CHICAGO - The Chicago Fire today announced its Sixth Annual Boys High School Soccer All-State All-Academic Team. This year's top team of 23 student-athletes will be honored at the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association All-State Banquet this Thursday, Nov. 17 at 5:00 p.m. CT at the Diplomat West in Elmhurst, IL. This fall the Fire recognized 133 players on its All-Academic, Special Mention and Honorable Mention Teams, with representatives from 70 schools across the state earning distinction for their work on the soccer field, in the classroom and in their respective communities.
The Chicago Fire will recognize the Boys 2005 All-State All-Academic Team inside the brand-new Bridgeview Stadium at halftime of a Fire match next summer during the 2006 MLS season. Each of the 23 recognized First-Team student-athletes will receive a complimentary ticket to the Major League Soccer contest and will have the chance to purchase additional tickets for family and friends at a discounted price. Special Mention and Honorable Mention Team members will also be recognized and will have the opportunity to purchase tickets for family and friends at the discounted price.
Out of 133 scholar-athletes named, 58 nominee scholar athletes scored a 30 or higher on their ACT, while 53 nominees also coach soccer at some level; 63 nominees are involved in refereeing soccer, while eight nominees are Valedictorian of their class. In addition, three members of the Chicago Fire's youth development program, the Chicago Fire Juniors, were honored on this year's teams - Bradley Clark (All-Academic Team), Will Poczekaj (Special Mention) and Jason Vanderveen (Honorable Mention). Orion High School topped the list of schools with five nominees, while five other schools - Thomas Kelly High School, Rochelle Township High School, Holy Trinity High School, Downers Grove South High School, and Charleston High School - had four nominees selected to the lists.
"The Chicago Fire is once again excited and honored to join the IHSSCA in recognizing these amazing student-athletes for what they bring both on and off the field," said Fire Director of Community Relations Donald Ortale. "The significance of making the All-State All-Academic Team continues to increase for players and coaches alike, as shown by this fall's wonderful response."
High School soccer coaches from throughout the state of Illinois were asked to nominate senior student athletes with at least a "B" grade point average that have contributed to their high school soccer program for at least three years and must be involved in at least two other school or community activities or sports.
The Chicago Fire would like to thank the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches association for their help in promoting this great honor. The 2005 All-State All-Academic honorees are as follows:
2005 Boys All-Academic Team
Goalkeepers: Michael Nejedly (Carl Sandburg H.S.), William Warnock (Maine South H.S.), Danny Zeckhauser (Jones College Prep)
Defenders: David Austin (Morton H.S.), Matthew Bartindale (St. Charles East H.S.), Bradley Clarke (Oak Park River Forest H.S.), David Drochner (Mount Zion H.S.), Alexander Fisher (Evanston Township H.S.), Patrick Hughes (St. Rita H.S.), Craig McIntyre (Carl Sandburg H.S.), Christopher Scales (Barrington H.S.), Adam Zoellner (Lincoln-Way Central H.S.)
Midfielders: Jordan Bucci (Stagg H.S.), Nick Edds (Plainfield South H.S.), Kyle Mitchell (Winnebago H.S.), Brett Penfold (Glenbrook South H.S.), Roberto Rodriquez (Romeoville H.S.), Matt Tucker (St. Laurence H.S.), Iboro Umana (Carbondale H.S.),
Forwards: Brad Bahr (Dunlap H.S.), Nate French (St. Charles East H.S.), Tim Markham (Lyons Township H.S.), Aaron Zych (Rich South H.S.)
2005 Boys Special Mention
Goalkeepers: Kevin Curtin (Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.), Eric Dooley (Plainfield South H.S.), Andrew Graham (Glenbrook North H.S.), Peter Hummel (Quincy Senior H.S.)
Defenders: Scott Crider (Downers Grove South H.S.), Matt Devitt (St. Ignatius H.S.), Matthew Gelber (Highland Park H.S.), Michael Gustafson (Orion H.S.), Tom Hagenberg (Barrington H.S.), Scott Hallock (Oregon H.S.), Daniel Haltman (Rockford Guilford H.S.), Connor Heinrich (New Trier H.S.), Charlie Jain (St. Ignatius H.S.), Andrew Johnson (Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.), Kevin Kline (Carbondale H.S.), Eric Larson (University H.S. - Chicago), Michael Monte (Lockport Township H.S.), Bernardo Olivares (Reavis H.S.), Anders Pauley (Rockford Boylan Catholic H.S.), Ibrahim Peeran (Lake Forest Academy), Will Poczekaj (Kaneland H.S.), Maxwell Shuttan (Whitney Young H.S.), Mark Singley (Orion H.S.), Raul Tamez (Timothy Christian H.S.), Tanner Trudall (Greenville H.S.), Nathan Vogler (Downers Grove North H.S.), Ronnie Zakhem (St. Rita H.S.)
Midfielders: Derek Bedoya-Skoog (Glenbrook South H.S.), Nathanael Benassi (Winnebago H.S.), Kyle Compton (Palatine H.S.), Sean Daley (St. Ignatius H.S.), Jared Jaggers (Princeton H.S.), Dan Janiczak (Marist H.S.), Patrick Kirkland (St. Rita H.S.), Andrew Leveque (Jacksonville H.S.), Chad Niedert (Oswego H.S.), Jeff Nilsen (Charleston H.S.), Mike Palmeri (Marmion Academy), Jesus Sanchez (Holy Trinity H.S.), Robert Tabaka (Lane Tech H.S.), Greg Udouj (Neuqua Valley H.S.), Patrick Vandenberg (York H.S.), Casey White (Lockport Township H.S.), Sam Zigterman (Timothy Christian H.S.)
Forwards: Stanislav Atanassov (York H.S.), Tom Lynn (Libertyville H.S.), Christopher McCole (Oak Park River Forest H.S.), Eric Tracy (Rochelle Township H.S.), David Voss (Timothy Christian H.S.)
2005 Boys Honorable Mention
Amir Abdullah (Jones College Prep), Kendahl Ames Streeter (University H.S. - Chicago), Scott Anerino (Naperville North H.S.), Jim Azriel (Downers Grove South H.S.), Ricardo Ballesteros (Thomas Kelly H.S.), Dirk Bennett (Charleston H.S.), Sebastian Bohroquez (Reavis H.S.), Nate Bolhous (Orion H.S.), Erik Breuhaus (Rockford Guilford H.S.), Todd Buretz (Lincoln-Way East H.S.), Jose Chihuahua (Thomas Kelly H.S.), Zac Coffee (Greenville H.S.), Brian Cooney (Mascoutah H.S.), Cody Czmyr (Rich East H.S.), Renato Del Toro (Holy Trinity H.S.), Mike Drozd (Loyola Academy), Sean Dwyer (Hersey H.S.), Wes Frenell (Orion H.S.), Rakesh Gadde (Illinois Math & Science Academy), Nico Gigilio (Loyola Academy), Victor Gonzalez (Harvard H.S.), Bryce Hawkins (Rochelle Township H.S.), David Henold (Bismark Henning H.S.), Edwin Hernandez (Thomas Kelly H.S.), Robert Hingstrum (Orion H.S.), Tyler Jepsen (Downers Grove South H.S.), Andrew Juiris (Maine South H.S.), Dustin Koch (Rochelle Township H.S.), Garrett Koncan (Warren Township H.S.), Calvin Kujawa (Downers Grove South H.S.), Scott Laffin (Fremd H.S.), John Linden (Libertyville H.S.), Steven Link (Illinois Math & Science Academy), Mark Lorenzen (Naperville North H.S.), Andrew Magill (Downers Grove North H.S.), Enrique Martinez (Holy Trinity H.S.), Thomas McLoughlin (Lockport Township H.S.), Thomas Mullins (Illinois Math & Science Academy), John Murray (Downers Grove North H.S.), Austin Nyquist (Rockford Guilford H.S.), Mark Persaud (Niles North H.S.), Jeff Philibin (Plainfield South H.S.), Mike Plager (Fremd H.S.), Matt Procik (Westminster Christian H.S.), Raul Ramirez (Holy Trinity H.S.), Ernesto Ramirez (Thomas Kelly H.S.), Jeff Ricondo (Wheaton St. Francis H.S.), Andrew Riddell (Glenbrook South H.S.), Dustin Santiago (Niles North H.S.), Dan Shaffer (Warren Township H.S.), Corey Schultz (Charleston H.S.), Mike Sells (Romeoville H.S.), Jesse Swanson (Niles North H.S.), Brian Swanson (Rochelle Township H.S.), Nathaniel Sweeney (Charleston H.S.), Jason Vanderveen (Wheaton Academy), Dan Witt (Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.), Jake Wittenauer (Waterloo Gibault H.S.), Mark Zeman (Lyons Township H.S.), Nathaniel Zenner (Evanston Township H.S.)
