Benet’s Ryan Augustyn spent the past two seasons writing stories about the soccer team for the school newspaper.
Now he’s part of the story.
Augustyn, who played on the freshman team and then played just club soccer the next two years, is making the most of his first and only varsity season. The senior forward has scored five goals, including one in an 8-0 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory against Marist on Wednesday, in the first eight games.
He hasn’t put down his pen, either. Augustyn is editor-in-chief of the Benet Herald, although he leaves the sports coverage to others.
“Sophomore and junior year I covered the soccer team,” he said. “But now, obviously, I can’t.”
Doing so would be a conflict of interest, of which there is none among the Redwings (6-2). As much as Augustyn’s teammates liked his coverage, they prefer him to be on the field.
Augustyn, too, prefers high school soccer over club soccer, and it was his friends on the team who lured him back.
“I really love playing with them,” he said. “I’ve grown to love all of them through school and hanging out outside of school.
“They’re all great soccer players, so it’s always fun to do what I love with people I love. Nico Picha, Owen McGarry, Danny Boyle, Kovas (Jeleniauskas) are all my friends, and they really wanted me to play, and I said yes.”
Augustyn is one of three Benet seniors whose older brothers played on the 2019 Class 2A state championship team. His brother Nick was a midfielder who had eight goals and a team-high 14 assists for that team and plays at Calvin.
“My brother actually followed the same path as me,” Augustyn said. “He played on the freshman team freshman year and then played club for two years.
“He advised me on adjusting to the group. How do you establish yourself as one of the seniors while also establishing yourself as a team player?”
It didn’t take too long for Augustyn to assimilate.
“I had the advantage of the majority of the kids I already knew from in school,” he said. “We had relationships, but it was an adjustment getting to know everyone’s playing style, getting to know where they are going to go, because it’s all about anticipation.
“Nick talked to me about that, and it was really nice because he actually came to two of our games. So getting to talk to him after the games was really something special.”
Benet coach Sean Wesley said Augustyn’s pedigree has helped the team jell.
“His older brother set the standard, and now it’s his job to kind of come back into the mix and live up to that,” Wesley said. “He brings that sort of attitude to the group.”
Senior midfielder Peter Hepburn, whose brother Sam scored the game-winning goal in the 2019 state championship game, and senior forward Connor Serafin, whose brother Zach was a defender, also have that pedigree.
But Picha, the only remaining player from the championship team, said the Augustyn brothers are not clones.
“They’re two very different personalities,” Picha said. “Nick was a midfield player who had amazing vision and amazing passing.
“Ryan is great attacking. He’s got great dribbling explosiveness. He’s got a shot that he can hit from anywhere left-footed or right-footed. All that makes him a great player and a great teammate.”
The Redwings have designs on another state title. Augustyn is a key piece.
“He’s very technical, and it’s something that we needed this year,” Wesley said. “He’s a kid who can keep the ball for us, he can make all the passes, can play with both feet.
“We’re hoping it works. So far, so good.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
