Girls soccer: Scouting the postseason
Girls soccer: Scouting the postseason
CLASS 3AGlenbrook North sectional
Advancement: Sectional champ advances to Bartlett supersectional to play Hoffman Estates sectional champion on Tuesday, May 30.
Top 4 seeds (in order): New Trier, (18-2-1) Evanston (14-4-4), Loyola (15-6-0), Glenbrook South (17-4-1).
Overview: Defending 3A champ New Trier is still New Trier - big, strong (particularly along the back) and quite capable of making a serious run at a fourth consecutive state title. Yet even though the Trevians have defeated the other top seeds here, it might be No. 3 Loyola to keep an eye on. The Ramblers enter the tournament on an eight-game winning streak, and have something nearly every club dreams of having with the strike force of Maggie Brett and Stephanie Ramsay.
Evanston, led by Wisconsin-bound Maia Cella, should get through its own regional to face Loyola in a sectional semifinal, while No. 8 Prospect (7-9-2) is on a collision course with New Trier in its own regional final, with the opportunity to turn this sectional upside-down.
"You can never look ahead at this time of the season, so our only focus is on our regional opener with Niles West," said Prospect coach Tom Froats. "Each team is fighting to stay alive, so you have to be prepared to go 80 or 100 minutes in order to do so. It's always good to be playing teams outside of the MSL at this time of the season, but when you look at the top clubs in our sectional (there's) no shortage of quality sides just ahead of you."
Hoffman Estates sectional
Advancement: Sectional champ advances to Bartlett supersectional to play Glenbrook North sectional champion on Tuesday, May 30.
Top 4 seeds: Geneva (18-1-1), St. Charles North (16-0-3), Batavia (12-3-2), St. Charles East (8-4-6).
Overview: The Upstate Eight Conference rules in this sectional. With a combined 54 victories, the four top teams in the conference have shown to be among the best in this half of the state, including Batavia and coach Mark Gianfrancesco. "I can argue this is the toughest sectional in the state, just on its depth alone. That, and a terrific group of experienced coaches, will have their teams prepared for any scenario that may come their way during the next two weeks."
Conant (12-6-1), in the top four of the MSL table from start to finish, gives the conference its best opportunity here. "Our No. 5 seed is a fair one, and if we can tighten things up defensively, and with our attack leading the way, we have a decent chance of winning our regional," said Conant coach Jason Franco. "With that said, Geneva and St. Charles North are on another level, and with North, they have the depth and star power to beat anyone in the state."
Warren sectional
Advancement: Sectional champ advances to the Barrington supersectional to play Huntley sectional champion on Tuesday, May 30.
Top 4 seeds: Barrington (21-1-0), Warren (18-1-2) , Fremd, (14-4-1), Lake Zurich (16-5-0).
Overview: One can argue the first four in this sectional is equal to or eve slightly better than that of both the Hoffman Estates or Lockport sectional. Certainly the depth is terrific, with Lake Forest, Libertyville and ESCC champion Carmel outside the top four, followed by a very dangerous Palatine team at No. 11. "We respect everyone in this sectional, and that's the way it's been for us from the very beginning, and the girls know and understand that as well," says Barrington coach Ryan Stengren, whose Fillies just won their sixth straight MSL title. "Our approach all season long has been one game at a time, one opponent at a time - that's how we've been, and how it will continue from here on out," said Fillies defender Jackie Batliner, who along with teammate Sophia Spinell was named a co-MSL West player of the year last week.
Steve Keller has done a masterful job of keeping his team efficient on both sides of the ball after losing three top players to season-ending injuries. North Suburban champ Warren, led by midfielder Alliyah Parker, has fueled an impressive turnaround from a year ago when the Blue Devils were 14-9-2.
The Fremd duo of Julia Leonard (MF) and Julia Szylke (D) are among the best at their respective positions, along with keeper Kelsie Stone.
Lack of scoring will be no problem for the No. 4 Bears, whose dynamic duo of Kristin Brousseau and Rebecca Kubin represent trouble in their opponent's final third.
The top four here share many common and indirect opponents, but they haven't played each other this spring, which makes for plenty of intrigue should they do so in the next two weeks.
CLASS 2ADeerfield sectional
Advancement: Sectional champ advances to Concordia University supersectional to play Wheaton Academy sectional champion on Tuesday, May 30.
Top 4 seeds: Prairie Ridge (13-2-0), Wauconda (14-0-1), Vernon Hills (8-4-3), Grayslake North (10-4-2).
Lowdown: The off-season transfer and move of Illinois recruit Makena Silber from Pennsylvania solidified an already quality Prairie Ridge club, which was anointed the No. 1 seed in this sectional. The Wolves' only two losses of the year were to Lake Zurich in PKs and to FVC power Crystal Lake South. "We get ourselves into the sectional semifinals and we play the No. 1 seed early - you've got to play them at some point, so why not then?" says St. Viator coach Mike Taylor, who feels his No. 5 Lions are ready this postseason "We recently made some personnel changes along the backline, and now look very good back there, and as long as we score, we'll be in good shape.
"There are several teams who are dangerous and can emerge from this sectional, but you have to finish your chances at this time of the year," says Deerfield (8-9-4) coach Rich Grady, who guided his club to a second-place state trophy last season, the first in program history.
- Mike Garofola