Age is just a number.

It reveals how long someone has been living, but in the case of soccer it doesn’t reveal anything about how well that person plays the beautiful game.

Collectively, this year’s St. Charles East girls soccer team roster is younger than it’s been during coach Vince DiNuzzo’s previous five seasons with the Saints. The team has a lot of talent in the 11 new players joining the 11 returnees for a program that’s averaged 21 wins the past four seasons.

“We have a good core of seniors in Mackenzie Loomis and Alli Saviano who are four-year players who played on the 23-1-0 team (in 2021) and had two deep runs to the supersectional,” DiNuzzo said. “We’ll be leaning on our seniors for their experience, because this is by far the youngest group I’ve ever had with 14 underclassmen.”

That includes eight sophomores, five of whom contributed a season ago. Midfielders Georggia Desario and Payton Rivard, forward Anika Dodrill, defender Reese Kyle and midfielder/forward Tatum Smith are back with a year of varsity experience. Classmates midfielder/forward Loren Kernan, outside back Josy Pearce and wing Liv Richardson are new to the squad.

“Most of the sophomores are returning and played some significant roles for us,” DiNuzzo said. “We’ll be looking at the sophomore group to take the next step being leaders and just playing at the next level and playing more minutes.”

Among the six freshmen on the roster is goalkeeper Mia Olenek who will backup junior starter Sidney Lazenby who returns for her third season on the big club. 

“I think one of the main challenges for the newcomers is all the differences between club and high school,” Lazenby said. “In high school we practice every day, along with having games two to three times a week. It’s a lot to adapt to so quickly for the freshmen.”

Ninth-graders center midfielder Brooklyn Grossi, defenders Averie Foulkes and Presley Kannaka, forward Lilli Margewich and midfielder/wing Sophia Wollenberg have also cracked the varsity lineup.

Goalie coach Izzy Castro provided a huge boost as Lazenby got acclimated to high school soccer. Today, she’s using what she’s learned to lead her younger, less experienced teammates in the cycle of mentorship and guidance that has played a huge part in the program’s consistent success.

“My first year playing (varsity), the seniors and Izzy (Castro) really helped guide me through my freshman year,” she said. “The seniors always reassured me, and it really helped me to be more confident playing. Izzy talked me through every game, and it always helped so much before playing, especially my first games I played.

“This year I’m an upperclassman. Since this year there are so many underclassmen, I think my role and the role of the other upperclassmen are to help the underclassmen really adapt to their first year playing high school soccer. On the field I think everyone’s role is to really communicate with each other and be comfortable playing with each other.”

Besides, Lazenby, the team’s tiny junior contingent features keeper Madison Lim and defender Evie Brockmeyer.

“Having 14 underclassmen, we have lots of new talent and skill, and it will take some time to adjust to,” Loomis said. “With having amazing past years in this program, it definitely leaves a strong expectation for us this year. With great leadership from our seniors, it makes our underclassmen feel welcomed and comfortable in this environment.”

Senior defender Ava Perugini and midfielder Ellie Possin will provide needed experience and savvy to the roster

It wasn’t that long ago that Loomis was leaning on the advice and leadership provided by some of the many great players to don the Saints uniform.

“My first year on varsity was an experience to remember,” she said. “Being a freshman it was an honor to be mentored by some incredible upperclassmen such as Jessica Stepien and Anna Champine. It was an amazing opportunity to look up to these players work ethic on and off the field. Not only did these players guide me through freshman year, my coaches did too. Training with so many talented players, I learned a lot about how important it is to communicate with each other.”

All told, the Saints welcome back eight players for their second season along with their most seasoned players in Lazenby, Loomis and Saviano.

With the new season in its infancy, the kids got a taste of what the program is about during off-season training.

“We don’t ask a lot from them in the offseason. We provide a lot of opportunities, and the girls make it a habit to be at everything, even during club season,” DiNuzzo said. “They’re getting extra touches on the ball and staying connected, and our seniors don’t miss a beat. 

“They’re teaching (their younger teammates) how we do things, and they’re making things a little less daunting for the freshmen and easing them into it. We’re hoping that they can play significant roles. If you make the varsity team as a freshman, you’re going to play. It’s different this year from one year where we had 13 seniors and eight starting to five seniors and not knowing how many are going to start, so we’ll see.”

With so many new faces and a huge scoring void left due to the graduation of Grace Williams (29 goals, 9 assists), Mia Raschke (12 goals), Kara Machala (10 goals, 14 assists) and Tia Bernstein (2 goals, 9 assists) the Saints are undoubtedly going to look a lot different. 

And while they did lose a lot of their offense, Saviano (7 goals, 12 assists) Loomis (9 goals, 3 assists), Smith (4 goals, 2 assists), Desario (1 goals, 2 assists) and Dodrill (1 goal, 2 assists) are back as the team looks to reload its attack.

Coming off a 20-4-0 season in which they allowed 19 goals, posted 12 shutouts and opened with at 16-game winning streak, the Saints hope to remain stingy on the defensive end. Loomis will key that backline again while also pushing the offense through her skill on set pieces, where she’s a dangerous threat.

“I have been a centerback pretty much my whole soccer career. Throughout high school I have become a strong and reliable player,” Loomis said. “Having a strong connection in the defensive line is a huge thing for us. Trusting each other is key. Even though we have a young team this year, the confidence and skill each and every one of our players has plays such an important role on our team and will allow us to reach our full potential.”

Loomis craves more wins this spring.

“After having a very successful season last year, exceeding the expectations and showing our full potential, even with a young team, is the goal,” she said. “Every team needs a role model to look up to, and this year being a senior, I would like to show not only the underclassmen but also my coaches that if we can work hard with positive energy we can prove our skill to ourselves and others.”

One of the more exciting developments out of Saints camp is the possibility of a change in formation.

“With it being 14 underclassmen and them being so bright, I felt like teaching them to play and to be comfortable in more than one system is important for this year and the future,” DiNuzzo said. “We’re going to try to throw some difference shapes (at the opposition), and the coaching staff is trying to find the best version of ourselves.

“Having a plethora of centerbacks, we’re trying to find them opportunities on the field to make an impact. We’ve been floating around ideas,” he said. “We’ve been preparing to do something we haven’t done in previous years. Manipulating shapes is fun and you’ve really got to adjust as long as we’re going to be tactically versatile and able to adjust to ourselves and be comfortable in different systems. We don’t have the luxury we’ve had in the past when we played a 4-3-3.”

With the new mix of players, considering different formations makes sense.

“Our players have different experience levels,” Loomis said. “So, we may be trying different formation styles throughout the season to see which would be the most effective for us.” 

The Saints hope to improve on their second place DuKane Conference finish last season. Additionally, tournaments throughout the spring will gear them up for the postseason. Two of the events give them the opportunity to play for a championship. The Saints will host a tournament, take a team trip downstate to Carbondale for the Fralish Cup and battle in the best in-season tournament in the state, the Naperville Invitational, where they were semifinalists in 2019 and last season and quarterfinalists in 2022.

“We always start with Fremd right away. They’re always well organized, and (Fremd coach Steve Keller) always does a good job,” DiNuzzo said. “We kept Bartlett, my alma mater, on the schedule, and we’ve got OPRF and Burlington Central coming to us this year. Naperville is the best tournament in the state, and maybe in the country, and they do a great job of giving us quality opponents. We’re paired with Downers Grove North and Loyola this year, so it’ll be a challenge. 

“We lost some teams from our tournament and picked up Plainfield North, Crystal Lake Central and Hersey so the tournament, from last year’s perspective and results, is much more challenging. Then with the Fralish Cup in Carbondale we’ll play some different styles. Our schedule is well balanced and challenging, and we’re excited to get it started.”

The trip to Carbondale has quickly become a favorite for St. Charles East, offering challenging soccer, great team bonding opportunities and plenty of fun, too.

“I’m most excited for our Carbondale tournament,” Lazenby said. “We do it every year, and it’s a great experience to travel as a team and play teams that we would usually never play.”

Loomis, who will captain the team with Saviano and senior defender Abbey Petrick, said she always looks forward to going down to Carbondale for the team benefits. Oh, and for the food.

“We always look forward to this trip every year, because of the great bonding we have as a team,” she said. “My favorite part is when coach DiNuzzo always promises a feast at Chick-fil-A on the way back home.”

The Saints get things started when they host Fremd on March 12.