Senior forward Mitchell Sowa has faced plenty of adversity throughout his Lemont career.
Sowa has had a long list of injuries that kept him sidelined for most of the last the three years, but this season, he’s healthy and thriving at last.
“Freshman year, I had a bad back,” Sowa said. “Sophomore year, in the first game of the season, I broke my kneecap. The spring of my sophomore year I had a hip impingement. Junior year, it took me the entire year to recover. I probably shouldn’t have even played. So, everything has just gone wrong.
“But senior year now, my body’s finally recovered and everything’s going good.”
Sowa delivered in a big moment Tuesday night, scoring a goal in the first half to help lead Lemont to a 3-0 win over Providence in a Class 2A Brother Rice Sectional semifinal in Chicago.
Gabriel Zarycki and Billy Eliadis each scored a goal and Luciano Mancini added two assists for top-seeded Lemont (21-3-1), which will play at 11 a.m. Saturday in the sectional final against the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal between Brother Rice and Oak Forest.
Adrian Lisowski made two saves for the shutout, getting plenty of help from a defense led by Luciano Mancini, Vincenzo Mancini, Aidan Ontiveros and Ali Nabulsi.
Luke McAllister made six saves and Lucas Garcia had two shots on goal for fourth-seeded Providence (16-6-3).
Sowa said he believes his injuries occurred in part because he “never stretched” before games in the past. He has certainly rectified that.
“Now I’m in yoga,” Sowa said. “Shoutout Miss Delude. She’s helped me in school and with physical therapy.”
Sowa scored Lemont’s second goal Tuesday night in the 26th minute, heading in Luciano Mancini’s long throw-in.
Having Sowa back on the field making an impact is a huge boost, according to Nabulsi.
“I played with him on JV freshman year and he had a season-ending injury, and he’s had a lot of injuries since,” Nabulsi said. “He came back this year and he didn’t get many minutes at the start of the season, but now he’s one of our key players.
“It means a lot to me because I’ve played with him since we were 7 or 8 years old and I love to see him out there.”
Sowa said it was challenging trying to get back to playing at the level he was at before the injuries started piling up.
“I’d say I used to be a top-end player and then I just like fell off after all the injuries,” Sowa said. “So I was used to being a top guy, and then when I came back, I felt like I was one of the worst guys. It just messes with your head a little bit.
“But I just take it day by day and try to get 1% better each day.”
Lemont coach Rick Prangen has seen Sowa continue to work and continue to get better.
“This is the first season he’s been healthy at all,” Prangen said. “He’s really come on the second half of the year and he’s doing some stuff that’s really important for us. It’s great. It’s awesome.”
Playing with a strong wind advantage in the first half, Lemont jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. Zarycki scored off a rebound before Sowa’s goal and Eliadis capped the scoring, finishing off a long pass from Luciano Mancini.
Sowa was at the center of it all, which isn’t a place he would have expected to be a few months ago.
“Soccer is my love, and not to be able to be active, it takes a toll on you,” Sowa said. “But I just took it day by day. I didn’t want to get any procedures done, so I took the hard route.
“I did all the work and now I’m living the dream. I’m taking it all in while it lasts.”
