Chicago –The soccer coaches in the Chicago Catholic League have voted Mount Carmel standout Cody Stanley as the 2006 Lawless Award winner, an honor bestowed annually upon the Most Valuable Senior in each sport in the Catholic League.

Stanley is the first player in Mount Carmel history to win the award in soccer. He also continues a streak at Mount Carmel in which the school has had a Lawless Award winner in each of the past four high school sports seasons. In the 2005-2006 school year, Dominic Sulo (football), Mario Morgan (wrestling) and Lenell McGee (baseball) all won the Lawless Award as Mount Carmel student-athletes.

Winning the Lawless award capped off an incredible month of October for Stanley, a senior sweeper who sports a 3.85 grade point average. Earlier in the month, Stanley announced an oral commitment to play soccer for Northwestern University. Also, Mount Carmel won its second consecutive Catholic League championship, and the school won its fourth consecutive IHSA Regional championship with a 3-2 win over Bogan on October 22.

“We have had a lot of good players in our program,” Mount Carmel soccer coach Adrian Calleros said. “To date, Cody is definitely the best all-around soccer player to play at Mount Carmel. He epitomizes what our athletic department states a student-athlete at Mount Carmel should be. He is a great person, an elite student, and an incredible soccer player. He encompasses what we look for in a young man as much as any student who has ever walked through the doors of Mount Carmel.”

The award is only the latest in a long line of accomplishments for Stanley. In the summers of 2005 and 2006, Stanley was a member of the Elite Soccer Program, a group that includes only the top 130 high school players nationwide in each high school class. The group worked out in Connecticut, but it also traveled to Europe, where Stanley had a chance to train with professional coaches.

“It’s a great honor to win this award, especially since nobody from Mount Carmel has ever been able to win this award in soccer,” said Stanley, a member of the National Honor Society. “Being able to win this award shows how good our program has become, how strong our coaches are, and how much our team has progressed this year.

“It’s also nice to see that other coaches have recognized how I’ve played. I just work hard and give it my best every game. I’m a captain on this team, so making sure we’ve improved as a team has been my top priority.”

Calleros marvels at Stanley’s work ethic on a daily basis. “He’s so coachable. This is the type of player you just love as a coach,” Calleros said. “Cody plays at a level that nobody else on our team does. Typically, players like this take practices off. But Cody actually works so hard that he shows his teammates how to play on an entirely different level. He has been a huge factor in the development of each player on our team. They get better just by practicing with Cody.”

After wrapping up his career at Mount Carmel, Stanley, a sweeper, is preparing to play for Northwestern. His other final choices were Michigan, Michigan State, New Mexico and Boston University.

“Northwestern’s soccer program is really emerging. They’re becoming a Big Ten power and I think they have a chance to have success in the NCAA Tournament very soon,” Stanley said.

“As far as soccer in America, Cody has made the correct decision,” Calleros said. “Northwestern is an up-and-coming soccer program, but Cody knows he is going to a top academic institution. He may be a pro some day, or he may not be. But he knows he’ll be a very valuable commodity when he graduates from Northwestern.”

Contact Information:
Matt Kellam, Director of Communication
P: 773-324-1020, x245
F: 773-324-2468
mkellam@mchs.org