An eighth-grade sleepover rarely decides one's future path.

But in the case of Lincoln-Way East kicker Dominic Dzioban that's exactly what happened.

Dzioban was an excellent youth soccer goaltender and figured that's where his athletic future might lead him. But one morning he spied the older brother of one of his soccer teammates leaving the house with a bag of balls, that clearly weren't of the soccer variety.

The person in question was Nick Mihalic, a former Niles North kicker/punter and current Western Michigan University punter.

"His brother was carrying out the bag of balls and I noticed they weren't soccer balls and I'm like what are those? And he was like, "I'm a football kicker,", Dzioban said. "I was like, can I tag along? And that was the first time I'd ever kicked a football - in eighth grade."

To say he was a quick study would be an understatement. Dzioban was a varsity kicker for the Griffins as a freshman, and will conclude his varsity career with a rather unique Lincoln-Way East distinction – a four-year varsity player.

But even with all his promise, Dzioban wasn't sure if he wanted to make the conversion from soccer to football.

"I missed the first week of football camp as a freshman because I was still a little iffy about it," Dzioban said. "But I came out and gave it a shot, and here we are."

Dzioban's ascension has been incredible and there's not a single member of the Lincoln-Way East squad that doesn't recognize the added value that "The Dominator" brings to the table.

In the quarterfinals against Homewood-Flossmoor, his kicking took center stage as he drilled four field goals to allow the Griffins to gain breathing room in its win over the Vikings. On Saturday, his punting skills stole the spotlight.

Dzioban had two first quarter punts, averaging 61 yards on those two boots. The first was the most important of the two as it buried Marist at its own 2-yard line. Forced to punt out of their own end zone, it set the stage for a short field and the first Lincoln-Way East touchdown of the day.

While the second long boot didn't lead directly to points, it did lean towards the exhaustive nature of having to play against an opponent with such a unique special teams weapon to deploy.

"If I can get the ball inside the 20, if any team has to go 80, 90 yards against our defense, good luck with that. Our defense is arguably one of the best defenses in the state, and I just want to give them a chance to do something, and glad I can be a part of making that happen."

Dzioban is big on humility, but he doesn't have to search very far to find someone willing to brag on him a bit.

"I'm not going to say All-State anymore, I'm going to say All-American kicker/punter, he just continuously does what he does," Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. "He flips the field, makes every kick, punts them down."

And while Dzioban has committed to Miami (Ohio) to kick after high school, Zvonar once again feels the need to give a little tweak to those who might have overlooked his standout.

"I love Miami of Ohio and I'm so happy he's going there, but this kid can kick for anyone in the country," Zvonar said. "He stays healthy, keep your eye on him. We all know they could use him up at Halas Hall."

Dzioban was recently honored by an All-State selection to the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association's Class 8A squad along with teammate A.J. Henning. It's an extreme rarity for a specialist only player to be selected to the 18-man squad in any classification, let alone the largest one, but while honored by the selection, he's got his eyes on a bigger prize.

"All-State is nothing without that ring," Dzioban said. "Let's get that state ring was what A.J. and I were telling each other the other day."