Junior midfielder Aaron Saldana has embraced his role all season as Elgin’s setup man.

The best scorers on the field often create their own offense, but sometimes, they need a wingman. Saldana has been that for Eduardo Nava, the Maroons’ leader in goals.

“We don’t play together a lot,” Saldana said. “We only play together during high school season. I guess it’s natural for us, the highest level of play. We bring it on the field.

“We connect together, and it works all the time.”

It worked again Tuesday night as Nava, a senior forward, scored a hat trick and Elgin rolled to a 4-1 victory over Huntley in the Class 3A Round Lake Sectional semifinals.

Saldana was part of a combination that got the ball ahead to Nava for the game’s first goal and his corner kick set up Nava’s second goal for the top-seeded Maroons (15-3-3).

Nava pushed his season total for goals to 36. Saldana is up to 19 assists. Alberto Gaytan added a goal for Elgin, which will play host Round Lake (16-5-1) at 6 p.m. Friday for the sectional title. The Panthers topped Streamwood 1-0 in the other semifinal.

Despite playing for different club teams, Nava and Saldana have created a seamless connection.

“It’s natural for them,” Elgin coach Jimmy Romano said. “They have high-level soccer IQ. Instincts kick in, and they know how each other plays and they play off that.”

Jayden Plancarte played the ball ahead to Saldana to set up the first goal with 29 minutes left in the first half. The goalkeeper for Huntley (16-6-1) came out of the net, but Nava put a quick touch on the ball to slide it home.

Saldana is Elgin’s specialist on corner kicks, and that produced the second goal with 1:28 left in the first half. Instead of aiming high for a header, the duo had a quick conversation in Spanish.

Saldana fired a ground ball from the corner, with Nava popping up to punch it in.

“I asked him what we’re doing because we have codes,” Nava said. “I was the only one that heard him in Spanish. I went in first, shot it bottom left.”

The fast start was something Romano wanted.

“That was the game plan,” Romano said. “I’ve been telling them, ‘We need to get out early. We need to get out in front. We need to keep the momentum going.’ They did it.”

Saldana knows how fortunate he is to have a quality player in Nava to pass to every time.

“It’s very good for me,” Saldana said. “I like to play a good ball, and he’s always there when I pass it to him. It’s good having him on the field with me.”

Nava added a penalty kick in the second half.

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“Teams are trying to defend him, but if you give him a little bit of space, he’s finding the back of the net,” Romano said of Nava. “He’s red-hot right now.”

Romano said Saldana’s role has increased as a this year — and the assists only tell part of the story.

“Aaron has good vision,” Romano said. “Last year, he was only a sophomore, and we had a lot more help all around. This role this year, he’s stepped up in that way to provide a lot of assists and spread the ball and be a leader.

“He’s a phenomenal player. He’s very good. His stats shine with the assists but also little details like maintaining possession. He stepped up and took on the role of a lot of the main players we lost from last year.”

Elgin also went through a rough patch but has emerged on the other end.

“We got back to where we were at or even higher,” Saldana said. “We don’t care who we’re playing. We feel good about the way we’re playing.”

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.