Chesterton boys soccer 2025-26 season preview: senior class, shy on quantity and long on talent, seeks first postseason win and school’s eighth consecutive DAC title

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The Chesterton boys soccer team that plays its Maroon & Gold exhibition today at the football stadium at 5 p.m. seeks to extend one long streak in the regular season and then end one in the postseason that by school standards counts as too long.
A young team faces the challenge of extending Chesterton’s streak of DAC champions to eight. Then the five seniors will set their minds to doing something they never have in high school: win a game in the postseason.
“Seven years in a row we’ve been No. 1 (in the DAC). We shared it (three) times,” said coach Lucas Sabedra, who has won two state championships at Chesterton and is in his eighth season as head coach of his alma mater. “That’s our first objective, and then actually having a successful postseason run again. It’s due time. (The seniors) haven’t had one, so if there’s a group that needs to do it, it’s them.”
Penn knocked the Trojans out of the sectional two years in a row by 2-1 scores. Last season, after Chesterton went 7-0 in the DAC portion of the schedule, including a 4-1 win at Crown Point, the Bulldogs gained revenge with a 1-0 win in a first-round sectional match, putting an end to the Trojans’ 11-4-2 season.
More than just names on the roster have changed for Chesterton.
“We’re playing a different formation than we’ve ever played,” Sabedra said. “I think with this group that we have, the type of fighters that we have, I think it’s working out pretty well.”
What the senior class lacks in quantity, it makes up for in experience. Elliott McEvoy returns as the starting goalkeeper and the Trojans have their leading scorer, Cal Stuckert (23 goals, three assists), and leading assist man Zarek Sierazy (10 goals, 10 assists), a fast, tireless athlete whose talents shine brightest on fields with artificial turf. Both players are in their fourth seasons as varsity players. Stuckert was named DAC MVP and Northwest Indiana Times Player of the Year. Sierazy earned All-DAC honors.
Not long after the end of last season, Stuckert suffered a broken leg and torn ankle ligaments on the same play in a club game and spent the offseason undergoing physical therapy.
“Cal’s just about to be 100%, so he’s looking pretty good, and he’s motivated,” Sabedra said. “So as long as we keep him healthy and he works on getting his fitness back to game shape, we should be right there competing with the best of them.”
Other than in obvious cases such as Stuckert, Sabedra is not big on locking his players into one position and trains them in a way that they can slide into different positions on the field without feeling lost. He’ll let opponents scout their new formation once the season starts but won’t be giving them a road map in advance. Yet, he did drop hints. As feisty as he makes some of the players in the middle of the field sound, a roped boxing ring there might not look out of place.
“It works out best with our personnel having three in the back (instead of the usual four). If you’re always trying to get your top guys on the field, it kind of evolved from that, but also to have a presence in the midfield,” he said.
Stressing that nothing is set in stone, Sabedra touched on where players might appear on the field.
In goal, freshman Daniel Vidt in goal will back up McEvoy. Most of Vidt’s experience will come starting for the JV but he will get into varsity games at least in blowouts.
Senior Nate Kitchel, a talented midfielder in the past, moves to center-back. Juniors Tyler Racette and Ryan Postelnik and freshman Michael Roberts also vie for time on the back line. Midfielder Cody Baughman also might play in the back at times.
“We have a lot of the guys who can rotate into the back line, especially the way we’re playing it,” Sabedra said.
Several different players will appear in the middle of the field, where regaining possessions and keeping the ball moving are the marching orders.
“We have a lot of underclassmen and filling in in those roles, so them working hard together, and having the numbers in there, they’re just like little termites,” Sabedra said. “They’re hungry and they make it a problem, just clog it up, and they click really well moving the ball. There is no time for dribbling. It’s just ball movement and press in the middle.”
Junior Ethan Virgil, a basketball player, added soccer to his plate this season after a couple of years away from the sport and already has impressed the coach.
“He’s doing very well as a defensive midfielder,” said Sabedra, who added that sophomores Knox Carney and Nick Auricchio have stood out early.
Baughman, freshman Tyler Hecimovich and sophomore David Shumate will be counted on to boost the team’s scoring potential as attacking mids, along with Sierazy and senior Alex Amaya, when they are not out wide as wing backs.
Sophomore Elijah Osafo and junior Hutch Stuckert have been “doing really well,” according to Sabedra.
As always, Sabedra will enjoy putting all the pieces together, tweaking the puzzle along the way. The shortage of varsity experience makes the challenge of finishing first in the DAC steeper than in some years, which will make it even more rewarding if the Trojans add to their remarkable streak in a conference that features other strong soccer programs Crown Point, Lake Central and Valparaiso.
The conference records of the DAC’s top four programs during Sabedra’s reign as head coach: Chesterton (46-3, four outright titles, three shared, including one three-way title), Lake Central (37-12, three shared titles), Valparaiso (33-16, one shared title), Crown Point (33-16).
Construction of Chesterton’s new soccer stadium has progressed enough for the team to practice on it, but games won’t be played there until next season and again will take place at the football stadium.
The regular season starts Saturday at Northridge, where the varsity game follows the JV, which is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start. The home opener is set for Tuesday, Aug. 19, vs. Illiana Christian, the DAC opener Wednesday, Aug. 20, at home vs. LaPorte.