DGS 2004 boys title team
inducted into school's Hall of Fame
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE -- They gathered in their old school’s cafeteria, 10 years removed from the finest moment of their athletic careers, but less than an hour before it would bring them another honor -- being immortalized in their alma mater's Hall of Fame.
More than 20 members of Downers Grove South’s 2004 boys soccer state championship team assembled Saturday, Feb. 14, to be inducted into the Mustangs Athletic Hall of Fame during a ceremony at halftime of a boys varsity basketball game.
For most of the players, it was the first time they had seen one another in many years, and it provided a great opportunity to reminisce about something they achieved that has never been duplicated at Downers Grove South.
“It was a special year for us,” midfielder Alex Jones said. “I cannot believe 10 years have passed. I don’t play anymore. We’re all kind of sitting her and reminiscing and seeing if anybody plays anymore.”
The answer to that is no, except for the occasional alumni game. The passage of time and the winds of fate have scattered the players all over the country, but they will forever share a bond as part of a team that went 26-2-1 and captured the program’s first state championship in dramatic fashion when Mike McCormack’s overtime goal beat Buffalo Grove 1-0 in the Class AA title match at North Central College in Naperville.
“The longer you coach the more you start to measure up this group to other groups,” said Jon Stapleton, Downers South’s head coach then and now. “It’s a neat experience tonight to have everyone come back and be together. People kind of move on and start a new life in other places.”
Outside of McCormack, who scored 34 goals that year, the Mustangs weren't a star-studded group. Many played youth soccer with the Downers Grove Roadrunners club.
“A lot of them grew up playing together and they became very cohesive,” Stapleton said. “They were a tight-knit group.”
“I was thinking about that,” defender Kevin Harrigan said. “McCormack probably stood out as a star, but aside from that it was a lot of people who were really good, and we played well together. We didn’t have a lot of superstars.”
Jason Curry was the starting goalkeeper who got the shutout in the state title match. The other starters were center backs Kyle Petricek and Anthony Marchese, right back Jim Azriel, left back Harrigan, center midfielders Jones and Andrew Lichaj, left midfielder Bryant Williams, right midfielder Scott Crider, and McCormack and Lucas Masolak at forward.
McCormack, who went on to play at Wisconsin-Green Bay, scored both goals in a 2-0 state quarterfinal win over Lincoln-Way Central and assisted on the final goal by Jones in a 3-1 semifinal defeat of Guildford.
Masolak set up McCormack’s title-clinching score, which came with 1:15 left in overtime.
“I’d say the state championship moment was probably the greatest moment in my soccer career,” McCormack said. “It was kind of something I had envisioned ahead of time. I thought we could have done it the year before, so it was great to do it.
“I had a good career at Wisconsin-Green Bay but we actually lost a couple of conference championship [games and failed] to make it to the NCAA tournament, so those experiences weren’t as uplifting.”
McCormack may have been the best-known name on that squad, but eight players – McCormack, Jones, Harrigan, Petricek, Masolak, Lichaj, Marchese and Jason Drews, then a backup sophomore midfielder – from that team went on to play in college.
Downers Grove South would have been even more formidable if Lichaj’s brother Eric had played for the Mustangs. Eric who started his career with the Roadrunners but never played high school soccer, plays professionally in England with Nottingham Forest and has made 10 appearances for the U.S. National Team.
Harrigan arguably made the decisive play of the championship game. With 5 seconds left and goalie Curry off his line, the defender used his head to flick away Buffalo Grove's Brian DeSimone's shot on goal.
"I had like [an instant] to see it," Harrigan said to a reporter after the game. "I didn't even know if I headed it over or if I headed it in. I was just relieved."
His state contributions included the game-winner against Guilford. For the season, he led the team with 15 assists. He and Jones, who was second on the team in scoring with 11 goals, played together for three years at Loyola, where they faced McCormack on several occasions.
Jones is a police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Harrigan works for a software company in Madison, Wisconsin, but they still keep in touch. McCormack is a physical education teacher at Monroe Middle School in Wheaton.
All three were stunned to learn the team would be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“This came as a surprise when I first heard about it,” Jones said. “I didn’t realize this was even on the radar, being inducted, but I’m glad I came into town for this and got to experience it.”
“It’s cool to get inducted as a team,” Harrigan said. “I didn’t even think about it until it was brought up six months ago.”
McCormack spoke to a common sense among his teammates that the 2004 season seemed like ancient history but that the induction brought the memories flooding back as if it was yesterday.
“Looking back at it now it’s amazing how much time has gone by,” McCormack said. “We’re all older, some of us have kids and are getting married. It’s a really cool experience getting everyone back.”
As memorable as it was for the players, the induction ceremony might have been most meaningful to Stapleton, who accomplished the rare feat of coaching his alma mater to a state championship.
“That was beyond my wildest imagination,” Stapleton said. “I grew up in the ‘80s being a ball boy. I went to the state games in the ‘80s as a fan [the Mustangs made the state quarterfinals in 1982, 1983 and 1985], then to come back and have a chance to coach and have this happen, I never would have envisioned it. Pretty special.”
So what made that team special?
“I think their determination to win,” Stapleton said. “They had the ability, they had talent and they brought focus to each and every game and desire to win.
“That overtime game was a good example. We played really well in the game, we just couldn’t find the back of the net, but there was no sense of panic by them.”
Although some of Stapleton’s former players, most notably Steve Goletz and Steve Szymanski, have followed him into the coaching profession, that hasn’t been the case with most of the 2004 team. Petricek coaches girls soccer in Indiana and McCormack coached with the Roadrunners for three years before taking the teaching job in Wheaton.
Monroe does not have a soccer team, so McCormack is focusing on teaching.
“There’s never a dull day,” McCormack said. “It’s nice to see the other side of it and help kids out.
“It definitely has moments where you’re happy and excited to see kids do well. It’s a small state to be a good influence at a transitional period of their lives. I try to give my experiences to them.”
inducted into school's Hall of Fame
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE -- They gathered in their old school’s cafeteria, 10 years removed from the finest moment of their athletic careers, but less than an hour before it would bring them another honor -- being immortalized in their alma mater's Hall of Fame.
More than 20 members of Downers Grove South’s 2004 boys soccer state championship team assembled Saturday, Feb. 14, to be inducted into the Mustangs Athletic Hall of Fame during a ceremony at halftime of a boys varsity basketball game.
For most of the players, it was the first time they had seen one another in many years, and it provided a great opportunity to reminisce about something they achieved that has never been duplicated at Downers Grove South.
“It was a special year for us,” midfielder Alex Jones said. “I cannot believe 10 years have passed. I don’t play anymore. We’re all kind of sitting her and reminiscing and seeing if anybody plays anymore.”
The answer to that is no, except for the occasional alumni game. The passage of time and the winds of fate have scattered the players all over the country, but they will forever share a bond as part of a team that went 26-2-1 and captured the program’s first state championship in dramatic fashion when Mike McCormack’s overtime goal beat Buffalo Grove 1-0 in the Class AA title match at North Central College in Naperville.
“The longer you coach the more you start to measure up this group to other groups,” said Jon Stapleton, Downers South’s head coach then and now. “It’s a neat experience tonight to have everyone come back and be together. People kind of move on and start a new life in other places.”
Outside of McCormack, who scored 34 goals that year, the Mustangs weren't a star-studded group. Many played youth soccer with the Downers Grove Roadrunners club.
“A lot of them grew up playing together and they became very cohesive,” Stapleton said. “They were a tight-knit group.”
“I was thinking about that,” defender Kevin Harrigan said. “McCormack probably stood out as a star, but aside from that it was a lot of people who were really good, and we played well together. We didn’t have a lot of superstars.”
Jason Curry was the starting goalkeeper who got the shutout in the state title match. The other starters were center backs Kyle Petricek and Anthony Marchese, right back Jim Azriel, left back Harrigan, center midfielders Jones and Andrew Lichaj, left midfielder Bryant Williams, right midfielder Scott Crider, and McCormack and Lucas Masolak at forward.
McCormack, who went on to play at Wisconsin-Green Bay, scored both goals in a 2-0 state quarterfinal win over Lincoln-Way Central and assisted on the final goal by Jones in a 3-1 semifinal defeat of Guildford.
Masolak set up McCormack’s title-clinching score, which came with 1:15 left in overtime.
“I’d say the state championship moment was probably the greatest moment in my soccer career,” McCormack said. “It was kind of something I had envisioned ahead of time. I thought we could have done it the year before, so it was great to do it.
“I had a good career at Wisconsin-Green Bay but we actually lost a couple of conference championship [games and failed] to make it to the NCAA tournament, so those experiences weren’t as uplifting.”
McCormack may have been the best-known name on that squad, but eight players – McCormack, Jones, Harrigan, Petricek, Masolak, Lichaj, Marchese and Jason Drews, then a backup sophomore midfielder – from that team went on to play in college.
Downers Grove South would have been even more formidable if Lichaj’s brother Eric had played for the Mustangs. Eric who started his career with the Roadrunners but never played high school soccer, plays professionally in England with Nottingham Forest and has made 10 appearances for the U.S. National Team.
Harrigan arguably made the decisive play of the championship game. With 5 seconds left and goalie Curry off his line, the defender used his head to flick away Buffalo Grove's Brian DeSimone's shot on goal.
"I had like [an instant] to see it," Harrigan said to a reporter after the game. "I didn't even know if I headed it over or if I headed it in. I was just relieved."
His state contributions included the game-winner against Guilford. For the season, he led the team with 15 assists. He and Jones, who was second on the team in scoring with 11 goals, played together for three years at Loyola, where they faced McCormack on several occasions.
Jones is a police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Harrigan works for a software company in Madison, Wisconsin, but they still keep in touch. McCormack is a physical education teacher at Monroe Middle School in Wheaton.
All three were stunned to learn the team would be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“This came as a surprise when I first heard about it,” Jones said. “I didn’t realize this was even on the radar, being inducted, but I’m glad I came into town for this and got to experience it.”
“It’s cool to get inducted as a team,” Harrigan said. “I didn’t even think about it until it was brought up six months ago.”
McCormack spoke to a common sense among his teammates that the 2004 season seemed like ancient history but that the induction brought the memories flooding back as if it was yesterday.
“Looking back at it now it’s amazing how much time has gone by,” McCormack said. “We’re all older, some of us have kids and are getting married. It’s a really cool experience getting everyone back.”
As memorable as it was for the players, the induction ceremony might have been most meaningful to Stapleton, who accomplished the rare feat of coaching his alma mater to a state championship.
“That was beyond my wildest imagination,” Stapleton said. “I grew up in the ‘80s being a ball boy. I went to the state games in the ‘80s as a fan [the Mustangs made the state quarterfinals in 1982, 1983 and 1985], then to come back and have a chance to coach and have this happen, I never would have envisioned it. Pretty special.”
So what made that team special?
“I think their determination to win,” Stapleton said. “They had the ability, they had talent and they brought focus to each and every game and desire to win.
“That overtime game was a good example. We played really well in the game, we just couldn’t find the back of the net, but there was no sense of panic by them.”
Although some of Stapleton’s former players, most notably Steve Goletz and Steve Szymanski, have followed him into the coaching profession, that hasn’t been the case with most of the 2004 team. Petricek coaches girls soccer in Indiana and McCormack coached with the Roadrunners for three years before taking the teaching job in Wheaton.
Monroe does not have a soccer team, so McCormack is focusing on teaching.
“There’s never a dull day,” McCormack said. “It’s nice to see the other side of it and help kids out.
“It definitely has moments where you’re happy and excited to see kids do well. It’s a small state to be a good influence at a transitional period of their lives. I try to give my experiences to them.”