The date, Tuesday, Oct. 29, is going to be remembered as the defining night of the 2024 Class 3A boys’ state soccer series.

On that night, marked by sharp winds and spring-like weather, the tournament's trajectory changed forever with stunning sectional semifinal losses from Naperville North, Glenbrook South and Evanston.

Top-ranked Naperville North was the overwhelming favorite to win the state title. A 1-0 loss against West Aurora changed everything, as did simultaneous defeats from Glenbrook South against cross-town rival North, and Evanston in a double-overtime shocker to city power Lane.

A week later, overwhelming Class AA favorite, Notre Dame (Peoria) was also a casualty of a highly unpredictable boys soccer season following its supersectional penalty shootout loss to Lemont.

Call it the 10 days that shook a majority of the Illinois boys soccer world. 

Naperville North and Notre Dame (Peoria) had unrivaled and unchallenged runs as the wire-to-wire no. 1 ranked teams of the two major in-season polls of Chicagoland Soccer, the Top 25 and the Illinois 10.

The monumental losses opened up the field in a way that was previously imaginable.

The wild turn of events produced a Class 3A soccer title game even the most plugged-in aficionado could not have anticipated -- third-seeded Hersey vs. fourth-seeded Lane.

In what was thought by many to be a down year for the Mid-Suburban League, the two division winners produced a state champion and supersectional qualifier in Conant.

Lane beat Oak Park and River Forest in the regional title game, and then knocked out Evanston and Leyden, who were each ranked in the top 5 the entire season.

Lane survived Conant in Hoffman Estates in penalty kicks to reach the first state finals in program history.

The Champions attempted to become the first large city school to win a state championship in more than a half century.

Harrison, which no longer exists, won the second state title in Illinois history in 1973, when the IHSA had a single-class tournament.

Lane became the first Class 3A city state finalist, and the first Chicago Public League team to reach a state finals in the largest class since fourth place Foreman in 1996 (eight qualifiers for each of two classes), when Chicago Public Schools had an automatic state qualifier.

Mather (2011), Washington (2013) and Solorio (2017) won Class AA state championships. Schurz finished second in the single-class tournament in 1977.

Beginning with the regional championship game, Hersey beat ranked programs Libertyville, Stevenson, Glenbrook North and Elgin.

It was the first championship match for both Hersey and Lane.

They were not alone.

Half of the 12 teams in the three-class state finals were making their first appearance downstate. In Class A, runnerup Cristo Rey and fourth place Mendota captured their first state trophies ever. In Class AA, runnerup DeLaSalle and fourth place Lemont also took their maiden voyages.

For the second-consecutive season, the three state classes crowned same-day champions: University (Normal) topped Cristo Rey 3-0, Althoff bested DeLaSalle  in a 3-2 double overtime win and Hersey edged Lane in a shootout after 100 scoreless minutes.

If the season ended in a way few had anticipated, Chicagoland Soccer brings the curtain down the same way with the publication of its Final 50. Hersey and Lane top the field.

This is the bookend to the First 50, the preseason survey that ranks the top programs in the state, regardless of class, region or location.

The final ranking really does look to zoom out, and not just consider the state tournament results but the body of work, quality of competition and results against other top-ranked programs of all teams in the state.

During the eight-week regular season, Chicagoland Soccer published four weekly polls—the Top 25, Illinois 10, Class A Super 7 and Class AA Super 7.

The most unpredictable of seasons ended the same way all do: with drama, heartbreak and elation. That was not a surprise.

And as always, it was a great ride. 

(Editor's note: “FRSR,” refers to the final regular-season rank in the Top 25, Illinois 10 or Class AA Super 7. The First 50 refers to the ranking in Chicagoland Soccer's preseason poll, which was published on Aug. 28.)