Girls soccer: Burlington Central's Kollhoff honored for volunteer work

When Zoey Kollhoff learned that the TopSoccer (The Outreach Program for Soccer) she was involved in was being discontinued, she felt at a loss.

So the Burlington Central junior did something about it.

"I've played for Campton United (Soccer Club) for about 10 years now and they had never had anything like this so I figured it would be awesome if we could get one started," she said. "It's so much fun with all the volunteers and players. It's something for me be involved in and give back and there are so many people benefiting from this."

TopSoccer is a community-based training and team placement program for young athletes with disabilities. The program is organized by youth soccer association volunteers like Kollhoff. The program is designed to provide opportunities of learning and playing soccer to any kid who has a mental or physical disability.

Kollhoff is benefiting from it, but she's certainly not doing it for herself, she's doing it for the kids and their families. She received the TopSoccer Buddy of the Year award last year for her enthusiastic efforts.

"Last Sunday I had parents and athletes coming up to me, thanking me and telling me how much fun they had," she said. "Without another TopSoccer program in the area, I knew this would be huge. Those kids, the parents and those volunteers all get to enjoy this experience."

Speaking of experience, Kollhoff will get to enjoy the experience of playing college soccer at the University of Illinois as she recently committed. She will join St. Charles North's Sami Sample and St. Francis' Kendra Pasquale, who are currently members of the Fighting Illini.

"Illinois was the first school that looked at me freshman year," Kollhoff said. "So it felt nice for it to come full circle. They've come to see me play so many times. On campus I felt like I was in the right place. The team has a family-like feeling and the town is awesome."

Luxurious Bulldogs: Every high school team needs a strong goalkeeper in order to be successful, so having two is quite a luxury.

Batavia enjoys having junior Hailey Flannagan and freshman Aubrey Hahn so much that the duo has been splitting duty this season, with each generally playing one half apiece.

"You want to have that competition at all positions," Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. "I think both of them push each other to be better, which is great."

Flannagan said friendly competition exists between the two players who have grown closer to each other despite just becoming teammates this spring.

"We train together kind of on our own in practice so that really helps," Flannagan said. "And we both have pretty good chemistry with the team and both are able to communicate really well, and we're both really strong skill wise."

All in for Colin: Jacobs head coach Stephanie Schuck has left the building. Well, actually the sideline of the soccer field, for maternity leave. Schuck is expecting her second child. She already has a son who will turn two next week.

Assistant coach Colin Brice will take over for the remainder of the spring.

"Colin Brice will take the lead and he is a phenomenal coach that we are so fortunate to have," Schuck said. "My hope is that the ladies can start to finish their chances so they can prove what a great team they are. In the end, the result is what people are looking for to tell the tale of your season and I know they are right there in turning the page and seeing the goals and results come."

Schuck acknowledged that her girls have been playing extremely well together and continue to make big strides.

"We have had many coaches tell us they felt lucky to get the win against us and that we have such a strong team," she said. "We have been struggling to find the back of the net with all the chances we have put together. The consistency has been a key focus for us too. As soon as we can start scoring, this team will be hard to beat."

Not sick of Sycamores: Area soccer fans might want to consider purchasing an Indiana State women's T-shirt or at least begin following the program on Twitter as the area will soon be well represented at Indiana State.

West Aurora senior Audrey Stephens has committed, joining Batavia senior Anna Holcombe and St. Charles North's CeCe Wahlberg. Neuqua Valley grad Erin Sweda is at Indiana State now.

West Aurora coach Laura Wagley will certainly be busy following the Missouri Valley Conference as she'll have Katharine Stephens, Audrey's sister, at Loyola, Riley O'Brien playing at Illinois State and now Audrey Stephens at Indiana State.

Back on the Attack: Gracie Prather simply sounds like the name of a great center mid.

West Aurora coach Laura Wagley is ecstatic to see her name back in the starting lineup after she missed last year with an ACL injury.

Now with her in the lineup, the Blackhawks are taking a five-game winning streak into Thursday's game against Oswego East.

The Blackhawks have installed a 4-3-3 formation this spring with Prather as the key to the formation as a center mid.

"We rely on her offensively to be the outlet pass and then find our forwards," Wagley said. "Defensively, she's responsible to shut down the other teams center mids. She doesn't have the stats to back up her role for our team, but without her we would be a completely different team. Her leadership on the field is crucial for our success."

Ladies Night: There was a cool rarity during the championship game between St. Charles North and St. Charles East in the championship game of the St. Charles Rose Augsburg Drach Soccer Invitational on Apr. 5 as it was officiated by an all-female crew.

Dana Joras, Kelly McLean and Hanah Shehaiber worked what proved to be a physical and chippy at times battle between two big rivals with the North Stars continuing to own bragging right with a 2-1 victory.

Male or female, it doesn't seem to matter who officiates, as long as the players feel they're calling it fairly.

"The players don't seem to care either way," McLean said. "I've talked to some club players about it and it doesn't make a difference to them."

The Grass is Greener: Are you one of those people scratching their heads wondering how Benet got added to Kaneland's schedule?

It all started in the fall of 2016 when the Benet boys team traveled to Maple Park for regional play. Benet boys coach Sean Wesley said he was nervous when they drove out as all he saw was a large school, corn fields and a mountain of dirt when they approached. He was stunned to see the beautiful, lush grass pitch that was hidden behind the now-much-smaller dirt mound.

Assistant coach Gerard Oconer, who is now Benet's head girls coach, was equally impressed with Kaneland's venue and set out to get the Knights on his team's schedule.

"We've been trying to set up a game with Kaneland during the past few seasons, but weren't able to work anything out until this season," Oconer said. "Kaneland has been a pretty strong 2A girls soccer program recently so that was another reason why we wanted to schedule the game."

Benet won 2-1 on Apr. 3.

Kaneland coach Scott Parillo called the Redwings the best team the Knights have faced this year and said that it proved to difficult to find a common date to play. Plans are already being made though for the Knights to travel to Benet next spring.

Just getting started: Some of the smaller schools in the area are just kicking things into gear now.

Harvest Christian has had a couple of canceled games already and had only played once through April 7, as the Lions picked up a 2-1 victory over Schaumburg Christian on April 2 behind goals from Jenn Matysek and Abby Semerau. Becca D'Alessandro and Eva Serrato had assists.

That changed really quickly during the week of April 8 as the Lions were scheduled to play four times, beginning with an 8-0 victory over Rockford Christian Life on Monday.

"It'll test our small team," Lions coach Morgan Lockwood said. "But based on our performance against Schaumburg Christian, we're optimistic."

Elgin Academy's new head coach Kevin Meek asked his team to buy in to a family-like atmosphere and so far, so good for his young squad.

"We are wicked young, and our best player (Annie Whitmeyer) is currently out with a concussion," Meek said. "But we have a close knit group of highly dedicated players that will continue to improve each game and day, and we are excited to see what happens when everyone is healthy and on the same page."

Lagniappe: Talia Pellegrini has already made an impact as an underclassmen on the hardwood for St. Charles North. Now, she's doing it on the soccer pitch. Pellegrini was in the starting lineup for the St. Charles Rose Augsburg Drach Soccer Invitational despite not being listed on the roster.

"She was on JV to start, but doing so well that we bumped her up," North Stars coach Brian Harks said.

During the same championship game, St. Charles East lost Emma Blankenship to an injury. She had an MRI scheduled for Tuesday.

Geneva will have an even better gauge of where it's at in a couple of weeks. Conference games St. Charles East and Batavia and Naperville Invitational games against Neuqua Valley and Sandburg will certainly provide a four-headed challenge.