Brebeuf celebrates back-to-back state championships in boys’ soccer

The boys’ soccer team of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis celebrates winning the Class 2A state championship of the Indiana High School Athletic Association on Oct. 29 in Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis. (Photo courtesy of MJH/DoubleEdge Media)

By John Shaughnessy

When Carlos Zavaleta boarded the bus with his players after the state championship game, a wealth of memories from the day filled the thoughts of the head coach of the boys’ soccer team of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis.

Before the game on Oct. 29 in the Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis, Zavaleta had shared a succinct message to his team, telling them, “I believe in you, and you need to believe in yourselves. And if we do our best, we can beat anybody.”

Zavaleta’s belief was forged in the stunning reality that the Brebeuf team had won its first six games in the Class 2A state tournament of the Indiana High School Athletic Association by scoring 27 goals and giving up just one.

And the coach’s confidence continued in the state championship game even as Brebeuf’s opponent—the team from Marian High School in Mishawaka in northern Indiana—took a 1-0 lead in the early part of the second half. Almost immediately, Zavaleta turned to one of his assistant coaches and said, “We’re going to tie this up, and then we’re going to win it.”

And that’s just what happened. After tying the game in regulation, Brebeuf scored the winning goal in overtime—a 2-1 victory that made the Braves back-to-back champions in Class 2A boys’ soccer.

“I just knew,” Zavaleta would say later about the comeback. “There are certain things you believe in, and that you know are going to happen. And lo and behold, it turned out that way.”

In the celebration that followed, the head coach watched in pure joy as teammates hugged each other, embraced their parents, raced to the stands to share the moment with their fellow students who had cheered them on, and posed for picture after picture that captured beaming smile after beaming smile.

“There is a peace that comes to you and a joy that comes to you when you see their faces in that moment,” Zavaleta says about that scene. “That was a great, great thing. And then I thought of the parents and the great support we’ve had from them.”

All those joyous thoughts and images stayed with Zavaleta as he and his players boarded the bus with the state championship trophy, to make the journey to Brebeuf. In the midst of all the celebration on the field, Zavaleta never had the opportunity to talk with his team. As the bus headed to Brebeuf, he made sure to tell them what he thought of them.

“I let them know how proud I was of them—and how much they mean to me,” he recalls. “I love them like family, and the same for the coaches. They’re an elite group to do what they did. And it wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for their unity, their camaraderie and the family-like atmosphere that we’ve had for the past two seasons. This season was even more special because of the unity we had.”

Zavaleta pointed to the six seniors on the team as a major factor in creating that unity: Stefan Boes, Ian Houle, Josh Pang, Jake Rosenberg, Aidan Wade and Jack Weeter.

“We have a wide variety of personalities on this team,” says Zavaleta, who has coached soccer for more than 40 years. “But they all love each other, and they all work for one another. I feel we’re lucky as coaches to mentor them. They’re like my kids. They’re like my family. And I love them.

“They won it twice, and that’s icing on the cake, but we are lucky to be doing this with this special group. I’m so happy for them. They will remember this forever.”
 

(A story about the state championship victory of the girls’ volleyball team of Our Lady of Providence High School in Clarksville will be featured in next week’s issue.) †