Elm Boys Soccer Team Wins Conference Championship

Congratulations to the Elm boys soccer team on winning the Leyden-Norwood Athletic Conference championship! A photo gallery of the title game, in which Elm beat Mannheim in a penalty shootout, is now available on District 401’s SmugMug website.

What an epic game it was! The No. 2 Cougars squared off against the No. 4 Falcons on Oct. 29 at East Leyden High School. Elm entered with a 7-1-2 record, while the Falcons were 7-2-2 overall.

Mannheim jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half, but the Cougars began their comeback with a goal by 8th grader Santiago Zacarias. Elm then tied it when Santiago scored again, this time on a penalty kick in the second half. At the end of regulation, the Cougars and Falcons remained tied 2-2.

After a scoreless overtime, the teams lined up for a shootout, with five players per side ready to take on their opponent’s goal keeper. Mannheim won the coin toss and elected to kick second. Kicking for Elm were Sebastian Camacho, 8th; Santiago Zacarias, 8th; Sebastian Figueroa, 8th; Edward Zacarias, 6th; and Diego Velazquez, 8th. Protecting Elm’s goal was keeper Joel Gutierrez, 7th.

After Elm and Mannheim traded successful kicks on each team’s first two attempts, Sebastian Figueroa found the back of the net on Elm’s third attempt. Mannheim’s third kicker launched the ball high and missed the goal, giving Elm a 3-2 lead. Edward Zacarias then scored on Elm’s fourth attempt, followed by a successful Mannheim kick, bringing the shootout score to 4-3 in Elm’s favor.

One more attempt remained for each team. If the Cougars scored, the game would end there with an Elm victory. Diego Velazquez was Elm’s final kicker. “I was so nervous,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘If I miss this, are we even going to win? And if I score this, we’re winning the whole thing.’” Diego did indeed score, and the Cougars were conference champs!

Coach Lauren Mastrianni and her team finished the season 8-1-2. From now until at least early May 2026, Elm owns the conference title in both boys and girls soccer. Go Cougars!