Entering 2025, the last three boys soccer meetings between All-City foes Bradley-Bourbonnais and Bishop McNamara had gone a decided 23-1 total margin in favor of the Boilermakers. In Wednesday’s rain-filled edition of the area rivalry, it was no different.

The Boilermakers jumped out of the gates strong, scoring four goals in the first eight minutes of action to help down the Irish 9-0. Six different Boilermakers (4-2) found the back of the net in the victory.

“It’s great for the boys to come out here and [be able to] get a lot of players in,” Bradley-Bourbonnais head coach Andy Stembridge said. “A lot of the guys are responding, and they’re getting it done early, which is the kind of intensity that we want to bring to every single game.”

It didn’t take long for the Boilermakers to open up the scoring. In the second minute, senior Bennett Dykstra scored off a rebound from Irish senior goalkeeper Danny Buzas. In the fourth minute, sophomore Jack Watters scored, which was followed in the eighth minute by two more goals from seniors John Sadulla and Josh Jones, respectively.

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Bradley-Bourbonnais' Cencere Smith and Bishop McNamara's Kaiden Hunt collide as Bradley-Bourbonnais' Jack Martin, right, approaches during the Boilermakers' 9-0 victory over Bishop McNamara in an All-City match up on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (Tiffany Blanchette)

The Fightin’ Irish were staring at a 4-0 deficit not even 10 minutes into action, and it mainly had to do with the opposition’s aggressive game plan. The Boilermakers hounded the Irish all night long, only giving up one shot on goal the entire night and maintaining time of possession for the majority of the night.

The Boilers plan to use this game as an example of what they can do when they eventually play tougher, bigger schools.

“[This game] means a lot because it shows how far we’re going to go, especially because we’re going to have a lot more tougher opponents,” Sadulla said. “So, just setting a great example for this game will lead on to several other games that are going to be that might be a little more tougher, tighter matchup.”

The Boilermakers extended their lead throughout the rest of the first half. Goals from sophomore Parker Fouts in the 17th minute, Watters in the 25th minute, and Sadulla in the 36th minute made the lead 7-0 in favor of the Boilermakers.

The second half time was cut in half from the start, and it didn’t take the Boilermakers long to put the game to rest. Junior Cencere Smith scored in the 42nd minute and Sadulla concluded a hat trick by scoring the game’s ending goal in the 44th minute to conclude the contest.

The win gives Bradley-Bourbonnais four straight wins after beginning the year on a two-game skid. Up next for the Boilermakers is a matchup against Peoria Christian in the Urbana Invite on Friday. The Boilermakers are looking to build on their successes.

“We’re really excited to go down there,” Stembridge said. “This is our second year going, so we’re hoping to win some hardware. It’s going to be a tough game, but these boys are ready to go. We’ve rattled off some good results in the last four games, we’re hoping that this continues this tournament.”

Meanwhile, the Irish fell to 0-5. Games against bigger schools like Bradley-Bourbonnais have not shown any positives in the win-loss column, but they have shown positives of the program’s growth under first-year coach Myles Tryban, bringing more than the minimum number of players to fill a lineup for the first time all year on Wednesday.

“It was a tough, tough loss,” Tryban said. “[This was] our first game with a sub on hand, so it was good to see us growing and building a program a little bit in that direction. It was great to see them [battle], and we’re looking forward to building our culture and growing our team.”

Looking ahead for the Irish, they have area schools on the docket with Grant Park on Saturday and Manteno on Monday. They will look to forget about this result and move on and continue to build a culture.

“We hope to make sure we build off of this,” Tryban said. “We’re going to make sure that we keep finding our identity, making sure we’re using our players to the best of our ability and make the best out of what we’re given.”