The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Boys Soccer Wins State Championship

The boys soccer team defeated Alton (15 miles north of St.Louis) Marquette HS Saturday, 2-1 to win the IHSA Class 1A State Championship in East Peoria.

The Maroons were behind at half-time 1-0 on a very nice goal from #22 Myles Paniagua, of the Explorers at the 17:10 mark of the game. The Maroons came out strong in the second half, putting strategic pressure on the Marquette side. At the 68th minute Jaden Lynch slotted a ball from the center of the penalty box to Stanley Shapiro on the left side, who found the upper right corner of the goal to tie the score. With eight minutes remaining, Nolan Issa crossed the ball from the right side that deflected off a defender to Alex Bal who shot the ball to the upper left corner of the goal, much to the delight of the huge partisan crowd gathered to support the Maroons.

The Maroons win is the first-ever "bracketed" IHSA State Championship in school history, our 8th State Championship in the past 110 years, and our second State Championship in a week—following the girls tennis team's State Championship last Saturday.

The Maroons finished the season with 22 wins, three losses, and two ties, winning 19 of their last 20 games. There were 175 teams that entered the IHSA Class A boys soccer tournament three weeks ago, today the Maroons are #1.