Twin brothers Luciano and Vincenzo Mancini have been playing soccer together just about their whole lives, including the last four seasons on the varsity for Lemont.
The brothers, both senior defender/midfielders, don’t plan on playing in college. So, Saturday morning marked the last of countless competitive games as teammates.
“We’ve been playing together since we were 3 or 4 years old,” Luciano said. “Our ride together over all those years, then coming in here and starting for coach (Rick) Prangen as freshmen, it’s been great.
“This was our last one, but all the memories we made, when we think about them, it’s always going to be incredible.”
The Mancinis helped Lemont make history with the program’s first state trophy, although it wasn’t the preferred one.
Lemont finished fourth in Class 2A after falling 1-0 to Prairie Ridge in the third-place game at Hoffman Estates.
Adrian Lisowski made eight saves, while Vincenzo Mancini, John Robbins and Andrew Guzy each had a shot on goal for Lemont (23-5-1).
Henry Knoll scored off an assist from Logan Braun and Christopher Zinevich made three saves for Prairie Ridge (20-5-1), which won the program’s third trophy and first since winning the Class A state title in 1999.
The Mancini twins, meanwhile, have left quite a mark on Lemont’s program. From emerging as offensive playmakers despite typically being the smallest players on the field as 5-foot-2 freshmen to turning into defensive forces as 5-10 seniors.
“It’s weird what my fond memories of them are,” Prangen said. “Freshman year, we were getting ready (in a sectional semifinal) to play Boylan, who won state that year, and we had a night practice to try to simulate playing against them and these two guys were incredibly out of control, just working so hard as freshmen.
“We lost 1-0, and the reason we were in that game was because these two were out of their minds.”
This season, both took on new primary roles as defenders, but they also spent time in the midfield. Luciano played midfielder Saturday and was instrumental in sparking a strong first half for Lemont.
The best scoring opportunities came when Guzy sent a shot just wide and Vincenzo Mancini had a shot saved.
Despite coming up empty, it was a strong response from a team coming off a heartbreaking 1-0 semifinal loss to Belleville Althoff that featured a controversial goal.
“We knew it was our last game together,” Luciano said. “We had seven seniors all starting and we’ve been playing together since we were younger, so we knew it was one last ride together and we wanted to do our best and leave it all out there.”
Prairie Ridge, playing with the wind advantage in the second half, took over the game and eventually cashed in with Knoll’s goal with 10:51 to go.
Prangen said the loss should not take away from Lemont’s historic season, however.
“For our seniors to go from where we were at last year, not winning a darn thing, and do what we did this year, it’s a tremendous accomplishment,” Prangen said. “‘Luc’ was pretty upset at the end of the game and I just said, ‘Hey, man, we’re going to have a trophy with your name on it in our trophy case forever. Be proud of it.’”
Lemont’s young players, including sophomore midfielder Gabriel Zarycki, hope this was just the beginning.
“We have work ahead of us, seeing what we did this year and wanting to carry it on,” he said. “We’re ready and excited for next season, and hopefully, we can build upon this.”
The Mancini twins, though, made their final season a memorable one.
“We wanted to make it here senior year and make history for Lemont,” Vincenzo said. “It’s been special. I’m truly proud to be on the team that made that run and be one of the key players to help out.”
