The Willow School boys soccer team, which won its second straight state title, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Outstanding Boys Prep Team for 2023-24. The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month and each year’s New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame class.
The Willow School soccer team capped an undefeated season (23-0-4) by successfully defending its LHSAA Division III soccer state title with a 2-0 win over No. 3 University High. The Lions, who returned 10 starters from last year’s championship team, outscored their five postseason opponents by the margin of 21-1. During the season, Willow picked up its first-ever win over Division I power Jesuit (the eventual D1 state champ) and a victory over eventual Division IV champion Episcopal as well as draws with Division II champ Holy Cross and Division I semifinalists St. Paul’s and Dutchtown. The Lions swept their six district matches by a combined 39-1 score and registered shutouts in 15 of their final 19 matches.
“We had a lot of seniors this season and that’s a big part of our success,” said Willow head coach Ben Barcelona. “They’ve been part of the team since they were freshmen and being a k-through-12 school, they’ve played together at school and on the club level for a long time. Plus, the team worked very hard during the off-season and the season.”
In the state championship match against U-High, the Lions battled to a 0-0 stalemate through 70 minutes until Amos Liles found teammate Ellett Clum-Stockton in the box for the first score. They would add goals from Clum-Stockton and Gabe Pizzolatto to wrap up the title. Senior midfielder Sebastian Salm was not only named the championship game’s Most Outstanding Player, but he was named the Gatorade Louisiana Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
“Winning two in a row is very difficult,” Barcelona said. “Our last loss was Jan. 26 of 2023 and every game brings a lot more build-up and pressure. But we stayed focused as a team, and took it one game at a time, and luckily it worked out for us.”
The other finalists for the New Orleans’ Boys Prep Team of the Year honor were Archbishop Shaw Bowling, Crescent City Basketball, and Ponchatoula Basketball. Crescent City earned the top seed in the LHSAA Division IV Select state tournament and rolled to four straight victories to earn its fourth state title. Ponchatoula captured its second straight state title as it posted a 30-4 overall record behind 6-10 Allen Graves, the top basketball player in the state. Archbishop Shaw was dominant throughout the high school bowling season, sweeping 12 regular season matches to claim the No. 1 seed in the Division II boys/co-ed bracket before cruising to its first state title in 15 years.
The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee came together when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month and a variety of annual award winners. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 68th year in 2024.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 107 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 90-year history. The 91st Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2025. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade.
