By Colin Welniak ‘24

The Brother Rice kicking Crusaders are on fire as they clinched the number one seed in the class 2A Lemont Sectional.

After what seemed like another long season, everyone was set on the Crusaders finishing at the bottom of the tables once again, but something was different. The Crusaders kept winning.

Senior forward Tyler Wojcik said, “It’s definitely a great feeling being able to compete and win, but we still have to remember what we are playing for and stay disciplined because anything can happen.”

The Crusaders have been having their best season since Coach Matt Prunckle played almost twenty years ago. The Crusaders also have something very special to compete for – a Catholic League championship.

Senior Bruce Harris said, “It’s awesome that we get to compete for a title. I’ve been waiting four years for this, and I think that we can do it.”

The Crusaders record (as of Oct. 1, 2023) is 10-3-2 with five games left in season play, including one more conference game for a chance to win the conference championship.

Senior center back Christian Potoczny said, “I really feel like our team chemistry has led to our success. We’ve learned to play for each other, and I think once we learned that it all just clicked for us and we started winning.”

As the kicking Crusaders still have a few games left, they can bring home the Catholic League title, and maybe even a state championship.