Ryan makes her mark helping coach Bears

Mackenzie Ryan had her sights set on a successful senior season and leading Lake Zurich's girls soccer team.

What Ryan didn't expect was seeing the game from a different perspective -- watching the game from the sidelines, and becoming a student coach for the Bears.

Early in the season, Ryan suffered a season-ending injury, breaking both her tibia and fibula in a collision with Niles North goalkeeper Lauren Smyth in a St. Viator Tournament game.

"We were both going for a 50/50 ball," Ryan said. "The goalkeeper just hit my leg and broke it in two places."

About a week later, Ryan had surgery and had a rod and four screws inserted into her leg.

Ryan has managed to keep things in perspective and is actually enjoying her new vantage point on the sport.

"Coach (Pete) Ternes brings me a cup of coffee every Saturday morning to practice," Ryan said. "I like taking this on as a new hobby. I wanted to be important part of the team.

"It's been hard -- no one wants their season taken away under these circumstances. It's almost like being helpless. It gives you a new perspective on the situation. Sometimes you still think it's the end of the world. But you can take a bad situation and turn things around."

Ryan has done that by helping out both her teammates and her coaches.

"I really just sit there and watch," Ryan said, "I tell the girls what to work on. Like, where to go and how to mark a man. I'm kind of the go-between for the coaches and the girls."

Being a student coach has opened Ryan's eyes to the possibility of head coaching sometime in the future.

"I've always thought I can do it," Ryan said. "I used to coach kids at the U-9 and U-10 levels. If I come back (after college), I definitely will look into it."

Her coaches, Ternes and Mike Schmitz, have seen a coach in the making this spring.

"She's already a captain," Ternes said. "She gets to be in a coach's role and the girls listen to her.

"Ryan has a wealth of experience, and heart and soul for the entire team. She's grown from being a leader on the field to being a leader off the field."

Scoring in bunches: Carmel Catholic's girls soccer team has been dominant the spring. The Corsairs are averaging more than 3 goals a game which has helped them to a 16-1 record through Tuesday.

There are four players who've combined for 60 goals, making the Corsairs one of the most prolific scoring teams in the area.

Those four are Sara Petermann (25), Kassidy Brown (13), Maddie Ogrinc (11) and Stephanie Swanson (11).

Carmel has put up high-fives against 10 teams and 4 goals on three others.

"It's surprising that we've done it so consistently," Carmel coach John Halloran said. "We knew we could put goals up, but to do it against good teams on a regular basis is impressive."

The Corsairs have had quality wins over Benet Academy, Stevenson, Antioch and Glenbrook North.

Site change: The Class AA Mundelein sectional semifinals and final have made a move to Libertyville's artificial turf, in the school's football stadium. The semifinals are now set for Tuesday, May 20 at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., and the final will be Thursday, May 22 at 6 p.m.

"Actually, last fall, we hosted a lot of stuff. We since re-sodded the field and it was in decent shape," Mundelein athletic director Perry Wilhelm said. "With the type of weather we've had this spring it has taken a beating.

"It's just not appropriate right now for a team to advance to state. It's better for a team to play on a quality field like Libertyville on their field play turf."

Stat leaders (through Tuesday):

Goals: 1. Petermann (Carm) 25, 2. Hellweg (Wauc) 14, 3t. Brown (Carm) and Alex Neal (Lakes) 13, 5. Miller (Ant) 12, 6t. Ogrinc (Carm) Swanson (Carm) and Clatch (VH) 11, 9t. Chernich (Lakes) and Llewellyn (Wauc) 10, 11t. Kulawiuk (Grant) and LeBaron (GC) 9, 13t. Hall (Stev), Pish (Ant) and Schroeder (Stev) 8.

Assists: 1. Petermann (Carm) 16, 2. Brown (Carm) 13, 3t. Neal (Lakes) and Schumann (Wauc) 10, 5t. Hall (Stev), O'Connor (Ant) and K. Krumpos (Ant) 9, 8t. Korecky (Grant) and Ogrinc (Carm) 8, 10t. Nagle (VH), Hellweg (Wauc), Hannah Walton (Lib) 7, 13t. Gaylor (Grant), Prudhomme (Wauc), Schaser (Carm), Clatch (VH) 6.

Goalkeeping: Shutouts -- 1. Allen (Mund) 14, 2t. Budd (Ant) and Eisenhuth (LZ) 10, 4. Sapiernza (Carm) 9, 5. Waehner (Lib) 7, 6. Levy (Stev) 5, 7. Burton (VH) 4

Goals against average: 1. Allen (Mund) .31, 2. Eisenhuth (LZ) .65, 3. Sapiernza (Carm) .94, 4. Budd (Ant) 1.06, 5. Levy (Stev) 1.15, 6. Burton (VH) 1.63.