CCHS Knights Soccer Team have Fantastic and Historic Season

On Friday, October 21, the CCHS Knights battled against Victoria Soto High School but came up short. According to Coach Danny Mack, "For the last game, our young men battled and left everything on the field and fought till the very end. Hats off to Victoria Soto High School, they played a great game and good luck to them the rest of their tournament run.

As for our overall season, it was a fantastic season. From the start of our off season training in early summer till the final whistle, the boys came in day in and day out giving everything they had to get better each day.

Going into the year we had high expectations with 2 key goals: compete for a conference title and win a regional title. Even though we did not capture the conference title, we battled in every game with half of our conference games being decided in extra time or in a penalty shootout.

For our second goal, we had to overcome 2 very talented teams. The First team was Joliet Catholic Academy, a very talented team who has knocked us out in the Regional Title match the past 2 IHSA tournaments. It was a very tough and evenly matched game and ultimately we put one in the back of the net off a shot from junior Chad Busker to lift us to a 1-0 victory.

Our second match we got matched up with the #1 seed on our side of the bracket, Universal School from Bridgeview. It was an even first half, but in the second half our boys started to take over the match and Chad Busker was able to find the back of the net again on a rebound from a great free kick taken from senior captain Kyle Powers. This led us to the school's first regional title in 8 years and 4th overall.

Our next match was against Herscher high school, a very strong and traditionally powerful program. It was an even sided in the first half and early in the second half Herscher struck first but our young men never gave up. Chad Busker was able to pull it back level with his third goal of the postseason. Then with 1:40 left in the match, senior captain Tyler Ackerman was able to give us the lead, with Kyle powers assisting on both knight goals. This win put the knights in the sectional final and super 16 of the IHSA state tournament for the first time in program history.

Overall, words can not describe how incredibly proud I am of this team. Not just how much they accomplished but of how hard they worked to get to where they are now. These seniors really set a great example for the younger classes to follow. They are leaving big shoes to fill and will be missed a ton but I am excited to see how the younger classes will keep the success going."

When asked about the boys soccer season, Athletic Director, Mark Zylstra commented: "This Knights soccer season was historic and we couldn't be prouder of our young men. Two seasons ago (Spring of 2021 due to COVID), this team went 0-13-1, but had just one Senior on the roster. Despite this very tough year, the core of young players bought in and just kept putting in the work and it paid off in a big way this year with the historic playoff run. The discipline and grit the team has consistently shown is extremely admirable. ."

Congratulations go out to the CCHS Knights Soccer Team on an outstanding season!