Scouting boys soccer in Lake County
Here's a look at the boys soccer season in Lake County.
North Suburban Conference: Expectations are running high in a shortened season with a season-ending tournament. Libertyville and Warren are the front-runners.
"I believe the NSC is one of the toughest conferences in the area if not the state," Warren coach Jason Ahonen said. "With the lack of a postseason this year that just amplifies the conference schedule and all the teams will be vying for the league title."
New coaches on board are Sabastian Falinski at Mundelein, Pepe Jon Chavez at Stevenson and Mike Armour at Waukegan.
Libertyville lost some big-name players to graduation, but still has players that can compete at a high level.
"As usual, we have high expectations," Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said. "Great group of kids that who enjoy playing together. So happy for them. We will be young."
Lake Zurich has plenty of seniors with experience returning ready for the challenge.
"We hope to embrace the challenge going forward, learn from adversity and celebrate the successes," Lake Zurich coach Michael Schmitz said. "Especially, after so much time off, it should be fun.
Even for new coaches, like Falinski at Mundelein, there's no time to relax with the type of competition that resides in the league.
"I'm excited to be part of it and to have the opportunity to compete in such a high-profile conference," said Falinski, who coached at Dundee-Crown in 2019 and takes over for longtime Mustangs coach Ernie Billittier. "I think our team has a great mix of players that are eager to compete again."
Stevenson is on the younger side, but don't count out a coach like Chavez for what he's been able to accomplish with the Patriots' girls team the last few years. He takes over for longtime coach Mark Schartner.
"It's a year, we look to define culture amid great adversity," Chavez said. "Our leadership team is strong, yet we lack much field experience outside our senior captains. Our staff and boys are excited to be competing and along with our competitors we are hoping to have a balanced season giving opportunities for the boys to play with less focus on the wins and more on the opportunity to play the sport we love."
Northern Lake County Conference: Round Lake is the leader of the pack, but that might change this year with others wanting to be at the top.
Round Lake assistant coach Josue Jimenez step in this spring for Hugo Tellez, who will take time off from coaching with expectations to return.
"We have many players with great skills and soccer knowledge that allows us to possess the ball under pressure," Jimenez said. "We will still not be the fastest or most or most physical team, but we will definitely make up for it with our possession and movements off the ball which is our style of play."
The Panthers will play home games on their new turf field that was installed in 2019.
Lakes could be one of the challengers with its number of experienced players retuning.
"I'm greatly encouraged by what we have and the varsity experience from the back to the front," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "A proven finisher and five quality players with good support around them. Given the circumstances, I'm thrilled that these seniors will have an abbreviated season and will have a chance to play."
Wauconda's supporting group of players spent a lot of time helping in the community and will try to get back to playing soccer.
"Many of our players were unable to participate in club activities and worked full time as essential workers during the lockdown and the current pandemic," Wauconda coach Tim Miller said. "We've been supported by a great community and athletic department that has put us in a position to compete this spring."
Getting back on the field has been on the minds of Grayslake Central players and coaches.
"We had been anxiously awaiting to hear what kind - if any season we'd have, so we're thrilled we have an opportunity to play this year," Grayslake Central coach Tom Hamilton said. "The boys have really developed some good chemistry in the offseason, and we've been especially impressed with how many of them have stepped up and improved their communication on the field."
Grayslake North lost a number of players to graduation and will be younger this year.
"This group is awaiting to get on the field and play together," Grayslake North coach Adam Decaluwe said. "We're looking to be organized behind the ball, aggressive in the fight, and hard working in everything we do."
Antioch has 14 returning players with valuable playing experience.
"They have great camaraderie and are incredibly fun to watch play," Antioch coach Mike McDermott said. "Very few weak points, so I anticipate building on success from last year and leading into next season."
Central Suburban North: Vernon Hills will see plenty of competition in its league and it could challenge against Deerfield, Highland Park and Niles North.
"We're the smallest school in the CSL," Vernon Hills coach Mike McCaulou said. "We're usually a 2A school, while Deerfield floats between 2A and 3A. depending on the year. We're looking to be competitive and we're excited to be in the underdog position when we play the CSL South schools this year. We will treat this shortened season with intensity and passion like we always do."
Players to Watch
Cade Apton (Lib, Sr. D/MF), Abdiel Bocarando (Wauc, Sr. MF), Jack Brennan (Lib, Sr. MF/F - DePaul), Jhony Castillo (GN, Jr. MF), Carlos Chaires (VH, Jr. F), John Chambers (Mund. Jr. MF), Dylan Clausen (GN, Jr. D), Abner Contreras (RL, Jr. MF), Matthew Czerwinski (Wauc, Sr. F), Cyrus Darulawa (Lakes, Sr. F), Edwin De ita Cruz (GN, Sr. D), David Deng (VH, So. D), Nic Diana (War, Sr. GK), Alem Duratovic (Stev, Sr. F), Bryan Flores (Wauc, Sr. D), Max Floriani (War, Sr. MF - St. Louis University), Dax Foote (Ant, Jr. MF), Angel Garcia (RL, Sr. MF), Eryk Grabowski (LZ, Sr. D), Owen Holevas (GN, Jr. D), Renni Ivanovas (Ant, Jr. F), Conner Hay (Lib, Sr. F,/MF/D), Will Herbek (Lib, Sr. D), Christian Hinestrosa (GC, Sr. MF), Landon Johnson (Lib, Sr. F/MF/D), Brock Jurinek (Ant, Jr. MF), Carson Kowalski (Mund. Jr. MF), Evan Larsen (Lakes, Sr. F - St. Louis University), Miles Larson (LZ, Sr. D), Edward Luna (War, Sr. D), Damian Makowski (GC, Sr. D), Daniel Marynevych (GC, Jr. MF), Patrick Mayer (Lakes, Sr. D), Glen McGowean (VH, Jr. MF), Eliam Meir (Lakes, Sr. MF/F), Rafael Milan (RL, Jr. F), Valde Nambo (VH, Jr. MF), Aiman Naqvi (LZ, Sr. F), Trevor Niznik (Ant. Sr. D), Segi Odongo (Stev, Sr. MF), Aiden Oflaherty (VH, Sr. MF - Buena Vista University), Cole Pauly (Mund, Sr. D - North Park University), Timothy Pollack (Lakes, Sr. MF/F), Erick Ramos (Mund. Sr. MF), Sebastian Rodrguez (War Sr. MF - Roosevelt University), James Rohlfing (GC, Sr. MF - Lewis University), Brian Ruiz (RL, Sr. F), Bruce Ruiz (RL, Sr. MF), Daniel Saltzman (Stev, Jr. D), Zach Serby (Mund. Sr. MF - Grinnell College), Ishaan Shah (War, Sr. MF), Brendan Sink (LZ, Sr. D), Anthony Skordilis (Stev, Sr. MF), Connor Smith (GN, Sr. F), Dalton Sperle (Wauc, Jr. F), Jacob Stoga (Stev, Sr. D), Evan Vasquez (Ant, Jr. D/MF), Matt Vollmer (LZ, Sr. GK), Christopher Zavaleta (Wauc, Sr. MF/F).