegazette.com