Senior goalkeeper Ian Sorensen and his Brother Rice teammates had to endure more than a little adversity this season but still managed to have a lot of success.
“We didn’t have a pool all season and we had to travel 40 minutes to an hour every single day to go practice,” Sorensen said. “It’s been hard but we held it together.”
Brother Rice coach Frank Mulcrone said the state of Illinois shut down the school’s pool for safety reasons in February. That forced the Crusaders to practice at Munster in Indiana four days a week and use Julian’s pool in Chicago two other days.
“We had to trade a lot of bus time for pool time, and unfortunately, we lost a lot of practice time because of it, but Munster’s pool was the best pool we could possibly get to practice,” Mulcrone said. “It was a lot of wear and tear on the kids but they adjusted well.”
The Crusaders managed thanks in part to leaders like Sorensen and senior Darrion Phelps.
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“As captains, we had to keep the whole team together, keep everybody working hard, making sure everybody is being held accountable and showing up to practice every day,” Sorensen said.
The effort paid of as Brother Rice came within a whisker of winning its second state championship in program history. The Crusaders, who hadn’t been to state since 2006, reached the final match for the first time since winning their only title in 2002.
Their run fell just short Saturday afternoon in a 10-9 loss to Stevenson at Barrington.
“It felt good,” Sorensen said of earning the program’s fourth state trophy. “I think we could have done better.
“There’s definitely some opportunities that we missed. There were some balls that I should have blocked.”
But the Crusaders (32-2) wouldn’t have had a chance at winning if not for the stout play of Sorensen, who made 17 saves against the Patriots (34-2).
“He did a great job,” Mulcrone said of Sorensen. “He’s been a great leader for us. We’re going to miss him next year.”
The Crusaders nearly missed Sorensen this year, period. He played despite rehabbing from torn ankle ligaments suffered while playing basketball in his driveway with Phelps.
“My physical therapist has kind of made this opportunity able for me because of all that hard work restrengthening my ankle,” Sorensen said. “It’s been a hardworking season.”
Phelps rates Sorensen as one of the top two goalkeepers in the state.
Sorensen, however, pointed out that he wouldn’t be as good if not for facing Phelps and junior Josh Milakovich, who combined for all of Brother Rice’s scoring on Saturday.
“It’s nice because we’ve got a couple kids that are the best players in the state, I would say,” Sorensen said. “Taking shots from them every day makes me better.”
Milakovich scored five goals, four of them on penalty shots and two of which gave Brother Rice the lead in the third quarter.
Phelps tallied the other four, including one with 17 seconds left that cut the gap to 10-9.
The Crusaders then got a steal with four seconds left and threw the ball to Phelps, who couldn’t get a shot off as time expired.
Phelps will continue his playing career at Mount St. Mary’s and major in cybersecurity. Sorensen had interest from college coaches but will enter the physical therapy program at Saint Louis.
“There were definitely a lot of opportunities we let go to waste, a lot of bad passes,” Phelps said of Saturday’s final. “You can’t focus on the past. You have to just keep your head up and keep going.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.