A record breaking fall season at Lake Forest Academy

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James Kuhns and Rohan Miglani

By James Kuhns and Rohan Miglani

Staff Writers

Lake Forest Academy, along with its high academics standards, boasts a strong athletic program with many great teams and strong players. Among these teams is LFA Varsity Soccer, which had one of its best seasons with a record of 14-8 led by their top goal scorer Giuseppe Maida ’22, who set the LFA goal record with 37 goals on the season, shattering the previous record held by Ian Strudwick ‘18 of 29 goals.

 

Maida, in his freshman season at LFA last year, scored an impressive 11 goals on the season one of the most for a Varsity Soccer player in their freshman year, helping LFA to a 9-8 record. Going into his second season, Maida raised his play with the benefit of having one year of play under his belt. While he put in a lot of work during the offseason, he credited his teammates and coaches for his improvement.

 

When asked what he credits his raise in play to, Maida said, “Everyone stepped up. The captains of the team all played a huge part in the development and maturity of the young players, and I think I was one of those players that were helped by the work ethic and maturity of the captains.”

 

On the field, Maida had a stellar performance against Walter Payton College Prep, scoring five goals and taking a huge leap towards this record. Despite this, Maida says he never thought about the record. He says he didn’t know until people started coming up to him to tell him how close he was. As his stellar play continued, Maida matched the record before LFA’s upcoming game against Lake Forest High School hoping to break the record against LFA’s biggest rival.

 

“I was filled with adrenaline, and all I could do was run to the corner to celebrate with all of my teammates, but after the moment passed I was focused on winning the game,” said Maida, reflecting on how he felt in the moment he scored the record-breaking goal. The LFA soccer team, aided by Maida’s goal took the victory 3-1, beating a vaunted rival on a record-breaking night.

 

Giuseppe Maida is not the only one who broke a record during this fall season. Hannah Liu ‘21, a member of the LFA swim team, broke the LFA record in the 100m butterflies with an impressive time of 1:00.42, shaving almost .2 milliseconds off the LFA record, which she had set last year.

 

Liu is no stranger to breaking swim records at LFA. She broke her first record in her freshman season in the 100m Breaststroke, which she says was on her brother’s birthday, making the record that much sweeter. Liu continued to work breaking the LFA record in the 100m butterfly in her sophomore year, and, over the offseason, she kept working, trying to break that record this season.

 

As she hit the wall she described the experience as “surreal”. Liu says, “I remember looking at the clock and thinking that I was looking at the wrong time for the wrong lane. When I realized that I actually did beat my record, I was honestly too tired to react in a huge way. I just remember smiling and looking at my mom and my coaches and giving them a thumbs up”.

 

Liu has no plans of stopping. She plans on continuing to work hard for her teammates and coaches, as well as working towards her future goals. Liu plans to work towards the 2020 Olympic trial cuts in 100mbreaststroke while continuing her swimming season with LFA into the winter.

 

Although these records are certainly personal achievements, both Giuseppe Maida and Hannah Liu would put their team results above their own personal achievements. As Hannah puts it, “Breaking a record feels amazing for sure, but I find that the best thing, in general, is knowing that you are improving yourself every day, and spending your days with a group of teammates that serve as your second family”.