CHICAGO – It’s been a long time coming.

That was the general feeling of Lemont defender Ali Nabulsi and the rest of his teammates, especially his senior classmates, after the final horn sounded at the Class AA Brother Rice Sectional on Saturday.

Lemont defeated the host Crusaders 2-0 at Tom Mitchell Field for their first sectional title since 2011.

Senior forward Billy Eliadis scored both goals for the visitors in a tense, up-and-down-the-field contest.

“This feels great,” said Nabulsi.  “We’ve all been talking about the fact that it’s been 13 years since we’ve won a sectional final.

“I think what drove us is that we got a taste of the sectionals in my sophomore year, and we lost in the final (1-0 to Marmion).

“Then last year we lost in regionals so now everybody was hungry for a win.”

The final presented a no. 1-seed (Lemont) versus a two-seed (Brother Rice).

After the opening kickoff, Lemont wasted little time getting the upper hand.

The visitors almost scored in the eighth minute when senior forward Mitchell Sowa headed a ball toward the net from eight yards, but it was cleared away by Brother Rice defender Liam Greene.

Just a little over a minute later, Lemont put a number on the scoreboard.

Eliadis got under a long free kick from Lemont keeper Adrian Lisowski and nodded the ball to the back of the net from four yards to give his team a 1-0 lead.

The powerful boot came from about 65 yards away from the Brother Rice goal.
  
“Set pieces are something that we’ve been working on all year,” said Eliadis, who earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.

“It’s one of our key features. Basically, we had our goalkeeper just drive a long ball.  I deflected it off my head, and it went in.

“It was great to put us up at the beginning of the game.  That really helped us.”

Lemont controlled the remainder of the first half and doubled the lead in the 37th minute.
 
After a shot from midfielder Tyler Chrisman (a Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater last season) was blocked away by Crusaders keeper David Valencia, Eliadis hammered home the rebound from seven yards in the dead center to make it 2-0.

“It came right to me, and I didn’t even think twice about it,” said Eliadis.

“I hit it, laces, and it went top corner.  It was an amazing moment.”

Lemont was pleased with its opening half.

“I thought we came out in the first half and played really hard,” said coach Rick Prangen.  “We had great energy and just got after it.

“We were ready to play today.  I thought the boys were unbelievably disciplined and did everything we asked them to do.  It was great.”

Brother Rice coach Al Perez had a different take on the first 40 minutes.

“The boys just couldn’t get their game going early,” he said.  “They (Lemont) got the goal on the long ball early, and we just couldn’t recover.”

The Crusaders, however, didn’t back down.  They came out after intermission and controlled the final period, pressing the issue time after time.

In the 61st minute, they had a great chance to halve the deficit on a 50-yard free kick from Jimmy Gricus.

The senior sent the boot sailing high in the air toward the upper portion of the goal, but Lisowski came up big.

He leaped high in the air and grabbed the dangerous try.

Brother Rice increased the pressure down the home stretch.

In the 69th minute, senior Angelo Piech, a 2023 Chicagoland Soccer All-State selection, sent a through-ball to Julian Zambrano, who flicked a quick pass to Julian Gaona. He was poised to turn and shoot, but Eliadis got there first and headed the ball out of harm’s way.

Perhaps the most electric chance for the Crusaders came in with just 4:12 remaining on the clock.

Gricus, who played a terrific match, bent a 34-yard free kick directly toward the Lemont goal, but it twisted agonizingly just outside the far post.

The final minutes of the game got a little chippy, and that’s when Nabulsi stepped in.

He kept his Lemont teammates on the right track in an impressive display of leadership.

“I had to make sure my guys were getting right,” said Nabulsi.  “Everyone who was talking had to stay away.  I made it clear to them that no one could get a red card.

“We needed all our boys for the next game.  They had to stay locked in until the very end.”

Lemont advances to meet no. 1-seed Notre Dame (Peoria) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Kankakee Supersectional. The Irish topped Washington (Ill.) 0-0 (4-3 PKs) Nov. 2. 

The season has ended for Brother Rice and its 10 seniors, but the Crusaders’ accomplishments will not be forgotten.

“It’s tough,” Piech said of the loss, “but I’m proud of how far we came.

“It’s not the way we wanted the season to end, but we came a long way from my freshman year, working hard, building every day.”

The Crusaders were sectional champs in 2023 when they defeated Washington (Chicago) 1-0.

“We fought for the entire year,” added Piech.  “We wanted to leave everything on the field, but the result wasn’t what we wanted.”

After the last few seconds ticked off the clock, Eliadis and his teammates raced to the other side of the field to celebrate with their fans and claim the sectional title plaque.

“It’s been 13 years since the last one,” Eliadis said, “and we’ve finally been able to reach this moment.

“I love my boys, and we worked really hard before the season and during the season.  Now we’re moving on.”

Lisowski, a sophomore, got his 15th clean-sheet of the season for Lemont.

Perez was disappointed in the loss, but praised the effort of his players and especially his seniors.

“It was painful for them,” said the coach, “but they stood up for the team and for the game today.

“At halftime we talked about getting back into the game.  We had to shut down Lemont, no more long balls, no more corner kicks.

“I said pass the ball, and the goals will come, but they didn’t.  I expected a different kind of ending, and it was tough to have it end in this manner.”

Both teams came into the match with sparkling records. 

Lemont, which is ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Class AA Super 7 poll, moves on at 22-3-1 (.865 winning percentage). 

Brother Rice, which sat atop the honorable mention list of the Top 25, ended the season at 16-3-2 (.809).

Starting lineups

Lemont
GK: Adrian Lisowski
D: Luciano Mancini
D: Aidan Ontiveros
D: Ali Nabulsi
MF: Vincenzo Mancini
MF: Tyler Chrisman
MF: Faraz Ayub
MF: Gabriel Zarycki
F: Mitchell Sowa
F: Billy Eliadis
F: Andrew Guzy

Brother Rice
GK: David Valencia
D: Jimmy Gricus
D: Javier Franco
D: Liam Greene
MF: Julian Zambrano
MF: Luke Gordon
MF: Julian Gaona
MF: Giovanni Paz
F: Anthony Piech
F: Angelo Piech
F: Salvador Perez

Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Billy Eliadis, sr., F, Lemont

Scoring summary

First half
Lemont: Eliadis (Lisowski), 9'
Lemont: Eliadis (Chrisman), 37'

Second half
No scoring