When he was in seventh grade, Joliet Catholic’s CJ Munger quit soccer and thought he was done with the sport for good.
But Munger gave it another go his sophomore year. Two years later, he’s succeeding as a starting senior goalkeeper in his first varsity season.
You can call it a comeback.
“It just felt like it wasn’t my thing anymore,” Munger said. “I quit in seventh grade and I didn’t play all the way through freshman season. Going into sophomore year, I thought about it a lot. I had a couple friends on the team, so I thought, ‘Why not try it out? Just for the fun of it.’
“I enjoyed it and I kept going. I’m glad I came back.”
So are the Hilltoppers. Munger made six saves Wednesday night to record his first varsity shutout and host Joliet Catholic scored three times in the second half to earn a 3-0 East Suburban Catholic Conference win over Marist.
Diego Rios led the Hilltoppers (7-5-1, 3-1) with a goal and an assist. Adan Verdin and Nicolas Gallegos each added a goal, while Nick Kelly and Lukas Klein each chipped in an assist.
Klein, Jiuliani Verdin and Derek Black led a strong defensive effort in front of Munger.
Jack Heidemann had two shots on goal for Marist (5-7, 2-3).
When Munger returned to soccer, he was in search of a position. He played just about everywhere on the junior varsity the previous two seasons, eventually settling into splitting time between goalkeeper and midfielder.
Now? He believes he’s where he belongs.
“I’ve played around the field a lot on JV, but I’ve really found my home in the net now,” Munger said. “Clearly, I’m doing all right with it.”
Coming into the season, Joliet Catholic coach Tom Cranmer considered starting a freshman at goalkeeper. But he gave Munger a shot at earning the job first.
“We told CJ, ‘It’s your job until you lose it,’” Cranmer said. “He hasn’t lost it yet. We just ask him to make the plays he can make, and when he does that, he’s going to give us a chance.
“He’s done a good job of being confident and stopping the balls he can get to. He’s really made a huge improvement, and he’s been a huge part of the team improvement.”
The Hilltoppers have already more than doubled their win total from last season, when they finished 3-14-2, including 0-8 in conference. They had gone the last five seasons without a conference win and already have three this fall.
“We’ve grown up all together these last couple years,” Rios said. “We’re a much older team than we’ve been the past two years. We’ve got a lot of seniors on the team — 14 of us — and we’re finally realizing that it’s coming to an end and really wanting it this year.”
Rios scored on a penalty kick to break a scoreless tie nine minutes into the second half. Less than 20 minutes later, Joliet Catholic had extended the lead to three.
Munger took care of the rest.
“His improvement is insane,” Rios said of Munger. “He shows he wants it. We had our goalie from past years come out to work with him and that’s definitely helped, too.”
Munger believes getting two years on JV prepared him for the step up to varsity this season.
“There were a bunch of shots coming at me in JV games,” he said. “That helped a bunch. I feel like I’ve come to understand the game more and I felt like I got back the time that I lost.”
Making Munger’s first varsity shutout even sweeter, it came on the Hilltoppers’ senior night.
“It was emotional,” Munger said. “It was just like, ‘Wow, it’s really been four years already.’
“It’s really exciting to get the shutout.”