It took Minooka‘s boys soccer team nine games to break into the win column a season ago, when an 0-4-4 start to the season led to a 5-11-4 final record, the team’s fewest wins since 2014.

With a bounce-back season in mind for 2025, the Indians did not want to wait nearly as long to pick up a win.

They hit the road for the season opener on Tuesday and beat Bradley-Bourbonnais 3-0, going ahead nine minutes into the game on a goal from senior midfielder Ethan Koranda who added another with just under five minutes to go until halftime.

Junior midfielder Brian Ngong scored an insurance goal on a breakaway midway through the second half while junior goalkeeper Nolan Skedel and the Minooka defense held strong, even with a red card a few seconds after Ngong’s goal leaving them a player short, to maintain the shutout.

Koranda, coming off a nine-goal junior season that saw him earn All-Suburban Prairie Conference honors, said it was nice to get the season off to a solid start.

“It feels great, especially going up early 1-0 and keeping the game moving from there,” he said. “I definitely think this team’s got a lot of potential, and I think we’ll win a lot more this year.”

Bradley-Bourbonnais was not without scoring chances on Tuesday. They nearly tied things up midway through the first half when senior Guadalupe Valadez passed to sophomore Sebastian Sadulla, who connected on a leaping header that was deflected just over the crossbar by an outstretched hand of Skedel.

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Bradley-Bourbonnais' Joshua Jones, right, plays the ball as Minooka's Ethan Koranda defends in a game on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. (Nicholas Holstein for Shaw Local)

A few minutes later, Sadulla had another header go just wide on a pass from senior Bennett Dykstra, who also had several solid scoring chances. Dykstra’s best chance was on a penalty kick with just over 18 minutes to go in the game that Skedel managed to steer wide with a dive to his right.

Skedel was seeing his first varsity action on Tuesday, and he certainly made in impression on head coach Nate Spriggs.

“Nolan did a great job communicating,” Spriggs said. “He’s long, he’s 6-foot-3. On the PK, when he dives he can get all the way to the post. So I thought he did a great job anticipating that.”

Skedel agreed that the communication with the defenders in front of him was a major factor in keeping Bradley-Bourbonnais off the scoreboard.

“I think if we can keep that up, that’s perfect,” he said. “As long as I can communicate with them on what to do I feel like I can save most of the shots. But overall, I played to all my defenders up front. They keep me going.”

Tuesday was the first of two road games for the Indians in the opening week, which will see them play Eisenhower on the road in Blue Island on Thursday before their home opener against Normal Community at 10 a.m. Saturday.

“We just need to take it step-by-step and keep improving as the season goes along,” Spriggs said. “Ultimately come playoff and regional time, we’re hitting stride and playing our best soccer, and see where things land from there.”

Bradley-Bourbonnais also heads into this season looking to step another step forward from last season. Their 8-12-1 record saw them finish below .500 for the seventh season in a row, but also increase their win total from five in 2023 and post their highest win total since 2019.

Head coach Andy Stembridge, now in his fourth season, said that he was pleased overall with what he saw out of the team to begin the year.

“Game one, so it’s always up in the air sometimes of what you’re going to get, but I was really impressed with how our guys fought” he said. “We moved the ball pretty for it being our first game and first real competition. ... It’s a great group and we’re hoping to continue to progress forward throughout the year.”

After visiting Normal Community West on Wednesday for game two, they will stay busy by hosting the Boilermaker Invite on Friday and Saturday.