Lane boys soccer makes history, places second in state after heartbreaking PK loss

By Dominic Scianna

It took more than 100 minutes to decide the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 3A boys soccer championship on Saturday, Nov. 9, at a rain-soaked Hoffman Estates High School. Two forty-minute halves, followed by two 10-minute overtime periods weren’t enough to crown the new soccer champion in the state’s highest class.

In the end, Chicago Public League (CPL) champion, Lane Tech, closed its historic first-ever appearance in the state final, with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss, after a 4-2 penalty kick shootout went in favor of opponent Hersey.

Lane head coach Andrew Ricks is a 22-year coaching veteran and has amassed 455 games under his belt as a head coach, but this may have been one of the craziest ebbs and flows of a soccer contest that he has ever seen.

“We wanted to leave (this championship game) without any regrets. Both teams were at their best and in the final for a reason,” Ricks admitted. “As the game went on, I told our team you have to dig deep. And we did, and I’m proud of our guys. Unfortunately, someone has to lose and that’s tough to take. We didn’t come here to finish second.”

The game featured solid goaltending on both sides from Lane’s junior Evan Burgess to Hersey’s 6-3 senior Adrian Smakowski. Plus, there were so many chances on both sides with balls hitting the top crossbar, to shots sailing just wide on both sides of the field in the first and second halves of regulation play, resulting in a 0-0 draw.

Lane’s offensive surge was led by William Huge, Benicio Lacerda, Eduardo Aburto, Sebastian Wimmer, and captain Grayson Trinter, but the go-ahead goal continued to elude them throughout the match.

Adding to the drama was a steady rain that made shots slide off the turf, causing the goalkeepers to play bounces differently than they would on a dry surface. And the conditions worsened as the game went to overtime.

In OT, the game stayed true to form with both teams still deadlocked after two extremely well-played 10-minute periods. So, the state final would go to a penalty kick shootout to determine the Class 3A champion.

Hersey would prevail edging Lane 4-2 in penalty kick tallies with the winning goal scored by Hawks goalie Smakowski beating fellow goalkeeper Burgess, to set off a wild on-field celebration for his team and head coach Michael Rusniak.

“Lane was a phenomenal team and they really put on a show. They were constantly pressing and taking shots. We had to hang on as they gave us an extremely tough battle,” said Smakowski. “But when it got to PK’s, that is where our team has shined this season and we got it done. But honestly, the game could have gone either way and we were lucky to come out on top.”

Trinter agreed and stated that Lane was one missed shot and two penalty kick goals away from a state championship. But more importantly, this team was one big family that he loved, and the biggest honor for him was wearing the Captain’s “C” and helping lead this team with coach Ricks this year.

“We were underdogs in pretty much every game we played (in the state playoffs),” said Trinter, who led Lane this season with 18 goals. “We just always managed to find a way to win – but I guess our luck just ran out. In a few days it will sink in about how historic this year was for us, and what a great season that we were able to share with our fans and the whole school coming together. I’ll never forget it.”

“Lane Tech has a lot of great history and this will go down as a piece of it,” said Brent Bradish, the school’s athletic director, who has also been with the school for 20+ years. “I’m thrilled for this team and Coach Ricks. Their success kept snowballing and we played our best at the end of the season. It was so much fun to sit back and watch it (with our school supporters and fans).”

Seniors Julian Audinelle and Julian Strelow netted penalty kick goals for Lane (18-3-4) in defeat.

Photos by Jim Vincent/OSA