It’s no secret that it’s been a rough stretch for the Joliet Central boys soccer program. Not even they would deny that.

The Steelmen haven’t finished with a winning record in 13 years. It’s been 14 years since their last regional title. They only played eight games in 2020 due to the pandemic, which resulted in a winless season. Two years ago, they went winless in 21 games.

Joliet Central coach Ulises Ornelas took over last season and sparked new-found motivation for the program. It’s never an overnight process so there was still work to be done, but Joliet Central went from 0-20-1 to 6-14-3. The Steelmen went from last in the Southwest Prairie Conference to 10th. Ricardo Camacho and Juan Franco Burgos combined for 14 goals.

This fall has been far from perfect thus far, but the improvements continue under Ornelas’ direction. It’s resulted in the best start for Central in years.

The Steelmen are 3-3 following a 1-0 win Tuesday over Plainfield South. That was 24 hours after they dominated Joliet Catholic 6-0. They also beat Victoria Soto 4-1 in an impressive showing. Camacho had a hat trick in the JCA win. Add in a goal they scored in their season opening loss to Lincoln-Way East, and they have 12 goals in six games.

The Steelmen scored 21 goals all of last season and the season before. By any metric, it’s an extreme improvement.

Of course, there’s still room for growth. The three losses came by a combined score of 14-1, and the Steelmen still play an imposing conference slate. But through six games, Joliet Central has more reason for optimism that it’s had in a very long time.

“I think any time someone comes in on a project you want to lay down the foundation,” Ornelas said after the JCA game. “You want to make sure they’re doing well in school and outside the field. You want to instill discipline in them. We’re still in the building years right now, and I think we’re still taking solid steps in this endeavor.”

Griffins flying high after Windy City Classic championship

It’s been a heck of a fall for Lincoln-Way East. The wins just keep coming and the whole state has them ranked near the top.

No, we’re not just talking about the football team.

While the gridiron Griffins have lived up to the hype, their classmates on the pitch have been every bit as good. They’re 6-0 while outscoring their opponents 19-2. Perhaps most impressively, for the first time in program history, Lincoln-Way East took home the Windy City Classic championship with a 3-1 victory over Lemont in the finals.

“The Griffins were very optimistic leading into this season with a heavy senior class we knew what were capable of,” Griffins coach Matthew Ribbens said via email. “Our team’s motto this year is going 1-0 every day . This includes our in-season lifting regimen, training sessions, film sessions and games. We go in with a mentality of winning every day and staying where our feet are at!”

The Griffins are ranked fifth in the state by Chicagoland Soccer and 11th in the United Soccer Coaches Region VII rankings. The season is far from over, but Ribbens has been proud of what the whole team has accomplished, and not just the few at the top.

“I could not be happier with the development of this team and program over the last four years,” he said. “The leadership from Brian McCracken, Liam Treacy and Noah Brown have taken us to the next level along with brilliant spells of play from Kamden Williams, Owen Bohren, Dennis Apraku and Ryan Lisota.

“I am beyond proud of this squad and winning that prestigious tournament for the first time in school was an incredible experience and accomplishment.”

Joliet Catholic still growing

The Joliet Catholic soccer team still is finding its footing. While the football team is off to its annual fantastic start, the soccer program is sitting at 1-3-2. The most recent setback was a 6-0 drubbing at Joliet Central, although head coach Tom Carnmer noted that the competition wasn’t as lopsided as the score would indicate.

Still, they’ll be looking to improve upon last year’s 5-17-1 mark. Cranmer said after the loss to the Steelmen that the Hilltoppers will just keep working toward the next step.

“We’re trying to build something,” Cranmer said. “We had the win against Providence early and we haven’t been able to build any momentum from that. We had a couple of good games after that, but we haven’t gotten anything on the results. We’re hoping to get some results coming up here soon.”