Girls soccer notes: Two MSL stars making impact globally

Two exceptional soccer players, student-athletes and ambassadors of the sport have been shining stars ever since they began wearing their uniforms at Fremd and Barrington.

Gwen Zimmerman, and Aybree (AJ) Sanchez have both made a major impact in and around the area, as well as the MSL. However, away from the prep scene, this duo have achieved terrific success on the international scene.

Zimmerman, a three-time all-state midfielder-defender who will play in the fall at Northwestern, has already represented Wales for the under-19 National Team, And back in February, she was named to the Wales 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifying roster.

Zimmerman made her debut with the senior national team, earning a start on the backline in a friendly against Australia in October of 2025.

With her grandparents born in Wales, Zimmerman's mother initiated an inquiry to the Wales Soccer Federation to measure their interest in her daughter playing for the country.

"After watching some film on me, and talking to my club coaches, I was invited to come train with them," recounts Zimmerman.

"I guess they like what they saw, and as they say, the rest is history."

With her dual citizenship, and passport in hand, she competed for the under-19 team in Swansea, Wales, where she played 90 minutes in each of the three matches against Syria, France and Ireland.

"It's an incredible experience to be training with elite international players, the sessions are intense, which include tactical and technical training, and plenty of meetings," said Zimmerman.

"To have the opportunity to learn more about my heritage and playing while there is something that I will never forget."

Zimmerman was a key figure in the flag football championship won by Fremd in the fall of 2024, along with her soccer teammate, Lily Mayer, and is also a two-time state qualifier in track.

The Fremd senior, who has great passing range, ball carrying ability, game intelligence, and aerial superiority, may be traveling overseas for the last two World Cup group play qualifiers against Montenegro and Czech Republic during the first week of June.

"The state tournament is June 4-6, and our goal of course, is to be playing for a state title, and that will take precedence over playing for Wales," said Zimmerman.

The route taken by AJ Sanchez is a little different than her MSL rival, but it does include plenty of assistance from her father to help it all come together.

While playing for her Eclipse Select soccer club in a tournament in Texas, scouts from Mexico took notice of her play, and her invitation would shortly soon follow.

Her grandparents, born in Mexico, would pave the way for her selection to play for the under-17 Mexican National Team.

"It took nearly three months of hard work from my father to piece together all the paperwork required to ensure that everything was in order to allow me to travel and train with the under-17 team," said Sanchez.

"(Once) there, it was 10 days of rigorous training, and when you're there, the fight for positions and playing time is quite intense, so you have to be ready from the very start of each training session.“

The two-time all-state midfielder-defender from reigning MSL champion Barrington was listed as a defender on the under-17 roster when called up to play in the MIMA Cup in Spain and the Four Nations Tournament played between Canada, Costa Rica and the United States.

The incredible work rate, work ethic, ball winning ability, engine room presence, and box-to-box stamina helps set apart Sanchez from the others, and would lead the Fillies captain to her early commitment to play in the fall of 2027 at the University of Utah.

"(Utah) was my first college visit, and the players, facilities, coaching staff and incredible campus set in the mountains made it an easy choice for me," said Sanchez, who, as a freshman, qualified in four events at the IHSA state gymnastics tournament, finishing seventh overall in vault.

Former all-state keeper, Emeline McClenahan from Hinsdale Central, just finished her first season at Utah.

Staying on the international scene, albeit, not in the sport of soccer, we turn to Carmel Catholic senior captain midfielder Libby Magnone, who also is a four-time log rolling world champion.

"It is such a cool sport," says Magnone, who began log-rolling at the age of four and won her first world title two years later (2014). At age six, she claimed all of her championship trophies at the Lumberjack Bowl in Hayward, Wis.

Magnone will continue to play in college in the fall at Case Western Reserve, where she will pursue a degree in dentistry, with an eye on a career as an orthodontist.

Hoffman Estates star midfielder Hannah Ku will be a roommate of Magnone.

NSC race tight as ever: As week No. 3 in the North Suburban Conference drew to a close, it looks as if the race to the title will once again be a four-team battle.

Reigning league champion Libertyville, Lake Zurich, Stevenson, and Warren are all right there, with Warren on top with a 2-0-0 record.

That the Blue Devils (7-1-1) are where they are at speaks volumes to how they have been able to make up for the volume lost in scoring that the three-time all-state forward Addison Stanciak brought each night.

Stanciak broke all sorts of scoring records during her brilliant career, including 78 goals, and 21 game-winners.

But this year, nine different players have scored.

Sophomore Bri Nunez leads the way with eight, and senior captain Kate Mondejar and freshman Kenzie Szczerowski are next with five each.

Szczerowkski, along with another freshman, Brooklyn Leicht, have both recorded hat-trick games along the way as well.