Position Change Paves Way for Sandburg Graduate Josh Feigl's Memorable Soccer Career

Even though Josh Feigl preferred to play forward, he remembers just being thrilled to be the starting sweeper on the Sandburg soccer team as a freshman.

“I was so excited to be able to play with guys that were three and four years older than me,” said Feigl, a 1994 Sandburg graduate. “If that’s where they needed me, then I was satisfied being out there. I had no ill feelings and have good memories from that season. The next season … that was a different story.”

Despite having success as a defender, Feigl convinced former Sandburg coach Brian Papa to switch him back to his more familiar position.

Feigl would go on to become a two-time all-state forward and is the only player in program history to earn All-American honors twice. He played an integral role in the Eagles capturing the school’s first state championship in any sport in 1993.

“Freshman year, he had some maturing to do, like many young kids,” said Papa, who is now the head coach at Lincoln-Way East. “He was playing with a bunch of good players, so we put him at sweeper. He ended up being a big catalyst for us shutting down opponents.

"The next year he wanted a chance to be a forward and said if it didn’t work out after three games, he’d stay on defense. We played in the Best of the West Tournament and he scored every goal for us and we didn’t allow a goal. From that point on, he was always our go-to guy.”

Feigl’s move to offense intertwined with the emergence of Marty Regan, who would become an all-state defender. Regan tragically passed away in June from an accidental drowning.

“Marty was like a brother to most of us,” Feigl said. “Marty was co-captain with me on the championship team, and I grew up playing with him. Most of the guys are still kind of trying to mentally deal with the fact that he’s gone. He just had his first child, and it’s shocking and hard to deal with.”

Sandburg Soccer Overcomes Stigma

Despite having strong teams on an annual basis, Sandburg was developing a reputation of not being able to win the big games in the postseason.

The Eagles won three straight regional titles from 1988-90, but never won a sectional crown.

Feigl and many of his friends planned on changing that when they entered the program.

“Most of the guys grew up playing together since they were 7, 8 or 9 years old,” Feigl said. “We had won three state championships as little kids at 9, 10 and 11 with the Orland Park Sting. To have that success carry over to high school was special.

"Sandburg, for years leading up to that, always kind of just bonked in the playoffs. Senior year, everything just really seemed to be in place. We had a feeling of confidence. We had been waiting our whole life to get to this point where we were the seniors. We knew we had to go downstate and this was our time.”

Sandburg (29-0-1) finished the season with 12 shutouts, including topping Fremd 1-0 in state championship match.

The Eagles beat Foreman 8-0 in the quarterfinals with Tony Frangella (35 goals, 28 assists) setting a state record with four assists and beat two-time defending state champion Collinsville 2-0 in the semifinals.

“That team is considered one of the best teams ever in Illinois,” Papa said. “It was a special season and to do what that team did was remarkable.”

Feigl, who scored a goal in 23 consecutive matches, which is one shy of the IHSA record, scored the only goal in the championship game off an assist from Nick Kolliniatis.

“It was definitely a nice cap to a good career,” said Feigl, who had 43 goals and 13 assists for the season. “We had a lot of great players like Tony Frangella and Marty Regan and a lot of players that contributed so much. I was lucky that I was the one to score the goal, but it’s about the team and not one or two standouts. It’s an experience I’ll never forget, but I never could have done it without the other guys. It was a perfect ending to a perfect season.”

Feigl, who would go on to shine at the University of Evansville, finished his high school career ranked ninth all-time in career goals with 132, just 27 behind friend and youth teammate Billy Savarino, who starred at Brother Rice.

So, what if Feigl played forward his freshman season?

“It would’ve been interesting,” Feigl said of the record. “I don’t know if I would’ve squeezed out enough goals. Who knows, but I was never worried about padding stats.”

COMING THURSDAY: Log on at 6 a.m. Thursday to find out what former Sandburg soccer legend Josh Feigl is doing nowadays.