Boys soccer: Crystal Lake South's Getzinger named Fox All-Area Captain

Nolan Getzinger scored a goal or delivered an assist in 20 games this season.

Crystal Lake South won all but one of those games.

The senior midfielder seemingly did everything he could and more this fall, including helping those that remembered the last time Crystal Lake South won a state title experience a bit of déjà vu last weekend. While his older brother Ty was a sophomore on the 2018 team that won the state title, Nolan Getzinger helped beat the same Peoria Notre Dame program on Saturday in the Class 2A championship game.

Getzinger has been named the Captain of the 2023 Daily Herald Fox All-Area Boys Soccer Team.

"There are not enough words I'm going to be able to use to describe what Nolan does," Gators coach Brian Allen said. "He's sees the game at a different level. He anticipates things and sees things before they develop, and he has good chemistry with everyone on the field."

Getzinger entered the offensive stats column in every game during the team's title run, collecting four goals and eight assists in seven postseason games.

"I think what makes him a great player is his mentality," Gators senior Nico Velasco said. "He puts in a lot of work behind the scenes, but has this mentality on the field and we all feed off his leadership. He's honestly not only talented and skilled, but hardworking and dedicated to the sport."

While junior Ali Ahmed was a prime recipient of Getzinger's mastery of passing with a team-best 25 goals, Getzinger scored 16 goals after scoring 22 times in 2022. He often delivered in the biggest games and during crucial moments as half of his goals were game-winners. He had the lone goal to beat Lake Forest in a regional final as well as one to give the Gators an early lead over Timothy Christian in the supersectional.

"I don't get stressed, I just kind of keep doing what I'm doing or what I know how to do," Getzinger said. "I know something will come if I just stick with it and usually something hopefully ends up being there."

Crystal Lake South only allowed 27 goals this season. Getzinger distributed 29 assists during that time. Such numbers are difficult to comprehend from a player whose greatness has been evident for quite some time now.

For context, Getzinger's 29 assists absolutely shattered the former record of 22 that was established by Paul Lekics 34 years ago. Lekics proceeded to become a four-year starter and two-time All-American at Creighton. If the record stands as long, 29 will stand strong until the fall of 2067.

The accolades are accumulating for Getzinger and deservedly so. He was named all-state for the second consecutive season and was also named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region team.

As a two-year captain for the Gators who debuted as a freshman during the spring 2020 season, he helped the Gators secure another Fox Valley Conference title this fall and their third straight regional championship. He finishes his high school career with 48 goals and 43 assists.

As Getzinger continued to get better so did the Gators. Their only loss to a Class 2A team occurred on Sept. 7 when Grayslake Central won 2-0. The only times they won when he didn't score or assist was in back-to-back 1-0 wins over Prairie Ridge and Buffalo Grove on Sept. 14-15.

"Nolan's ability to make everyone around him better is a unique and special trait," Allen said.

"With a team that was so senior-laden, it would be easy to stay in the comfort zone of the group he grew up playing with. However, having been a freshman on varsity, he pushed the younger players to bring out their best every day in training and often was the first to praise them during training or pick their heads up after mistakes and make sure they stayed focused on growing and improving day in and day out. In fact, I recently received an email from a parent on our team about Nolan mentioning how some of 'these little acts of kindness that meant so much to him as a young freshman.'"

While Getzinger was similar physically, technically and tactically to who he was a year ago, he still found a way to become an even more complete player.

"His growth psychologically and realization that he did not have to do it all himself allowed him to mature and grow his game to an entirely different level this season," Allen said. "Last year as our primary goal-scorer, he pressed at times more than he probably should have. But this season, he realized if he got his teammates involved more, this would then open up his own game, as well as make us a more dynamic team that would be much more difficult to prepare for and defend."