The best scouting report on a top talent is often best relayed from a peer.

Libertyville keeper Kate Hopma is an athletic, steady and sure presence in the box, who is a cornerstone for the Wildcats’ fortunes. 

She was, of course, a crucial player in the team’s 13 shutouts and third place Class 3A finish last year.

At 7 p.m. Thursday at home, Hopma goes up against her off-season training partner Sarah Constantine, of Lake Forest.

“Sarah is an incredible athlete, and I’m excited to play against her,” Hopma said. “We will definitely have to create more opportunities to score up-top and really test Sarah.”

Constantine, a 2023 Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater, is never one to back down from a challenge. She posted her second shutout of the season Tuesday in the 3-0 victory over Waukegan in the Scouts’ North Suburban Conference opener.

With the win, Lake Forest (2-4-0, 1-0-0) snapped a four-game losing streak, but each of those loses came vs. elite opponents in the Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic. Three of the results came against no. 1 Lyons, no. 7 Lane and no. 8 Glenbrook South.

“Our team is looking forward to playing one of our school's biggest competitors with Libertyville,” Constantine said. “During practice yesterday, we all had lots of energy that translated to our competitiveness during drills and motivation to play our best. 

“Libertyville is another great team for us to play against, and we are all excited to play our best. Our momentum is only going to launch ourselves forward and compete with good energy.”

The storylines of the two teams have been convergent. 

Each participated in the Malnati’s. Like Lake Forest, Libertyville also ran into a buzzsaw, going 1-3-0 with losses against three top-10 ranked teams in no. 3 Evanston, no. 5 Naperville North and no. 8 Glenbrook South.

The larger point of great tournament play is that it sharpens a team’s competitive instincts. Last year, Libertyville lost to Naperville North and Evanston in group play, then promptly ran off a 15-0-1 streak that powered their second state tournament appearance in the last three years.

That run included a 1-0 victory at Lake Forest on April 24.

“This year’s tournament was a rough one, but I think the scores only tell a small part of how the games really went,” Hopma said. “Those games really prepare us for the rest of the season by putting us up against top competition in the state.”

The consequences were immediately evident in the Wildcats’ first subsequent match, its conference opener against Warren.

Facing a red-hot Blue Devils’ team, Libertyville played one of its strongest games of the year and posted a decisive 3-0 victory. 

Now the Wildcats (4-3-0, 1-0-0) look to ride that momentum into the balance of a deep, challenging conference that includes no. 10 Stevenson, no. 18 Lake Zurich, and three honorable mention programs: Warren, Mundelein and the Wildcats.

And Libertyville and Lake Forest are also more than capable of returning to the Top 25 rankings.

Midfielder Shea Krakowski, a Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List player who scored 16 goals and had five assists last year, is one of the top sophomores in the state.

She leads the Wildcats in scoring with nine goals and two assists.

“I believe that Malnati’s tournament exposed our strengths and weaknesses on the field,” Krakowski said.  “Going into the Warren game, we were able to put the pieces in place in order to get the result we wanted. 

“I believe that the momentum of the Warren game gave us high expectations for what to expect against Lake Forest. Moving on to Lake Forest, we just want to continue to build chemistry and keep each other accountable each time we step foot onto the field.”

Libertyville has seven returners from last year’s 18-3-2 team that beat Lincoln-Way East in the state third place game.

Outside of Krakowski, the scoring has been equally distributed with two players scoring two goals apiece and seven others with who have scored.

Midfielder Molly Koch also posted a scoring double-double last year with 12 goals and 10 assists. 

Krakowski scored twice, and Koch added a score against Warren.

The Wildcats feature four Division I recruits in seniors Hopma (Drake), defenders Maddy Kopala (Purdue Fort Wayne) and Shannon Phillips (IUPUI), and junior midfielder Sydney Dulak (Saint Louis).

Dulak is playing her first year of high school. 

Senior Erin Kelly and freshman Lainey Chang have helped fortify the backline. The shutout over Warren on Tuesday was the second of the season.

“I feel like Lainey has done a great job adjusting to the high school game, and Shannon, Maddy and Erin have done a great job working with her,” Hopma said. 

“The backline has really clicked in the past couple games and will continue to get better.”

The Scouts’ three goals against Waukegan Tuesday matched their season total going into the game.

Due to several early-season postponements, the Scouts played just one game heading into the 6th annual Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic. The team is still working through its roles and player development.

Like Libertyville, Lake Forest used its participation a year ago in the Malnati’s to grow and develop. The Scouts went on a late-season surge punctuated by its 1-0 victory over Saint Viator for a Class AA sectional championship.

They suffered a 1-0 loss against AA third place finisher Crystal Lake Central in the supersectional.

The players know the season is a journey with its own movements and flow.

“The team is getting stronger as the season progresses,” defender Hanna Sands said. “We have a lot of really talented players and the more games we play the more cohesive it feels on the field.    

“The games we played in the Malnati tournament were extremely beneficial. Those losses gave us things to take away and work on to improve on. We definitely have some work to do to get the results we want, and we have the desire to make that happen.”

Coach Ty Stuckslager said the players to watch are Constantine, Sands, defender Ava Walsh and midfielders Caroline Kaiser and Chloe Hvostik.

The team is tight, cohesive, and connected with each other.

“As a captain and a loud teammate, I am going to continue to motivate myself and my teammates to work hard together and perform the best we can,” Constantine said. 

“I look to positively encourage my teammates to communicate and get the team hyped. When everyone on our team is working to lift each other and push them to perform the best, the work that is done is so much more powerful.”