Looks can be deceiving

What does "dangerous" look like? Is it dark and shady? Mean and vicious? Big and scary?

Dangerous, according to St. Charles North boys soccer coach Eric Wilson, is Mike Picinich.

Yet when you look at the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Picinich, a senior, the word "dangerous" does not come to mind at all. He looks like an innocent, mild-mannered teenager, ready to play soccer.

Now, watch Picinich play. "Dangerous" might just come to mind after all.

"He's dangerously defensive first in the way that he is able to lock down whoever he is marking," Wilson said of Picinich. "We've moved him onto the inside, but it really doesn't matter where he is. He is so versatile."

Wilson said Picinich is also dangerous on offense as well.

"We'll line that kid up with anybody if we can get him the ball and some space," Wilson said. "He's very good at setting people up and taking the ball down the end line, serving the ball and finding his teammates.

"He's dangerous with his passes and shots -- just about every aspect of his game."

Picinich is exactly the type of player the North Stars need this year after a stellar 2006 campaign, when they qualified for the state tournament.

The North Stars lost 9 seniors, 8 of which started on last year's best-ever 20-6-1 team who fell to Maine South 1-0 in a quarterfinal game.

Picinich was a solid player all season as a left midfielder last year, but really stepped up his game at the end of the season in the last 7 games or so.

"I knew I had to work harder at the end of the season because that's when it counts the most," Picinich said. "I was depended on to get assists, so once it came time to the end of the season, I needed to get it done."

Picinich did just that, as he finished his junior campaign with 17 assists to go with his 6 goals.

"He understands his role on the team, and one of his biggest roles for him is to get assists, and get our centers and midfielders in the game," Wilson said. "He understands that."

At the end of last season, Wilson called Picinich, one of two juniors who made the Daily Herald's All-Area soccer team, a very special player.

"It becomes very obvious when you see him on the outside, on the wing and the way he gets down to the endline to create opportunities for us," Wilson said.

Picinich was on varsity his sophomore year, but didn't start until halfway through the season. That gave him plenty of time to learn what he was supposed to do.

"He's like a sponge," Wilson said. "He was ready to learn whatever information (the varsity team) they wanted to pass down to him."

What Picinich learned was the competition at the varsity level was fast. Very fast.

"It was definitely more physical as a sophomore playing with guys two years older than me," he said.

That year set him up for his highly successful junior year. As a senior, more of the same is expected with Picinich being named one of three North Star captains.

"He tries to get better every practice and every game," Wilson said. "He's always trying new things and works on getting his teammates better."

Picinich has yet to make his college choice. He said he's been talking with coaches from Eastern Illinois University and the University of Kentucky, but nothing is set yet.

"I'll just wait until the end of the season and see how it goes," Picinich said.

Maybe by then, Picinich will be even more dangerous.