Oak Park and River Forest boys soccer coach Paul Wright would love for his team to fly under the radar again this fall.
But after posting a 15-5-4 record a year ago, Wright knows that won’t be the case for Huskies.
“There is a lot of pressure on me to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke,” Wright said. “We only lost five games, and most of them were to Top 10 teams.
“A lot of people don’t know that we had a very young team last year that was comprised of sophomores and juniors. We return all of our starters except our goalie and starting sweeper.”
With that in mind, Wright and Co. are hoping to open some eyes quick in the Pepsi Showdown. The Huskies were seeded No. 10 in the 32-team single elimination tournament hosted by Lyons, and will host Marist on Sept. 5. A potential battle with No. 6 seed Libertyville looms in the second round of the largest tournament in the Midwest and third largest in the country.
“It’s important to have a strong showing in this tournament, because OPRF has not been recognized as a strong soccer program in a very longtime,” Wright said. “This tournament has the top teams from around the Chicagoland area. Putting on a solid display only solidifies this program to other top teams as one to be reckoned with.”
Considered by many to be one of the strongest showcases around, the 2005 Showdown field consisted of programs that combined had won 108 sectional titles and advanced to the state finals 55 times. Nine of those programs had won a state title, while 16 others had finished second since the Illinois state tournament began in 1972.
The 80-game tourney featured more than 600 players from 24 public schools and seven private schools. More than 90 communities were represented in the Showdown. Tournament and Chicago Fire officials are in the process of trying to finalize an agreement that would have the 2006 title game played on Sunday, Sept. 17 at the new Toyota Park after the Fire’s battle with D.C. United on ESPN2.
“This tournament pulls powerhouses from a variety of conferences, regions and classes,” Wright said. “Out of the 32 teams in the tournament, only five teams our program has played in the past few years. The tournament exposes our program to other styles of play and teams that we have not seen before.”
Wright is not only hoping the Showdown brings additional exposure to the Huskies’ program, but also to the talent on the field.
“I have several athletes that are considering playing soccer at the next level, so exposure in this tournament increases their odds of being recognized,” Wright said. “This tournament gives college coaches an opportunity to see some of the best teams in play on a single day. No other tournament does this for high school teams.”
Midfielders Mark Rosenberg and Liam Bird along with forward Drew Golz and defender Aaron Press are just four of the players Wright is expecting big things from.
“I really believe we have the potential to make a solid run in this tournament and state tournament,” Wright said. “I believe in this program and these boys.”
On Saturday, members of the OPRF program playing in a summer league hosted a friendly game against a team from Kenya and walked away with a 4-3 victory.
“The Kenya kids were smaller, but they had a lot of individual skill,” volunteer coach David Hines said. “But it was a good game overall, and just interesting to play against a team that plays a different style.”
After the contest, Hines’ crew donated countless paperback books to the players from Kenya.
“They are starved for books over there,” Hines said. “So each one of the kids donated five books each, and then we took them out for their first pizza experience.”