Girls soccer: Scouting Cook County
Goalkeepers are the last line of defense in a soccer match, and the influence of a shot-stopping life saver can be the difference between winning and losing.
Jason Franco has one of the best in and around the area in senior Sydney Litney, who has starred in the shadows of keepers from state and league power Barrington. But she has played brilliantly during her two years between the sticks for Conant.
"Sydney is a big, strong, athletic keeper who has a presence about here that can intimidate our opponents, and while she makes the routine plays with ease, she has the ability to pull of the spectacular as well," says Franco of his captain, who uses her previous field (player) experience, can initiate the play as needed, while giving the Cougars more of a keeper-stopper player.
"I was a forward when I was younger, then became a keeper in eighth grade, but as a freshman, I was played up top, then moved full time as our keeper after Olivia Messerges graduated after the 2021 season," recounts Litney, who has collected 15 shutouts since taking over, while bagging 6 goals on the other end of the park.
The 5-foot-10 Litney uses her length and amazing reflexes to reach balls others have no chance on: laterally, and from ground to crossbar, and is fluid, both with her hands and feet to give her club an extra added bonus along the back.
Litney will continue to play next fall at Bates College in Lewiston, Rhode Island where she will look towards a career in corporate, entertainment and intellectual property law.
"Soccer has opened up doors for me, and allow me to play the sport I love, while pursuing my dream career after college," says Litney.
With Litney and top scorer Sophie Dobrincu (13 goals) back for Conant, Franco sees his club as a potential top four in the MSL.
"We have a solid group back (13 returning) so we're looking to play at a high level this season, with a chance to compete with the best in our league," says Franco.
The best Franco speaks of is no doubt Barrington and Fremd, who return plenty of quality, yet with a few questions to answer before it's all said and done.
Barrington collected its fifth consecutive state trophy, and 10th straight league championship, with plenty of players back once again, including all-state midfielder Brooke Brown (Cornell) and teammates and all-state candidates Ellie Sanchez and Piper Lucier.
"We return nearly 70 goals from five players, have a very deep and competitive group of keepers and we added a nice player (Roos Van Roekel) from Holland, but we also have a lot of questions marks here and there, especially along the back where we lost three-fourths of our starting lineup," says Broncos coach Ryan Stengren.
Fremd (12-7-3) has the makings of being yet another stingy bunch with the return of a trio of dynamic defensive unit in Maddie McMillan, Kaitlyn Rodi and Bella Scesnick, plus the superb attacking midfielder in junior Gemma Gillespie.
"We're all looking forward to seeing what we can do. We should be a solid group, if we stay healthy, and with a couple of newcomers, who are exciting young players, we should have the chance to compete for the division, and beyond," says Fremd coach Steve Keller.
Greg Chavrat took over the program at Schaumburg in 1994, the same year as Tom Froats at Prospect, and will join his coaching counterpart when he retires at the end of this school year.
"We would like nothing more than to move up in the conference, and improve on our 8-8-0 overall record, so we'll lean on our senior leadership, and do our best to create more scoring chances for ourselves," says Chavrat, who has all-MSL players: Emily Carlos (D), Brisa Baldwin (MF), and Delanie Dietz (MF) to lead the way.
Hall of Fame Palatine coach Willie Filian left his former player Aaron Morris in control of the boys program this past fall, and now Morris will do the same this spring with all-area, all-sectional midfielder Paige Millstone part of a strong veteran bunch back to help the cause.
"Just as it was in the fall, there is an adjustment period for the players who are learning the system, but I learned from the absolute best in (Willie). And with amazing senior leadership, and a really exciting mix of younger players, we are ready, and eager to go here at Palatine," says Morris.
Mary Petit (Dansdill) returned to her alma mater a year ago, and went through the usual growing pains associated with new faces welcomed by a new coach. But this season, says Dansdill, promises to be a much improved one.
"I'm excited to have (11) back from a year ago. We seem much more comfortable with one another, and with seniors Mallory Anderson, and Hailey Weidner looking strong, Bella Wehrle back after a strong freshman season, and Maya Schmidt our leader along the back, we look to turn around many of those close losses into victories," opined Dansdill, who was a third team NSCAA All-American in 2016 at Wheaton College.
Prospect (15-5-1, 8-2-1) was finally able to wrestle away the stranglehold both Buffalo Grove and Hersey has had on the MSL East crown when it advanced to MSL Soccer Cup for the first time since 2003.
While the Lady Knights fell short in its bid to capture the big trophy from Barrington, it looked to be the club to beat this spring as it returned seven from its starting lineup in the Soccer Cup, including co-MSL POY, Natalie Bouzas.
That was, however, until Notre Dame-bound and nationally ranked forward Meghan Mrowicki decided to return to play her final year of high school for Hersey - thus throwing the division into a likely two-team race this season.
"We have (14) returning players from a team that played in a lot of exciting, important, and highly competitive matches last year, so we'll look to take that invaluable experience, and build upon that foundation, while incorporating a new and talented group of players that have joined our club," says Tom Froats, who will retire from teaching and coaching following this school year.
The addition of Mrowicki gives Mike Rusniak's club a physical presence up top.
She will use her 5-foot-11 frame to force defenders into mistakes, while creating chances for others around her.
"Meghan instantly became the best player in the MSL when she decided to come back to play at Hersey," states Stengren from Barrington.
"In addition to Mrowicki, we have a young lineup, with a strong group of sophomores that have made tremendous growth during the offseason, plus we've added a solid group of freshmen, who can make an immediate impact coming in," says Rusniak, who boasts an impressive backline partnership in Cassie Caruso and Allison Beck.
Buffalo Grove has one of the best in the business in Kora Kipley, who will play at Western Kentucky next fall, and look to add a second consecutive appearance on the all-state team after a sensational all-around season a year ago.
"Last year we had a lot of first time varsity players. Hopefully, with that year of experience, we can compete with our MSL rivals, and challenge for a division title," says Bison coach Pat Dudle.
Elk Grove and Rolling Meadows are looking to compete for the fourth spot in the MSL East with Mike Drenth's club from Rolling Meadows (4-8-3) getting the slight nod, thanks in part to the return three-fourths of its midfield unit.
"This team is led by a bunch of really good young women this year, and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters," says Drenth, who says junior Vanessa Adan will run the show in the middle of the park.
Gabby Whittinghill saw plenty of improvement from her Elk Grove club despite its sub-.500 record on the season. And with the hope of good health and quality in its returning players, this year should be much better than a year ago.
"We reduced our goals against average from two years ago, and we'll look to continue that trend this year, while putting more into the back of the net, to make us a more competitive team this season," says Whittinghill.
Wheeling has changed direction of late under the lead of long-time boys head coach Kevin Lennon, who took over a program a year ago that was struggling to keep its head above water.
"After competing at the JV level two years ago, the girls did a great job of competing, and learning last year, and the entire roster showed great progress, and a commitment to doing, and playing the right way," says Lennon.
"We'll look to continue (that) this year, and our talented sophomores Nicole Schreiner and Scarlette Patricio, and the move of Emely Rosales from defense, to (in) goal, we should be able to compete at a higher level in 2023."
For Maine South, it's state powers New Trier, Evanston, and Glenbrook North all in place to challenge for the top spot in the league, and later, a serious postseason run.
"In a division like the CSL South, and with us being very young, we'll need to work hard in order to be competitive, and later hope to challenge for a regional championship," says Maine South coach, JJ Crawford, whose club turned in a sparkling 17-6-1 overall, thanks in part to its all-state scoring star, Molly Pistorius, who bagged 44 on the year, and continued her success last fall at Northern Michigan University.
Maine East lost its best player, Michelle Piro to graduation, while over at Maine West, coach Jeff Bishop had to say goodbye to his four-year star keeper Leslee Ordonez, who earned all-state honors a year ago.
"Although we lost some key players - such as Leslee - we have several returning players, so if we receive some key contributions from our younger players, there is no reason why we cannot compete for our first conference title," says Bishop, whose club will have an eye on 2A power and third place state trophy winner Deerfield.
Leyden made a significant jump in its play after long time assistant, Jim Rossetti took over the Eagles program, leading his club to 9-10-2 overall record, after its four-win season in 2021.
"We always seem to be a young team, so I am looking for this team to lay the foundation for some seismic change in the girls program, while playing the game the right way, and being able to compete each time we go out," says Rossetti, who returns a trio of all-WSG players: Jasmin Ambrocio (D), and senior midfielders Jenny Herrera and Megan Martinez.
Aside from the COVID pause in 2020, Benet Academy has enjoyed a remarkable run of late with an 84-10-6 record, which includes a 2A state title in 2019, and second place finish last spring.
The Redwings are the favorites once again in the East Suburban Catholic Conference (ESCC) - and the man in charge at St. Viator hopes his club will be in the race at the end.
"We're a young team looking to build the attack, and keep our shape along the back, and with some very big games ahead of us on our schedule, we'll be looking to use those games to get us ready for (Benet) and the state playoffs," says Byron DeLeon, who lost all five of his all-ESCC players to graduation.