Boys soccer: Bradley-Bourbonnais tops Conant for third place
Bradley-Bourbonnais secured third place and its first-ever boys soccer state trophy with a 2-0 victory over Conant on Saturday evening at Hoffman Estates' Garber Stadium in the 3A state tournament.
After earning a 25th victory this season, coach Rohan Robinson's team departed 1 victory short of its target of winning it all. Still, the Boilermakers ended their season on a high note, while the Cougars saw their amazing postseason run end with consecutive losses in the finals.
"When it's all said and done, we had a great ride once the state playoffs began, and a memorable one at that," said Conant coach Jason Franco. "I couldn't be more proud of the players and what they accomplished."
After a slow start in their regional-opening win over Willowbrook, the Cougars (16-9-0) reeled off four consecutive victories over higher-seeded opponents to reach the final weekend of the season. That win streak ended in Friday's semifinal against Barrington.
"We were flying high after putting two in against Barrington to take a 2-0 lead into the break, but they came back and got back even so quickly, and after that we were kind of shell-shocked," said Conant captain Kevin Sindewald, twice an all-area choice. "But I thought we came out today ready to play despite that loss, and that said a lot about this team."
Bradley-Bourbonnais (25-1-0) had some heartbreak of its own Friday against Naperville North. A penalty called inside the box led to North tying their matchup in the 58th minute to signal a wild finish that saw the eventual state champs go ahead for good in the 73rd minute.
"We knew we belonged in the final four," said Robinson. "Maybe others didn't, but we showed we could play with anyone last night against Naperville, and today, we had another very good showing. We were able to earn a third-place trophy, which I know everyone associated with this team is very proud of."
Bradley-Bourbonnais builds its attack around Nicholas and Anthony Markanich, who combined for nearly 80 goals between them. Anthony Markanich opened the scoring in the 10th minute, and later, with the Cougars pushing numbers forward during a frantic final quarter-hour in which they dominated, Boilermakers senior Justin Fritz scored to put it out of reach in the 76th minute.
"Coming over here today I was thinking we were playing for third place against a team with just one loss, but the guys came out an battled hard against a very good side, never letting up and really fighting hard right until the end," said Franco. "That's all you can ask for."
The season-ending loss did not diminish the achievement of the team in the eyes of senior Nico Scimeca, who during the playoffs scored a handful of key goals, including the first two in a stunning 3-1 victory over Addison Trail to win the Glenbard East sectional title.
"These last three weeks of the season have been amazing," said Scimeca. "A No. 5 seed here in the state finals, when we weren't even expected to win a regional title? It's something I'll never forget."