Hall of Fame

Induction Year: 2017

Led by Head Coach Brian Pappa, the 1993 soccer team won the I.H.S.A. Soccer State Championship, the very first team State Championship in Carl Sandburg High School history. The Eagles finished the 1993 season with a 29-0-1 record, their lone tie of the season coming against Naperville North, a team they would later beat in the Sectional Final. At the time, Carl Sandburg was only the second team in Illinois High School Association history to go an entire season without a loss.

Prior to the 1993 season, the Eagles were defeated in the Sectional Finals three years in a row. The Eagles were able to break that losing streak when they defeated Naperville North 1-0 and advanced to the State Finals. Not only did Sandburg win the State Title, but they did so in a record setting way. The Eagles did not allow a single goal in three state-final games. The team’s last 12 games were shutouts and the Eagle defense, led by goalkeeper Chris Pope, recorded 22 shutouts on the season, 2nd most in I.H.S.A. history.

The 1993 boys soccer team ranks among the best that the state has ever produced. They have the second most team wins in I.H.S.A. history with 29 victories. Their consecutive win streak of 27 games has only been matched one other time in I.H.S.A. state history, when the 2001 Sandburg team accomplished the same feat! The team is 3rd all-time for most assists in a season with 131 assists and the 164 goals scored during the 1993 season is still an I.H.S.A. state record to date.

The 1993 boys soccer team will always be remembered as the first team to bring Carl Sandburg High School its first athletic State Championship, a feat that has since been repeated 19 times.