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44 | March 5, 2020 | the frankfort station sports
frankfortstationdaily.com
This Week In
GRIFFINS VARSITY
ATHLETICS
BOYS BASKETBALL
■March ■ 6 – Class 4A LW
East Regional final, 7 p.m.
■March ■ 11 – Class 4A
Bloom Sectional semifinal,
7 p.m.
GIRLS INDOOR TRACK
AND FIELD
■March ■ 5 – at North
Central College Classic,
4:45 p.m.
■March ■ 9 – Downers Grove
South Relays at North
Central College, 6:30 p.m.
GIRLS WATER POLO
■March ■ 9 – hosts Mother
McAuley, 5 p.m.
■March ■ 10 – at Neuqua
Valley, 6 p.m.
basketball
From Page 47
Bourbonnais on Jan. 10.
In between, East won
the championship at the
Effingham/Teutopolis
Christmas Classic, beating
Corliss 56-50 in the
championship game
and picking up a 70-67
win over a talented Oak
Lawn squad in the semifinals.
East completed a sweep
of its District 210 rivals by
beating LW Central 67-56
on Jan. 31.
Looking ahead
The Griffins were given
the No. 7 seed in the Class
4A Bloom Sectional and
are a regional host, beginning
with a semifinal set
for Wednesday, March 4
against 10th-seeded Andrew.
If East was able to win
that game, the Griffins
would likely meet secondseeded
Thornton in the regional
final Friday, March
6. The Wildcats were set to
take on 15th-seeded Stagg
in a semifinal Tuesday,
March 3. at East.
Boys Soccer
Former Andrew star Ribbens named LW East coach
STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor
Matt Ribbens is the new boys soccer coach at Lincoln-Way East. STEVE MILLAR/22ND
CENTURY MEDIA
Lincoln-Way East’s new
boys soccer coach will be
familiar to longtime area
soccer fans.
Matt Ribbens, a 2009
Andrew graduate who is
the Tinley Park school’s
all-time leading goal scorer,
was recently named the
Griffins’ new head coach.
“Honestly, it’s a dream
job,” Ribbens said. “I
couldn’t think of a better
place to come in and rebuild
a program and get it
back to where it was when
I was in high school.”
Ribbens, who played
collegiately at Rhode Island,
went 52-27-5 in five
seasons as the coach at
Soto in Chicago, including
a fourth-place state finish
in Class 1A in 2018-19.
He replaces Ryan Decker,
who resigned for personal
reasons after going
90-84-18 over nine seasons,
winning five regional
titles and one sectional.
“Matt is a top-shelf
young coach and I think
he’s going to bring a lot of
energy and excitement to
the program,” East athletic
director Mark Vander Kooi
said. “We’re Lincoln-Way
East, so we want success.”
Ribbens certainly had
plenty of that at Soto, helping
the program move up
from the fourth division in
the Chicago Public League
to the top one.
He started his coaching
career with the elementary
school at UNO Soccer
Academy, which became
Soto in 2017. Ribbens took
over the varsity program in
2016-17.
“The school was so new
and there was no alumni
presence, no winter camps
or summer training,” Ribbens
said. “It was from the
ground up. There was a lot
of talent, and they were
just looking for a direction
in the program.”
In 2018-19, Soto’s second
year eligible for the
IHSA playoffs, the Wolves
made it all the way to the
state finals in East Peoria,
finishing fourth in Class
1A.
“Going to state was the
experience of a lifetime for
me,” Ribbens said. “I had
kids who had never been
out of the city of Chicago,
kids who had never stayed
overnight at a hotel. Seeing
the fulfillment of our
hard work and the enjoyment
the kids had from
going down there, it was
amazing.”
The game that sent Soto
to state that year, a 1-0 supersectional
win over Peotone,
just happened to be at
Lincoln-Way East. Vander
Kooi was watching.
“I was very impressed
with his demeanor, style
and energy and just his
execution with his team,”
Vander Kooi said. “They
played well and they
played composed.”
Ribbens moved back to
Tinley Park in September
with his wife, Nicole. The
couple’s first child, a boy
named Porter, was born
Feb. 3.
“We were living [in
downtown Chicago] before
and the games in CPS
were all over the place,”
Ribbens said. “It was difficult
for family members
to get to games sometimes.
It’s a big thing for me to
get to have my wife and
now my first-born come to
games, and for other family
and friends who still
live in the area to be able
to come to games.”
Ribbens comes from a
coaching family. His father,
Dave, was a longtime
soccer coach at Trinity
Christian College in Palos
Heights and was also the
athletic director there. His
mother, Deborah, coached
a variety of sports, including
leading the Chicago
Christian girls basketball
team to a state championship
in 1981.
“My earliest memories
are of being on the soccer
field with my dad,” Ribbens
said. “I knew from an
early age that I wanted to
be a coach.”
Ribbens credits an injury
his freshman season at
Rhode Island with putting
his coaching motor into
overdrive.
“I had a broken humerus
[in the arm] and missed 10
games,” he said. “It was
8
eight weeks of being out
and just kind of studying
the game. That gave me
kind of the advanced lessons,
a crash course on
tactics and movement,
watching film and kind of
building what you’re going
to do all year.
“If you don’t love that
stuff, you aren’t going to
be a good coach. But I love
it.”
Ribbens said his coaching
style revolves around a
mix of grittiness and imagination.
“My four biggest words
are: hard-working, organized,
disciplined and
accountable,” he said.
“We’re going to be all
those things, and while
we’re doing all those
things, we’re going to be
creative and we’re going
to play soccer.
“We’re not going to be
the typical south side kickand-run
team. We’re going
to be a team that puts
passes together, moves
past other teams and plays
the right way.”
Lincoln-Way East went
8-9-3 last season and graduated
a decorated senior
class, which helped the
team tie the school record
for wins with 16 in 2018-
19. So, there is some rebuilding
to do.
Ribbens feels he is ready
for the challenge.
“I think there is unlimited
potential with all
the clubs in the area and
the hard-working attitude
around here,” he said. “I
grew up nearby, so I know
the spirit of the families
and the kids around here.
“I can’t wait to see the
talent pool that comes
out, and see what we can
build over the next couple
years.”