Boys soccer: Be like Mickey: Libertyville's Reilly delivers style of his own

Different hair color, different hair style.

What Libertyville senior Mickey Reilly did have in common with former soccer teammates Ryan Wittenbrink and Evan Rasmussen was his flair with the ball, his ability to drive it into the net, and his work ethic.

Those attributes helped make the Wildcats a cut above the rest, so to speak, again this season, and Reilly's individual prowess made him the captain of the Daily Herald Lake County All-Area Boys Soccer team.

"It's really truly an honor," Reilly said. "There were a lot of good guys in the area who could have won this award."

Libertyville fans are used to seeing great individual talent on their team. Wittenbrink (Indiana) and Rasmussen (Michigan) are former all-area captains - and redheads. Reilly features brown, curly hair with blonde highlights.

A complementary player on the Wildcats' Class 3A state runner-up clubs in 2017 (led by Rasmussen) and in 2018 (led by Rasmussen), Reilly put together an all-state season this year, tallying 21 goals and 12 assists playing mainly out of the midfield and occasionally up top.

While Libertyville didn't see its goal of returning to state come to fruition, falling to Fremd in penalty kicks in a sectional-semifinal match, they still had a successful campaign. They finished 15-3-3, went unbeaten in the North Suburban Conference and also won the Northside College Showcase at New Trier. They started the season going unbeaten in their first 16 matches (13-0-3).

"When we started the season, we knew it would be different," Reilly said. "We played a different style."

When he was younger, Reilly looked up to another former Libertyville soccer standout and all-area team captain. Marshall Hollingsworth graduated in 2012, played at Wheaton College and was drafted by the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer in 2016.

Hollingsworth, who knows Reilly's older brothers Shane and Kevin, worked with Mickey earlier in his high school career.

"I really wanted to be like Marshall Hollingsworth," Mickey Reilly said. "He had played with my brothers and I saw the way he played. I just loved the way he played. I wanted to play like him."

Hollingsworth was a relentless player who would chase balls and players all over the field, never giving up.

That describes Mickey Reilly's style on the field.

"Mickey's style of play is scrappy and determined," Hollingsworth said. "He sacrifices for his team defensively, while playing an unselfish style of offense. He works to better the group rather than himself. He creates big plays because he's willing to work hard in the little things."

Mickey will be joining his brother Kevin at Carthage College. Kevin has one year left of eligibility at Carthage.

"I'm just super excited that we will be playing together," Mickey Reilly said. "We know that we will be getting playing time there."

After posting 13 goals and 11 assists in an all-area season last year, Reilly not only picked up his game this fall but became a leader for the Wildcats.

"Mickey's speed of play and awareness of the game has never failed me," Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said. "Of all the great players I have coached and coached against over the years, there was always something special about Mickey. His tenacity while playing was remarkable, whether in practice or in the game. He was able to raise the level of players around him simply leading by example."

Turns out, fellow Wildcats and future Wildcats want to be like ... Mickey Reilly.

"He's a leader who everyone can turn to," Wildcats senior midfielder/forward Patrick Graham said. "You can tell that when the younger kids come to the games and they talk about being like Mickey. He has a certain edge to his game. You see it in practices and in games. He goes 110 percent every time he steps foot on the field. He comes up big every game in so many ways."