Chesterton host of varsity soccer tournament Saturday, when Trojans senior Cal Stuckert will make another step in rehabilitation from injury sustained in November

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Cal Stuckert’s long road back from a serious injury sustained in club soccer last November hasn’t reached its destination yet, but he is far enough along that he will play Saturday in the first Chesterton/Valparaiso Viking/Trojan Invitational, according to Trojans coach Lucas Sabedra.
“He’s working on it,” Sabedra said. “He’s not there yet, but he’s getting there.”
The Northwest Indiana Times’ region player of the year as a junior, Stuckert sustained a broken leg and ankle injury after the season.
“A kid came from behind and slide-tackled him and he rolled his ankle so bad it tore ligaments and cracked the bottom of his fibula,” Sabedra said. “He’s done a good job recovering and going through rehab. It’s tough being such a big kid and getting used to that impact again of running, so we’re working on him getting back in game shape.”
Stuckert led the Trojans with 23 goals last season and tied for seventh on the team with three assists.
The one thing he hasn’t done yet is play for the winning side in a postseason contest. Chesterton lost back-to-back 2-1 heartbreakers in the first round of the sectional and suffered a 1-0 loss in last season’s first-round sectional match vs. Crown Point.
Entering his eighth season as the head coach at Chesterton, Sabedra knows the line between winning it all and not winning a postseason game can be a thin one. His Trojans won the state title in two of his first three seasons heading the program.
“The last few years I think they were great games and all great teams that we played against that we lost to,” he said. “Any time you face Penn, any time you face Crown Point, the game can go either way. In the past in the postseason we have had games that go down to the wire and ended up going our way by winning a couple of PK shootouts and we’ve gone on to win the state championship. I don’t think there’s any magic formula for that. It’s just in the moment if you have the will to win and that’s your focus, your team is going to do better than the team that’s scared to lose.”
Stuckert won’t be the only one knocking off some rust Saturday during Chesterton’s two games, vs. Elkhart at 10 a.m. and vs. Mount Carmel at 4 p.m. at Chesterton Stadium. Valpo will play Mount Carmel at noon and Elkhart at 2 p.m. JV games will be played at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Valparaiso. Chesterton’s JV games are at 11:30 (vs. Elkhart JV) and 1:30 (vs. Mount Carmel JV).
Junior Ethan Virgil, a basketball player who had stepped away from soccer after gaining a strong reputation in younger years, has returned to soccer. He played with Chesterton at last week’s camp at Purdue Fort Wayne.
“It was the first time he played in maybe three years,” Sabedra said. “Speed of play has changed a lot over the three years that he hasn’t played, so he’ll need time to get acclimated, but he was always good technically and I think it will be easier for him than it would be for most. Just getting used to the quickness will be the biggest thing.”
None of the four teams will be expected to be at full strength Saturday because of club soccer and non-soccer commitments for several players, but Sabedra is excited about the event.
Sabedra’s plan is to make the day of summer soccer an annual event with an expanded field in future years, when the under-construction new soccer stadium is available.
“It’s a cool opportunity to get more games in and chance to get kids in we might not see much in the regular season rotation and try out younger kids with older kids,” he said.
Plus, Sabedra views any chance for opposing coaches in the same district but not the same conference as Chesterton to see the Trojans play as a positive because he won’t be alone in lobbying for his players to earn all-district honors.
Sabedra cited George O’Connor as an example. The graduated center-back impressed enough coaches on Chesterton’s loaded schedule that he earned all-district honors and was named third-team all-state.