Krystian Rafacz, Lockport beat Bradley-Bourbonnais
Krystian Rafacz played more of a role last season for Lockport, but heading into this fall, he felt ready to make a bigger impact.
The senior midfielder quickly discovered the joy that comes from putting the ball in the back of the net.
“Scoring goals makes you smile,” Rafacz said. “You just have to keep going. When you score a few, it gives you a lot of momentum to score more.”
Rafacz will certainly gain some momentum in the postseason after scoring twice in Tuesday’s regular-season finale, leading the host Porters to a 3-0 SouthWest Suburban Conference win over Bradley-Bourbonnais.
Orlando Dominguez also scored for Lockport (13-2-2, 8-0), which won its ninth straight game and clinched the conference championship.
Kacper Sikon and Jacob Hareza each had an assist, while Ben Szudy made seven saves to record the shutout. Dominik Gryglak, Hector Ramirez, Nojus Slivskis and Justas Ulinskas led a strong defensive effort in front of Szudy.
Harrison Adams made eight saves for the Boilermakers (12-10, 2-6).
After feeling sore about falling one win short of last year, when the Porters lost 2-1 to Hinsdale Central in the Class 3A Morton Supersectional, Rafacz entered the offseason determined to improve and make a difference.
“Last year I only scored two goals and I knew I had to improve,” he said. “I know I’m a senior this year and I needed to step up my efforts. After this supersection, I was motivated to build my confidence and find the courage to step up my efforts and score more goals.”
Lockport coach Chris Beal watched Rafacz’s rise even before the fall began.
“We saw it this summer with his hard work and dedication,” Beal said. “He was scoring key goals in the summer. We challenged him and said, ‘If you can keep that going into the season, you’ll have a starting place and you can be very influential up there in that final third of the pack.’
“He really does that. It’s not just about his creativity in terms of connecting with other players. He’s also scored some great goals.”
By providing eight assists, Rafacz has now scored nine goals this season. He’s one of the players most responsible for taking the pressure off Szudy, a second-year goaltender who has thrived on a team that has allowed just 18 goals all year.
“He became a leader,” Szudy said of Rafacz. “Obviously he’s very good. He’s scored goals and assisted on a lot of goals. It’s going to be difficult to lose him since he’s a senior.”
Rafacz started playing soccer at age 7, but was beaten to it by his younger brother, Sebastian, who is now a freshman playing on Lockport’s junior varsity.
“I went to one of his matches and I was really intrigued,” Rafacz said. “I was like, ‘I want to try it.’ I played rec for a few years and destroyed the whole league, so I decided to play travel.
“In the front yard we had a big goal. My brother sometimes played goalie. I would force him to do it so I could shoot at him. That kind of helped me develop.”
Although Rafacz has become a prolific scorer this season for the first time in his high school career, it’s not entirely new. It’s what made him fall in love with the sport all those years ago.
“It just gave me a good feeling inside when I scored goals,” Rafacz said. “When I was little, I scored a lot of goals. It just made me happy.
“I felt like every time I stepped onto the field, all my problems and worries disappeared.”
Originally published:
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Health-GettyImages-1473348963-53a8dbc801cf412580f09e7d154cca29.jpg?w=390&resize=390,220&ssl=1 "How to Read Your Blood Pressure Numbers Correctly")
