Local Sports News
Pro Soccer Report: Milazzo’s first goal at SeatGeek helps Red Stars snap skid
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer At one time in early July, the Chicago Red Stars were tied with San Diego for the most points in the NWSL. For most of the month they hung around second place, but after ending July with a two-game losing streak, they entered Sunday’s home game against Gotham FC in…
46th Junior PGA Championships begin Tuesday at Cog Hill
Two of golf’s major junior championships return this week when the 46th Junior PGA Championships tee off Tuesday at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Palos Park. The championships run until Friday. This is the first time both the boys and girls championships are at the same venue since 2017. Sandburg’s Jillian Cosler, of…
Spartans hoop to keep the good times rolling
By Randy Whalen Correspondent The recent string of success for the Oak Lawn boys basketball team is something that hasn’t been seen at the school in 50 years. Now, with the edition of Xavier Sulaiman, who scored 38 points in an 86-85 travel team loss in mid-July, the Spartans have the potential to be even better. “Xavier…
Area Sports Roundup: Costa and Busker named top athletes at Trinity; St. Rita’s Talty to kick for Tide
By Jeff Vorva Staff writer Former Richards volleyball standout Alex Costa led the NAIA with 508 kills and 613.5 points last season. Not a bad season for the Trinity Christian College sophomore. It gets even better. Last week, Costa was named TCC’s Male Athlete of the Year. The Oak Lawn native also had top numbers…
Pro Soccer Report: San Diego rookie Shaw, 17, scores lone goal in 1-0 win over Red Stars
By Jeff Vorva Staff writer The pregame attention went to 32-year-old Alyssa Mautz. The postgame attention – and surely a lot more attention to come – went to 17-year-old Jaedyn Shaw. Mautz announced that last Saturday’s game against the San Diego Wave would be her final last for the Chicago Red Stars. She has accepted…
Bobby Frasor steps down as coach at Brother Rice
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The wins. The mosh pits. The jokes. These are just a few of the things that will be missed by Bobby Frasor, who stepped down last week as the basketball coach at Brother Rice and is leaving the world of hoops. Frasor was a star player for the Crusaders who…
Lyons grad Izzy Lee headed to Illini
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Izzy Lee grew into her role as a two-sport standout at Lyons. Now she’s taking that growth to college at Illinois, where she will play goalie for the women’s soccer team. A couple years ago, Lee experienced a growth spurt. Being taller and stronger predictably supplemented her soccer and hoops skills.…
Michael Schofield signs with hometown Chicago Bears
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Last September, Michael Schofield was looking for work after being cut during training camp by the Baltimore Ravens. His people contacted the Chicago Bears. It sounded like a pretty good idea for both parties. He had experience — and a Super Bowl ring — as an NFL offensive linemen and…
Pro Soccer Report: Red Stars’ Pugh, Waves’ Morgan headline battle at Soldier Field
By Jeff Vorva Staff writer Two of the three best goal-scorers in the NWSL were teammates for most of July as members of the United States Women’s National Team. Now they are back in the league after leading their country to a Summer Olympics bid, and will face each other right off the bat in…
Area Sports Roundup: Marist and R-B alums caught up in the draft
By Jeff Vorva Staff writer Marist and Riverside-Brookfield baseball fans were likely beaming with pride during this year’s Major League Baseball draft, which concluded July 19. Both schools had a pair of ex-players drafted. A look at who went where for the RedHawks and Bulldogs: — R-B’s Owen Murphy, who wrapped up his senior season…
Nazareth grad Katie Hurta excited to start collegiate volleyball career at Penn State
By Randy Whalen Correspondent There are numerous facets of the game that Katie Hurta excelled in as a volleyball player. Now, she has taken those talents to at Penn State, where her collegiate athletics career will begin in roughly one month. Hurta, of Palos Hills, helped Nazareth win the IHSA Class 3A girls volleyball state…
Gaelic Park to host Continental Youth Championships
The Chicago Gaelic Athletic Association will host the 2022 Continental Youth Championships at Gaelic Park this July 28-31. The CYC is an annual tournament that rotates cities and features hundreds of Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie games. Over 1,500 youth players representing 22 clubs from all over the United States as well as Canada will…
Shepard grad Bartczak put it all together in senior season
By Steve Millar Correspondent Tyler Bartczak had success on the mound throughout his four varsity seasons at Shepard. But he had not produced offensively as much as he had hoped. Until his senior season. “It was super important to me to hit well this year,” Bartczak said. “You always want to be the best that…
Pro Soccer Report: Houston’s hat trick too much for Red Stars; Bezerra hat trick not enough for Fire II
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Bad things came in threes for the Chicago Red Stars. Houston’s Ebony Salmon scored three goals against the Red Stars’ defense and Chicago lost by three, 4-1, in an NWSL match July 16 at PNC Stadium. It snapped the Red Stars nine-game unbeaten streak. The loss dropped the Red Stars…
IHSA releases 2022 football schedule
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer It’s that time of year. The IHSA has released the 2022 football schedule. So, from now until Aug. 26, one can go on the IHSA website, look at the schedules and see all of the blanks where the results and scores will be. It’s a clean sheet for all, and…
Late Evergreen Park teacher, coach preached character, family
By Joe Boyle Words of praise have never been scarce from the Evergreen Park community for John Elias “Coach” George. Relatives, friends, colleagues and former students were in attendance during a memorial service for George, a longtime teacher and coach at Evergreen Park Community High School. George died June 3, 2020, but a public memorial…
Angelo Luna put in the work and broke the St. Laurence record for RBIs in a season
By Steve Millar Correspondent Angelo Luna produced one of the greatest offensive seasons in St. Laurence history last season. Luna, an outfielder and an Illinois-Springfield recruit, broke the Vikings single-season RBI record with 56. He also finished with the second-best single-season totals in program history for hits (55), runs (50) and doubles (17). “Now that…
Marist soccer standout Gina Czochara fulfills goal of breaking program’s single-season goals record
By Steve Millar Correspondent Gina Czochara had no doubt what she wanted. After watching teammate CeCe Light break Marist’s school record for goals in a season with 27 in 2021, she was inspired. When the RedHawks coaching staff asked players to write down a goal of theirs on a sticky note before the 2022 season,…
Area Sports Roundup: Miami Heat’s Max Strus returns to roots as host of youth basketball camp
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer When Max Strus was in second grade, he walked through the doors of Stagg High School to attend a youth basketball camp. He did that year after year and summer after summer. On Monday, he walked through those same doors and headed to a basketball camp. This one was different.…
Pro Soccer Report: Stoppage time goals one minute apart give Red Stars improbable draw
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Chicago Red Stars have reached the halfway point of their 22-game NWSL schedule and find themselves in second place, one point behind front-running San Diego. They had a chance to climb into first place, but their chances slipped away with wild 2-2 draw to last-place North Carolina on July…
Area Sports Roundup: Orland Park’s Krysta Stanko wins Liberty Run
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Out-of-state runners have been doing well recently in the men’s division of the Orland Park Veterans Liberty Run. In 2021, Minnesota Resident Owen Ford was a close second in the running of that race. This year, another out-of-state athlete did one better. Brett Hulliberger, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, won the 2-mile…
Pro Soccer Report: Milazzo, Pugh named to NWSL’s Best XI for June; Red Stars win eight straight
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer She’s not just the Chicago area’s secret anymore. The progress of Orland Park native Tatumn Milazzo as a professional soccer player is not catching only Chicago’s attention, but that of the NWSL. The second-year Chicago Red Stars defender opened her career seeing a lot of bench time early in her…
Clean Sheet: Back of the Yards grad Roxy Herrera honored as one of top high school goalies in U.S.
Jeff Vorva Staff writer Roxy Herrera thinks she was 9 or 10 years old when she was the new kid on the Pumas soccer team in Gage Park. Thus, she was immediately used as a goalie for the first time in her life. “They told me the new player plays in goal,” Herrera said. “So,…
Pro Soccer Report: Red Stars will miss three big guns during World Cup qualifying
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Having world-class players on your team is a blessing. But during times like these, it can also be a curse. World-class players help NWSL teams win games. They also miss chunks of time during the season because of their commitments to playing in international competitions. For much of July, the…
Stagg grad Laila Barakat leaves her mark on program
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Laila Barakat entered her freshman year of high school basketball with a plan. She left as one of the most accomplished and successful players in Stagg girls basketball history. “Coming in my freshman year, I knew what goals I wanted to achieve,” said Barakat, who was a four-year varsity player for…
Local News
Summer calendar filling up quickly
. By Patti Tyznik Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • ptyznik@gmail.com . Summer is rapidly approaching, and the neighborhood is geared up for lots of great summer fun and activities. The Midway Chamber of Commerce’s farmer’s market will be opening on Wednesdays at the end of May through September at Archer…
Legislation to acquire new police district facility on Southwest Side passes General Assembly
. Porfirio, Guerrero-Cuellar measure heads to Pritzker’s desk . From staff reports State Senator Mike Porfirio (D-11th) and State Rep. Angelica “Angie” Guerrero-Cuellar (D-22nd) recently passed legislation in the General Assembly to acquire a new police district facility representing their districts on the Southwest Side. The bill passed both chambers with veto-proof margins. The legislation…
Red Stars win at home again, Naeher hurt
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The NWSL released a fun fact that is pretty darn fun for Chicago Red Stars fans. This year’s version of the Red Stars opened the season 3-0-1, scoring 10 points in the first four road games. They were the fourth team in league history to do that. According to the league,…
UPDATE: Bedford Park man, girlfriend charged with plotting Bridgeview father’s murder
By Bob Bong A Bedford Park man and the victim’s girlfriend have been charged in the shooting death of Arturo Cantu last Wednesday. Bridgeview police arrested Anthony Calderon, 20, of the 7700 block of 65th Place, Friday night. He allegedly confessed to the murder and reportedly led police to the weapon used in the shooting…
Stickney celebrates Cinco de Mayo
By Carol McGowan The Village of Stickney didn’t disappoint this year with its annual Cinco de Mayo celebration. Village Trustee Leandra Torres, who is the Co-Chaiman of the Parks and Recreation Commission along with Trustee Jim Hrejsa, said it was a fun-filled day. “We had 774 people attend this year,” she said. “It was free…
Summit congratulates District 104 westlers
By Carol McGowan At their April 15 board meeting, Summit Mayor Sergio Rodriguez and village officials presented Certificates of Accomplishment to boy and girl wrestlers from Summit School District 104. Rodriguez read their accomplishments and called them up one-by-one to receive their certificates. They were given a standing ovation by those in attendance. The girls…
Auto mechanic Vern Woyner honored for 47 years working in Lyons
By Steve Metsch If you have lived in or near Lyons the past 47 years and needed your car repaired, there’s a good chance you know Vern Woyner. Woyner, 70, has been repairing vehicles in Lyons since 1977. His longevity of expert service has earned him the highest award presented by the village. At the…
Rainbow Cone adds 4 new flavors
By Bob Bong Chicago’s iconic Original Rainbow Cone has been evolving over the past few years. First, it joined forces with the folks at Buono Beef and expanded its presence from its original location in Beverly to offer cones at Buono Beef locations and a few stand-alone stores as well as food trucks. Last year,…
Park Lawn opens day program in Palos Heights
By Kelly White Promoting inclusion and individuality, Park Lawn provides services that promote choice and access to community living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The mission behind the organization focuses on encouraging people with disabilities to discover their passion, to take pride in their accomplishments, to live more independently and to continue to…
EPCHS adds Emmy-winning actor Gary Sievers to Hall of Fame
Evergreen Park Community High School has added a name to its list of Hall of Famers. Gary Sievers, a 1968 EPCHS graduate who became well-known for his acting, public speaking, work in radio and television, community service, civic leadership and teaching, was posthumously inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame during the Honors Night ceremony…