Cristo Rey, of Chicago, had the distinction of opening as the first of now 40 nationwide schools in the Cristo Rey Network. According to its mission statement, Cristo Rey “provides a Catholic, college preparatory education and professional work experience to students from Spanish-speaking families with limited financial means.”

Now the historic school, which opened in 1996, has made its own athletic history by guaranteeing its first IHSA trophy in any sport. After tying twice in regular-season Chicago Prep Conference play, the Cristeros topped Northridge 1-0 in Saturday's Class A supersectional at another school in its network, Cristo Rey St. Martin, in Waukegan. 

Coach Manuel Chavez, who owns a 192-87-23 record in the 14-year history of boys soccer at Cristo Rey, also led the program to its first sectional championship in 2012 in the program’s second season. The Cristeros won that match 1-0 over their host at the Lisle Sectional. That team finished 17-2-2 after falling 4-0 to Hinckley-Big Rock in the supersectional.

This year's squad (20-4-2) has the most wins in school history and meets semifinal opponent Columbia (24-3-1), which took third place in state last season, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Hoffman Estates High School. 

The winner advances to the 2:30 p.m. championship match Saturday against last fall's state-runnerup University (Normal/23-5-1) or Mendota (24-2-1), which also makes its first state appearance.

The loser plays for third place at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

Three-quarters of the losses for Cristo Rey, which was the regular-season and tournament champions in the Chicago Prep Conference, came against Class AA competition: sectional finalist Brother Rice; regional semifinalist Lake View; and regional winner St. Laurence. The team’s lone defeat versus Class A competition came Oct. 5 in a 2-0 decision at Cristo Rey St. Martin.

Cristo Rey brings a six-match winning streak, all via shutout, into its semifinal. Its last defeat came by a 2-1 score at St. Laurence on Oct. 12. In the team's five postseason matches, they've outscored opponents by a 20-0 margin. 

The Cristeros have recorded 18 shutouts and allowed just 11 goals this season.

As was the case 12 years ago, Cristo Rey won the sectional championship game vs. Lisle, this time by a 3-0 score Oct. 29 in the University (Chicago) Sectional.

Cristo Rey was the top-seeded team in Sub-sectional B, while Lisle was the top-seeded team on the A side of the sectional.

Leading the way offensively for the Cristeros are senior forward Miguel Puntos (10 goals, three assists), senior defender Jovani Guzman (six goals, three assists), junior forward Damian Correa (four goals) and senior forward Jefferson Flores (four goals). Ten other players have scored at least one goal.

Axel Granda (seven goals-against) and senior Giovanny Vega (four) are the main goalkeepers for the squad. 

Junior midfielder Juan Garcia is the team captain. The assistant coaches are Alejandro and Carlos Vences and Alex Lopez.

All-conference performers for Cristo Rey are senior defender David Gomez, senior midfielder Diego Gomez, senior defender Ian Sastoque, senior defender Liam Tapia and Flores. 

Sastoque was the Chicago Prep Conference Co-Player of the Year along with Northtown's Carlos Galvez. Puntos was the conference tournament MVP, and Chavez was the conference's Coach of the Year.