Girls soccer: Scouting Lake County
Soccer is a team game, however, there are partnerships within the team structure which deserve to be mentioned.
No matter what position, soccer duos have always been a class apart. They are players who go perfectly together because they understand range, form, positioning, awareness, and most importantly, each other.
Carmel Catholic stars Emily Fix and Anna Hartman are two such players.
The Corsairs dynamic duo accounted for 33 goals, and 29 assists last season, which speaks volumes of how lethal and dangerous these two are.
But there's more to just their extraordinary play as seen through the eyes of coach, Stephanie Kile.
"Anna and Emily mean so much to our program. It's so rare that I have the chance to coach young women that are as competitive as they both are. And after encouraging both to grow in leadership roles (they) have embraced that request and have shown they're ready to lead, along with our third captain, Madison Konen."
"Coming back to play high school soccer after two years away with my club team has been such a wonderful move for me," says Fix (18 goals, 8 assists) who will play next fall at Marquette University, with an eye on a mechanical engineering degree.
"It took a little while to get to know my new team last year, but connecting with Anna has been amazing. I always know where she will be. We play off each other really well, she makes decisive runs, and our chemistry is just great."
Hartman, who was a key figure in the Corsairs' 2022 girls 3A state basketball championship run, has had a miraculous recovery from ACL surgery last July, coming back in just over six months to finish off her junior season on the hard court to being ready to go for spring soccer.
"I just loving playing alongside Emily. Her off-ball movement is great, and we just always to know what and where the other is," says Hartman (15 goals, 21 assists), who has been a three-year starter for the Corsairs, and two-time Daily Herald All-Area player as well.
"Emily and I want to lead the way for this team. (We) did a lot of team bonding during the offseason, and with a really good group of returning players Peyton Carney, Bella D'Amore, Madison Konen, and Jillian Miller, plus some very good new players, there's no reason we cannot challenge Benet Academy for the ESCC championship."
"We have a great group of girls that really put a lot of work in during the offseason. And with a new, tougher schedule ahead of us, and if we can stay healthy, our potential is exciting," says Kile.
Over in the Northern Lake County Conference (NLCC) the talk around the league is it will be a three-team race between Grayslake North, Lakes and Wauconda.
All three clubs lost some quality players, but Kevin Kullby over at Lakes (7-6-4, 3-0-4) has two superb returning players in juniors Mia Silber, and Tessa Smith.
"Silber and Smith were among the best players in our conference last year, and I feel like we have the talent to win the NLCC, and hope to compete with some of the better 2A teams like Deerfield and Lake Forest at the end," says Kullby.
Reigning league champions Wauconda (9-6-3, 5-0-2) returns a solid group of 5 from its 2022 club, including Kayla McCarthy and Kenna Wisniewski, who with a handful of others have been with Beau Shogren since their rookie seasons.
"There's a group of players who have been with us, and have been playing in the shadows of others before them, and they are motivated to make a name for themselves, and ready to step (in) to fill the spaces that were left by strong players who have graduated the last two years," says Shogren, who feels a young Grayslake North team from 2022 appears ready to go after the league title.
"We have a pretty good core of players that (now) know what it takes to compete at this level, and what it takes to help our younger players feel comfortable, and able to work together to reach our goals," says Grayslake North (7-7-7, 4-0-3) coach, Adam DeCaluwe, who among others returning, has a marvelous defender in sophomore Izzy Ceaser.
Antioch might surprise the aforementioned trio, thanks in part to its all-area midfield Cameron Pluciennik, and all-conference keeper Maddie Barrett, and some good old fashioned optimism from coach, Maddie Lyon.
"The NLCC is always a tough conference, but the girls have come in with super high energy, and ready to tackle the season, and if we keep that energy high, and the injuries away, we all look forward to a very positive year," says Lyon.
Ben Brunet at Grant has more seniors this spring, and plenty of young players to challenge for playing time.
"We want to concede fewer goals this season, while getting on the scoreboard more often, so if we can get the younger players more experience (then) hopefully we'll be able to reach our goals," says Brunet.
Grayslake Central has two terrific young players, who, in tandem, will force opponents to pay attention in: Madison Hoffman and Dahlia Rodriguez. They also have veteran standouts Katie Dinsmore (D) and Sara Armstrong (MF) who led the Rams' cross country team to a 3A state title last fall.
"We are very, very young, which is exciting because of what the future will hold, and we'll be really extremely fit with four girls from our state cross country team, and the girls will look to have the same success as our third place boys state team last fall," says Central coach Keith Andersson.
Second-year coach Victor Rico is set out to turn the culture around at Round Lake. With a 9-11-1 overall record last season, it appears the fortunes for the Panthers have indeed done a 180.
"We have created a high expectation culture, and have worked extremely hard in the offseason, with the hope that our returning young players continue to grow and improve," says Rico, who has three all-NLCC players: Ari Gonzalez, Jasmin Ortiz and Bella Perry to lean on.
On paper, it would appear that 2A third place Deerfield remains to be the team to beat in the Central Suburban League (CSL) North this season.
The new man at Vernon Hills, Cory Smith, takes over for the highly respected Mike McCaulou, who steps aside in favor of his long time assistant.
Smith will rely on four returning players: senior Katie Huse, juniors Ava Lukyan and Carly Sides, and sophomore Frances Poulos, while the rest of their young teammates find their way during the early going.
"We look to be in the mix for a title on our side of the conference, and continue to go after winning a regional title, but all of us will be chasing Deerfield and Highland Park this season," says Smith, whose club was 7-8-2 overall a year ago.
It's been Libertyville, Stevenson and Warren since the beginning of time in the North Suburban Conference (NSC) - or, at least, for the past two seasons when this trio went a combined 34-4-4 and dominate play in the league.
This season looks to be the same - even with all three clubs hit hard through graduation, yet still able to compete at a high level due to quality of depth, and talent that returns.
The biggest loss to reigning champion Stevenson (16-3-1, 6-0-1) is that of all-state MF Mimi VanZanten, who has already committed to Florida State University, but chose not to return to the Patriots.
"We still have a lot of very talented players, and 3-4 new faces that will compete, so, our goal at this point is to get ourselves into the sectional championship," says new coach Jay Bulev, who welcomes back All-Area stars Bella Chavez (MF) and Ellie England (F).
Ryan McCabes' club from Warren (12-4-4, 5-0-2) would edge Libertyville for second place honors in the league, but the Blue Devils will have a difficult task replacing the trio of Olivia Ehlers, Samantha Paulsen and Ella Skelton.
"We graduated several high quality players, so we'll be very young. That being said, I've been impressed with the effort, attitude and leadership from our returning players, plus the energy and excitement brought from our new players has been a pleasant surprise," says McCabe.
Six terrific players are back, including seniors Paige Hogberg (D) and Emma Paraskos (MF).
Libertyville (17-4-0) went the furthest of the top three, advancing into the supersectionals where they lost to eventual fourth-place Evanston - and in the process said goodbye to a magnificent quartet headed by All-Area captain Avery Gleason, as well as Dakota Lyons, Lauren Rocco and Sally Grace Rogers.
"We have a lot of new faces, and are a young but talented team, which we hope to mesh together as the season progresses in order to have the success we've had recently," says coach, Daniel DePaz, who welcomes back stars: Pru Babat (D) and Jenna Krakowski (MF).
Lake Zurich would enjoy a 13-7-1 season last spring, and with the return of all-area senior Maggie Miller (D) and the all-NSC midfielders Riley Irvin and Mallory Collins, all is well in Bears camp right now.
"We have a good blend of returning players and younger players who will contribute right away, so we'll look to continue to improve as the season unfolds, and compete not only in an always tough soccer conference, but in tournament play as well," says coach Mike Castronova.
Seong Ha helped turn around the program at Mundelein almost immediately as the Mustangs posted a 12-13-1 overall record, and will look for seniors Lauren Coop, Katelyn Fletcher and Gladdie Greenfield to help continue the upward trend.
"The goal will be to finish above .500, and the top half of the conference, then go after a spot in the regional finals," says Ha.
Not to be forgotten in the league is 2A power Lake Forest (10-11-1) which plays a first class nonconference schedule, and would reach the sectional finals a year ago.
"We're very young, but have some experience, and just as last year, we'll look to play out best soccer at the end of the season after going through a very challenging schedule all throughout the year," says coach Ty Stuckslager, whose Scouts lost in overtime to Deerfield in a sectional final.