A little bit of love goes a long way. The Cyclones continued their yearly tradition of playing a friendly "match" with children from Oak Park Special Olympics Unified Soccer.

Head Coach Al Palar has organized this event the last four years to allow for his players to give back to the game that has given him and his team so much.

"As always, this is an incredible experience for everyone involved. Many of us competitors get so caught up in wins and losses and are so busy with school, work, athletics, that we tend to stress and complain about small things. A day like today always puts things in perspective and is truly remarkable," Palar said.

The women took to the artificial field with the young athletes, running around and kicking a soccer ball, high-fiving, sharing hugs and playing the game they all love. Then they shared pizza afterward.

"Going to play soccer with these kids is one of the highlights of the season. It's right up there with winning regionals and going on to play at nationals [last year]. I was so excited to go back and get to play with them again because I remembered how much fun it was last year," said sophomore Cyclone Madi Davis. "I thought playing went great! Everybody there had huge smiles on their faces, and we all genuinely had a great time. My favorite part of playing with the Special Olympics athletes was seeing the excitement on their faces when they scored. I am grateful I was able to participate in an event such as this, and I wish more schools partnered with Special Olympics."

"After the event every year I have a talk with the team about the importance of things like this and how great it is to watch them have fun with these kids. And every year I get emotional talking about it," Palar explained. "Big thanks to Tim McDonald and the rest of this program for always hosting us and allowing us to come play and hang out," Palar added.