OAK LAWN TOPS ARGO, CLINCHES CONFERENCE

After playing the last regular-season game of his high school career, Oak Lawn's Mohammad Farraj was carried off the field on the shoulders of one of dozens of Spartan fans that stormed the field at Argo. The senior forward was the hero Tuesday night, recording a hat trick as Oak Lawn completed an undefeated regular season in historic fashion with a 3-1 South Suburban Red win over the Argonauts. "I'm so happy," Farraj said. "I'm so excited. I got the three goals because our team works together so well. We're like a family. We did this for our school." Oak Lawn (19-0-1, 10-0-1) clinched its first Red title since 2008 and beat Argo (12-3-1, 9-1-1), which was denied in its bid to repeat as league champion. It was the Sparatans first-ever win over the Argonauts. "The conference championship was our goal all year and we knew we had a chance," Oak Lawn coach Nate Joiner said. "An undefeated regular season, though, I never even imagined that." Farraj got the Spartans going in the 27th minute. After drawing a foul just outside the box, he took the free kick and rolled a shot inside the left post. Argo goalkeeper Saul Munoz (5 saves) got a piece of the ball, but not enough as it trickled over the goal line. Farraj then scored twice in a span of less than three minutes early in the second half. The first goal, with 30:05 to go, came off a beautiful combination play as Cody Figus passed to Giovanni Barragan, who found Farraj cutting down the left side of the box. He finished with a shot that went off the inside of the far post and into the net. Farraj completed the hat trick, collecting a loose ball and firing a quick shot from 30 yards past Munoz. "We came out to play the first 10 minutes of the second half, then we fell apart defensively," Argo coach John Gaytan said. "Oak Lawn is a great team and they deserve to be our conference champion." Abel Cavada recorded five saves for the Spartans and the back line of Sadiq Mohamad, Adam Baniewicz and Sulieman Ali helped keep Argo scoreless until Armando Gallegos' goal with 2:40 to go. "It's a great feeling," Ali said. "We stayed focused all year and played together, and we got great support from our school and community." Oak Lawn, seeded second in the Class 3A Lincoln-Way Central Sectional behind also-unbeaten Bradley-Bourbonnais, will open the postseason Oct. 19. "We came to play every game, not just the big games, because we wanted this championship," Farraj said. "No one could beat us all year. Now we've got to keep it going in the playoffs."