The Herald-News Boys Soccer Player of the Year: Romeoville’s Joseph Duarte

Joseph Duarte seemed destined for greatness.

The Romeoville senior reached it this past season.

Duarte, a forward, was named all-state and All-Southwest Prairie Conference while scoring 41 goals and adding nine assists.

Along the way, Duarte helped lead the Spartans to the Class 3A State Championship game, the first time in Romeoville’s history that it had a team play for a state title.

For all his accomplishments, leadership and work ethic, the Spartans captain is named the 2022 Herald-News Boys Soccer Player of the Year

“That’s amazing, I don’t know what to say,” Duarte said. “It’s like the cherry on top.”

The top is where Duarte and the Spartans hoped to be.

“He has been around the program since he was little,” Romeoville coach Nick Cirrincione said. “I always knew he was a stud.”

Duarte proved to be just that, and he has his brothers to thank.

“My older brothers, Christian and Anthony, both played soccer at Romeoville,” Duarte said. “They are the reason that I play and the reason that I have the mentality that I have.

“I first played soccer when I was 5. But my mom [Maria] didn’t want me to play that young, because she thought I might get hurt. But it’s something that I love to do. I haven’t stopped since. I was literally the ball boy for the team when Christian played.”

Duarte started his high school career at Plainfield East.

“I played my freshman and sophomore years on the varsity there,” Duarte said of playing for the Bengals. “But then we moved again, and I was back to play for Romeoville. Everything happens for a reason, and I was back at Romeoville. I owe a lot to my brothers and Coach Cirrincione.”

That was fall 2021, and Cirrincione certainly was glad to have him.

“He came to Romeoville as the little brother of two-time all stater and our best player ever, Christian Duarte, who at one point was the record holder for every category,” Cirrincione said. “His middle brother was a stud who had the single-season scoring record at one point.

“Joseph had some big shoes to fill, and not only did he do it, but he exceeded the expectations. He is one of a kind and a great guy on and off the field.”

The impact was immediate, as Duarte scored 23 goals as a junior and helped the Spartans to a then school-record 19 wins and the first regional championship in school history.

Then came this past season. It was not only a fantastic one for the Spartans, as they went 28-2-1 and finished as the Class 3A runner-up. It was the best finish, not only for the boys soccer team, but for any team in the about 60-year history of Romeoville, which opened as Lockport West in 1963.

That fact was not lost on Duarte.

“It was an honor to be part of it, and the community bought in,” he said. “It was the beauty of the history. I’m sure that other student athletes at the school are looking at us and wanting the same thing.

“It was great to be a part of the school history.”

A lot of that was because of Duarte helping lead the talented group.

“Joseph was a captain this year and did an amazing job leading this team,” Cirrincione said. “He got guys gathered in the summer as well as the preseason, in the mornings for training, would drive kids, and just did all the small things right that you would want out of a leader.

“He is one of the hardest workers we had and is not afraid of working hard. I ask a lot of my captains, and I can honestly say he is the top echelon of captains that have come through Romeoville. He has left his mark on the field and in the classroom, as many teachers have had high praise of him.”

What did it feel like to have a magical season like this?

“At a point, I couldn’t count anymore,” Duarte said of his goal scoring. “I just kept doing what I was doing. State was the goal, and I knew we had to get it done. It was the vibe, it was what we wanted, especially senior year.

“My strength is my off-the-ball movement. It was a great feeling being the top guy on the team, and the way I was able to do my part was by scoring.”

He did a lot of that.

“In two years at Romeoville he broke every record for goals in a single season, for a career, assists for a single season and a career,” Cirrincione said. “Even though [junior] Imanol Casillas took those records this year, Joseph had the lead at one point. Most points for a single season and for a career are his records.

“He scored in many big games over his two years with us and is an all stater for us. I think if voting happened at end of last year he would have been an all stater as a junior.”

In his final high school match, Duarte and the Spartans lost 1-0 to Naperville Central. The Redhawks also handed Romeoville its only other loss (4-0).

“We came in with the mindset that we had to do everything right,” Duarte said of the state title match. “It was a mixed feeling of emotions out there. We had our chances, we just couldn’t get one in net.”

While that was Duarte’s last game in high school, it wasn’t his final soccer game. He will play at Benedictine University in nearby Lisle next year. The Eagles finished 10-7-4 this fall and were runner-up in the NACC Tournament title game.

“I’ve verbally committed to Benedictine,” Duarte said. “It’s something I wanted to do. I feel like I can help change the culture there and leave my mark.”