CHAMPAIGN — When Centennial boys’ soccer coach Thair Al-Saqri checked his phone after a 2-1 win over crosstown rival Champaign Central on Tuesday night, he had a text from Jill Hackman that read “I’m screaming go Chargers! I’m so proud!”
Hackman, wife of Centennial assistant coach Paul Hackman, had surgery for a double mastectomy earlier in the day and couldn’t make it to the game, so Al-Saqri had a “Jill Strong” banner made in her honor, and the Chargers wore their pink jerseys.
“She’s basically a mother to these kids,” Al-Saqri said. “We needed to give her something to smile about when she finally woke up. Paul and Jill are Centennial. We’re a family, and it felt like something was missing all night with both of them not being here. I would have rather had them here to enjoy these festivities, but I know she’s excited. She’ll probably kill me when she finds out I made that poster.”
Following the win, the Chargers ran toward their screaming fans to celebrate, holding the banner front and center.
“She’s always supported us and looked out for us,” Centennial junior Isaac Ramos said. “It feels great to give back to her in the low moments because she’s always there for us in our low moments. It just feels great to be there for her.”
The game itself was another instant classic between the Chargers (7-6-3) and Maroons (6-9-2). It was competitive. It was chippy. It went down to the wire. It was everything you’d expect in that matchup.
Central got the scoring started in the 62nd minute on a 20-yard free kick from Roan Sharma. Moments later, Ramos got Centennial on the board by converting a penalty kick. Sacre Ngyaba put the exclamation point on the game in the 66th minute with a 30-yard snipe from the right sideline, which gave the Chargers the lead for good.
“When I saw it release off his foot, I knew it was going in,” Ramos said of Ngyaba’s goal. “Those are his type of goals.”
The Maroons, while they haven’t had the season they expected, have played well in rivalry games this season. The Maroons went down to the wire with Centennial and earned a 1-0 win over Urbana The week prior, and they’re using that as motivation to finish the rest of the season strong.
“The record isn’t showing exactly the type of team we are,” Central coach Alex Zarco said. “We’ve been struggling, and we can take that on the chin, but we’re showing up to the game’s that matter. We’re the underdogs, and we’re trying to use that to motivate us to keep moving forward.”
The Chargers came out on top Tuesday, and that’s the way Ramos intends to keep it moving forward.
“As a Charger, I’ve never lost to Central,” Ramos said. “It just feels great to be able to say that.”