Boys soccer: Borge caps a fantastic career at Lyons

If April, says the poet T.S. Eliot, is the cruelest month, it only stands to reason soccer is the cruelest sport.

“It’s so unpredictable,” another Elliot said, this one named Elliot Borge, star player for Lyons Township. Borge’s career ended in a cruel cut when Morton’s Jesus Morales scored on a penalty kick with six seconds to play in the second overtime in the semifinals of the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional.

Borge, who scored a goal and assisted another to help the Lions recover from an early 2-0 deficit, was calm after the fact. “We had a great year,” he said.

A week later, having time to think about the last four years, Borge had a trove of memories to call on.

“The last few minutes of that game was just so wild, but as disappointed as I was by what happened, I’m very proud of my teammates and how they fought and competed, not just that game but the whole year,” he said.

The senior midfielder was a repeat first team selection of the Chicago Sun-Times’ all-area team. It was perhaps fitting his career ended at Hinsdale Central. The Red Devils’ coach Michael Wiggins called Borge ‘the best player in Chicago’.

He ended the year with 10 goals and nine assists, closing out a storied career by accumulating 35 goals and 37 assists.

Morton ended up the Class 3A state champion. Losing to them was no shame. Borge was pretty much synonymous with winning. He also experienced the pinnacle. “The thing I’ll remember the most is winning the state championship my sophomore year, and being a big part of that team,” he said.

At the high school level, soccer is dominated by smaller, skilled players. Borge stands out from that tradition, metaphorically and otherwise.

“I’m pretty tall, at 6-2, but that gives me a lot of advantages, especially with leverage and size,” he said. “But I also have good speed, and I think that’s one of the reasons for my success, that I have a combination of skill, size and ability.”

He is a natural athlete who also excels at playing tennis and hockey. Borge started playing organized youth soccer and fell in love with the sport.

The future is an open question, though Borge naturally is one with a lot of possibilities. He’s an elite student who scored a 33 on his ACT. A couple of Ivy League schools showed interest, but he said they have mutually decided to go in a different direction.

He has expressed an interest in pursuing a career in the ministry, and he lists Wheaton College as a school he is very interested in.

Just like on the soccer field, he is very difficult to pin down. He is a young man going places, said his coach, Paul Labato.

“For three or four months, you’re just part of a great program,” Borge said. “The competition, the friendships and what you take from it all, it’s just been a great experience.”

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