Girls soccer: Scouting the Class 2A/3A postseason in the Fox Valley

Class 2A Sycamore Regional Pairings: Game 1) No. 1 Sycamore vs. No. 4 Hampshire Tuesday, 4:30 p.m.; Game 2) No. 2 Burlington Central vs. No. 3 DeKalb Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.; Game 3) Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, Friday, 4:30 p.m.

Outlook: Burlington Central comes in as the Big Northern East champs with an 11-1 conference record, something the Rockets' seniors haven't been able to do in 4 years. What they weren't able to do last year was take home a regional plaque, losing to DeKalb 2-1. They can avenge that loss right away while getting revenge on Sycamore as well, which ousted the Rockets in the regional title game in 2013. For some perspective, Sycamore (16-5) defeated DeKalb (13-7) 3-1 last Tuesday to wrap up an 8-0 Northern Illinois Big 12 season. The Rockets picked up a 3-0 win at Sycamore on May 6, giving the Spartans their only loss in their last 7 games. But the game according to first-year coach Jess Arneson had little meaning to what could occur Friday. But if the Rockets do get to Friday, it'll be because of a potent offense led by freshman forward Jordan King, who has 29 goals and 5 assists. But of late King's been getting help. "A lot of my other girls have been stepping up with her. It's making our team more diverse," Arneson said. "We're not just looking to Jordan anymore and I think that takes a little bit of the pressure off her sometimes because now we have a couple kids willing to step up. It's given her the opportunity to do more things that she couldn't have if we relied on her to be our goal scorer." Those contributing would be freshman midfielder Elizabeth Gousios with 15 goals and 7 assists, senior forward Julia Petsche (7 goals and 7 assists) and midfielder Megan Majewski. They've been more selfish in the box lately but what's been silently spoken of but just as deserving of credit has been the play of Burlington's back line. of Ashley Ahrens, Jessi Marchetti, Miranda Coombs and Alyssa Mariani, who have allowed just 10 goals all season. "They're amped up," Arneson said. "We've had some pretty intense practices, They're ready to go. They think they can win it this year."

Advancement: The winner of the Sycamore regional advances to the Rockford Boylan sectional against the winner of the Freeport regional Tuesday, May 26 at 5 p.m.

Class 3A Jacobs regional Pairings: Game 1) No. 1 Huntley vs. No. 4 Jacobs Tuesday 4:30 p.m.; Game 2) No. 2 CL South vs. No. 3 Dundee-Crown Tuesday, 7 p.m.; Game 3) Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 Friday, 5 p.m.

Outlook: With such a decorative group graduating from Huntley's Class 3A supersectional squad last year, the Red Raiders seemingly went under the radar with a new group that had minimal expectations. But with a 15-3 record, Huntley was the definition of reload, not rebuild in its quest for its 9th-straight regional title. Huntley shutout regional participants Jacobs 3-0, Cary-Grove 2-0 and CL South 1-0. But the mini-FVC tournament at Jacobs isn't a lock to Huntley, which will see everyone's best game, with the Golden Eagles up first. "If we go don't go out there and give them a ton of respect, they're going to walk out with a win," Raiders coach Kris Grabner said of Jacobs. "We really have to be on our toes from that standpoint, you just can't take anything for granted." Jacobs started off the year 2-12-1 but has gone 2-2 in its last 4 games. But in order for Jacobs to get the win, it has a tall order to take care off - stopping Huntley forward Deanna Hecht (13 goals, 3 assists), midfielder Taryn Jakubowski (11 goals, 13 assists) and forward Alyssa Kaufman (7 goals, 11 assists). "The attack can come from a number of different places, I feel like we've always been that way," Grabner said. "I feel like we really have three really strong attackers." But Grabner has hard workers in the midfield, and there's no 10 shutouts without Katie Constantino as defensive center mid and a defensive rotation of Tayah Owens, Sam Heustis, Erin Gaitsch, Madison Doty and Kaitlyn White not giving up shots to protect Abbey Brown and Paige Renkosik (0.24 gaa) in goal. "Anytime you have Katie as your defensive center mid, she just kind of sets the tone. She really just hunts players down," Grabner said. CL South (12-6-2) also has strong defenders, as it hopes to return to the regional final and avenge last year's loss to Huntley. "Last year when we won the conference, we were a little overconfident going into the regional," Gators coach Jay Muller said. "Maybe the girls will be hungrier because we don't have a trophy, already." They'll have to get through Dundee-Crown (4-13-1) first, which South defeated 4-1 this season. "We can expect that Dundee-Crown is going to come out and play hard and play physical like they always do," Mueller said. "We always expect them to give us a tough battle so don't expect Tuesday to be any different." Midfielder Payton De Luga and forward Alyssa Moreno were named to the Lake Park All-Tournament teams this season and Moreno leads Dundee-Crown with 5 goals to go with 3 assists. De Luga has 4 goals and 2 assists on the year while midfielder Krystal Meraz leads D-C with 6 assists. They'll have to force the issue against the Gators who have 9 shutouts and had solid goalkeeping from Jaclyn Przybylski. But the play from holding mid Jess Schoenfeldt has been key to Mueller. "She's been playing phenomenal controlling the middle of the field for us, (plus) a trio of girls who's been scoring for us this season." That would include forward Kimmy Sulikowski, midfielder Taylor Mraz and forward-mid Katherine Siavelis. They provide one of the most balanced punches in the area. Siavelis leads the team in goals scored with 10 to go with her 3 assists. Sulikowski had 8 goals and 6 assists while both Schoenfeldt and Mraz have 7 goals and 7 assists each.

Advancement: The winner of the Jacobs regional plays the winner of the Harlem regional in the Huntley sectional Tuesday, May 26 at 5 p.m.

Class 3A Cary-Grove regional Pairings: Game 1) No. 1 Cary-Grove vs. No. 4 Round Lake Tuesday, 5 p.m.; Game 2) No. 2 Grant vs. No. 3 McHenry Tuesday, 7 p.m.; Game 3) Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 Friday, 6 p.m.

Outlook: Cary-Grove marches into the playoffs winners of 6 of 7 and a co-FVC Valley championship. And while that streak includes 5 shutouts and wins against CL South and McHenry - the latter the Trojans' potential regional final matchup - even the Trojans know that anyone in this group could be dangerous. McHenry ousted C-G for the regional title last season in Cary. "You have to have the mentality no matter who you play, you're always looking at playing your best game," Trojans coach Ray Krystal said. "It's a toss up. It was difficult in terms of seeding." Krystal hopes that the positive attitude and effort and his team's unity our on display this week which will be the most important key to success.

Advancement: The winner of the C-G regional plays the winner of the South Elgin regional Tuesday, May 26 at the Huntley sectional at 7 p.m.

Class 3A South Elgin regional (Wednesday at Millennium Field, Friday at South Elgin HS)

Pairings: Game 1) No. 1 South Elgin vs. No. 4 Larkin Tuesday, 4:30 p.m.; Game 2) No. 2 Streamwood vs. No. 3 Elgin Tuesday 6:30 p.m., Game 3) Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 Friday, 4:30 p.m.

Outlook: Wednesday's doubleheader at Millennium Field is a repeat of last year's grouping but it's safe to say the matchup between South Elgin and Larkin will be closer than the 10-0 win the Storm put up last May. After starting the season 8-1-1 South Elgin finished 0-9-1 with its last win coming on April 11 against Wheaton Warrenville South at the PepsiCo Challenge. The cause for the slide? Injuries and one of the toughest Upstate Eight schedules you could find. "They're trying to stay as positive as possible, we've had a lot of injuries that have trickled down and in some key positions caused us to adjust our line," Storm coach Tiffany Disher said. "But I think we've got it down pat now and they're excited to play on Wednesday and again on Friday." Those hobbled included keeper Jourdan Valkner (knee), center mid Veronika Noyszewski, midfielder/defender Arie Walters and midfielder Alyssa Shipon. But the Storm are healthy and it being a new season, the reigning regional champs can regain the focus they had to start the season. "Coming off the strong competition and the real tough teams I think the girls are going to be playing a real high level," Disher said. Senior Delaney Kelleher leads the Storm in goals with 11 while Missy Greco (10) and Ella Striuing (7) back her up while Citali Sanchez and Grace Franks each have 7 assists. The Storm are eager to score but Disher knows Ken Hall's team will give the Storm everything they have. "I know they're having a better season and I know it's going to be a challenge," Disher said. "Larkin, Elgin and Streamwood - they'll all be hungry to for the win, especially after last season." You can say that for Larkin. With 8 new players in the starting lineup, the Royals would like to avenge last year's thrashing. Larkin maintains the only winning record of the teams in the regional and it's due to several factors. "We're getting very good goalkeeping from Haley Casebeer, she's been a big part of it," Royals coach Ken Hall said. "The defense has not been giving up a lot of goals and we haven't been giving up a lot of shots. I think team defense-wise we're playing much better. I think overall we're playing an overall better game of ball possession and passing and making the right pass." Stephanie Nunez leads the team with 12 goals but 5 different scorers have at least 3 goals on the season and the team has 4 times as much as 2014. That's been to better ball control and getting in the right spots. Even their defense, with Anna Leon, Maria Mendoza, Karina Trujillo and Tanya Franco will be a factor. If Larkin gets through, it has a 3-1 win over Streamwood and a tie against Elgin to build off. "On paper and talent-wise, South Elgin probably has the most talent," Hall said. "Last year was pretty much a foregone conclusion: South Elgin was going to win it. I think they're going to have to work a lot harder to win it this year." Streamwood has a distinct advantage since the semifinal portion will be played at Millennium Field before the regional shifts to South Elgin Friday. The wide turf field will play into the speed of the Sabres, and mainly Drake-bound striker Tawny Carroll, who surpassed her 2014 total in goals (28) with 30 this year. She was a prime reason why the Sabres were victorious over the Maroons two weeks ago 2-1. "We'll try to mark her up, she's definitely a threat and you can't leave her open by any means," Maroons coach Alicia Knoll said. "You have to give her that respect that she's earned as a player because she can be strong with the ball when she needs to be. You can't lose focus at any point in the game." And for Elgin (7-10-4), they'll have to keep track of Carroll, midfielder Alondra Blanco (8 goals, 3 assists) and forward Shonali Pierce. "For Elgin it's going to be tough to try to make sure we keep our game plan a second time around and make sure we work for 80 minutes nonstop," Sabres coach Matt Polovin said. "With how we play and our speed of play and how we move the ball quickly and look to play it through quickly, it's tough to keep up with us. You might stop one but you have two others to deal with." Streamwood will put the young Maroons through pressure on their defensive end, but to counter, Elgin can streak Brittany Dazzo down the sideline with her 8 goals and 5 assists. "We need to step to the ball to want the ball more than they do. We must be able to (get) more 50/50 balls are way," Knoll said. "Seeing how they played against Streamwood the first time it shows them they're right in that game and knowing they've been there before definitely gives them the motivation to be successful and compete throughout the regional."

Advancement: The winner of the South Elgin regional plays the winner of the Cary-Grove regional at the Huntley sectional, Tuesday, May 26 at 7 p.m.

Class 3A Bartlett regional At Millennium Field

Pairings: Game 2) No. 1 St. Charles East vs. No. 16 Elk Grove Tuesday, 4:30 p.m.; Game 3) No. 8 Glenbard West vs. No. 10 Bartlett Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.; Game 4) Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3 Friday, 5:30 p.m.

Outlook: If momentum is as important as everyone says, Bartlett might have picked some up at the right time. Brooke Bednarke scored the game-winner against West Chicago last Tuesday in the 78th minute and that's how the Hawks will come into the postseason. "It's been a while since the Bartlett girls have made it to a regional final, I think we have a pretty good chance the way we're playing right now," Hawks coach Ben Beary said of his team that's won 2 of its last 3 games. "We had a pretty good end to our season against West Chicago with that last-minute goal. (It's) a little bit of an extra boost going to into the postseason to have that under your belt. I feel pretty good about Tuesday." Glenbard West is the only Glenbard Bartlett hasn't played this season. The Hawks, who according to Beary match up favorably against West, defeated South and North but lost to East 3-1. If Bartlett gets into the regional final for the first time since 2009, the Hawks will likely go up against St. Charles East, the vaunted No. 1 seed in the Schaumburg sectional. It would be quite the upset to say the least, but as Beary said, "If you want to be successful you've got to win games you're not supposed to win and it's obviously going to be a huge challenge." But Bartlett (11-9-1) has some firepower. The Hawks' veteran defense has been decent all season but the key is the consistency with the attack. "Having some pep to our step early is a big difference for us," said Beary. Which prompted him to bring up Bednarke from JV and Kayla Hare who played on both the freshmen and JV teams this year. Bednarke has 5 goals and 5 assists in her last 5 games and that certainly helps the likes of junior midfielder Mariela Alba, who has 7 goals and 8 assists on the season and Jenna Dombrowski with 5 goals and 5 assists. "It's just helped to have a little more depth to the attack, take pressure off some of the other girls who've had trouble scoring and all of that takes pressure off the defense," Beary added. "I know our defense plays well enough to hang in there with any team as long as the offense is getting the job done to relieve some of the pressure."

Advancement: The winner of the Bartlett regional plays the winner of the Hoffman Estates regional at the Schaumburg sectional, Wednesday May 27, at 5 p.m.