Chicagoland Soccer Final 50
By Patrick Z. McGavin
In the exhilarating aftermath of Naperville North’s shootout victory over top-ranked Barrington in the Class 3A championship at North Central College on Saturday night in Naperville, Steve Goletz took a moment to reflect on an extraordinary final push by his team.
With its Final Four shootout victories over Lyons and Barrington, Naperville North won nearly as many games during the state tournament (seven) as it did during the regular season (eight).
Naperville North won its third Class 3A state tournament in the last eight years. Goletz’s first two teams, in 2012 and 2013, were heavy favorites. This team was different with its underdog status, but it was a tough, skilled and hungry group.
The coach’s previous teams of the last three years had better individual talent. This team just meshed at the perfect time.
“I thought we were a good team, even during the regular season,” Goletz said. “We just played really good teams. The hard part was managing the emotions of the kids. We are so used to winning here. When you have setbacks -- and they were deserved because we made mistakes and got punished for them -- we had some kids who had to go through growing pains.”
This marked the third-straight year the large school state championship was decided by penalty kicks. Barrington coach Ryan Stengren has been on both sides. His Fillies beat New Trier in 2017 and 2018.
Stengren is advocating for a change to the system, believing the state should either go to two 45-minute halves or return to the previous format of playing four 10-minute overtimes. It is worth remembering that Goletz’s 2012 victory over St. Charles North played out in the 110th minute on a last-second goal by Hannah Drendel.
The fact of the matter is, coaches overwhelming disapprove of winning or losing on penalty kicks, especially in the most important game of the year.
Shootouts tend to render the 100 minutes of action that preceded them moot. The issue is not going to resolved today, but perhaps is something the state soccer coordinators will address.
As Goletz pointed out, so many factors have to congeal to win a state title.
“A lot of things have to go right along the way,” he said, “the draw that you get, the opponents that you get, and we had some injuries and had other kids step up.
“I kept preaching to them from the first day we are good enough to beat anybody if we play hard, do the details, defend hard and do not try to do too much.
“I have never had a group of kids from the end of the regular season to the postseason who bought in like these kids. It was so special.”
The spotlight was not the Huskies’ alone. In Class A the week before, Columbia completed one of the most impressive performances in the history of small school girls soccer. The Eagles, who beat Neuqua Valley during the season, were unbeaten against Illinois competition.
They dominated the state tournament with convincing wins over Althoff in the supersectional and Lisle in the semifinal. Playing a very good North Shore Country Day team one year removed from a state finals appearance, Columbia glided to the 4-0 state championship victory.
Senior forward Columbia Jones and senior keeper Rylee Iorio powered a team capable of playing with any program in the state.
The most riveting moment belonged to Benet, the Class AA champion who rallied with a goal in the 79th minute to force overtime. After a 47-minute weather delay, the Redwings captured their first state title in history with the thrilling 2-1 double overtime victory over Wauconda.
The game illustrated a classic maxim about playing on the field. Few observers gave Wauconda much of a shot. The Bulldogs were just 1:46 seconds away from winning a state title. “It was just totally ripped away from us,” said senior defensive midfielder Abigail McHugh, a Northern Illinois recruit.
The Class 3A state finals again underscored the dominance of three programs: Naperville North, Barrington and New Trier. Those schools have now combined for the last eight state championships in Class 3A.
Their dominance is not likely to end anytime soon. Naperville North’s two best players are juniors Hannah Martin and Leah Shumate. New Trier’s spellbinding Emma Weaver is also back. Barrington has multiple returning players led by Tina Teik.
The regular season is predictive of state tournament performance; it just cries out for context. Naperville North participated in the state’s two signature in-season tournaments: the Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic and Naperville Invitational. So did New Trier and Lyons. Barrington played in the Naperville Invitational, sharing the title with St. Charles North after weather wiped out the final.
Despite the loss, Barrington concluded one of the great runs in the history of the sport. The senior class, led by Ashley Prell, Christine Batliner and Madi Rosen, won two state titles and finished runner-up. They also won a sectional their freshman year.
They won 92 games in their remarkable careers.
Until her offseason ACL injury, Illinois-recruit Prell was the state’s best player. She provided tantalizing flashes of her ability in the state title game. Her injury changed the dynamics of the season, and opened up the field to other challengers to Barrington’s reign.
Naperville North upended Barrington’s near monopoly on Chicagoland Soccer’s year-long poll.
On March 10, we published the First 50, a poll of the state’s top programs.
Just as the season had a circular structure that began and ended with high-profile showdowns between Naperville North and Barrington, the closing Final 50 poll bookends the remarkable 2019 season.
Out of necessity and access, the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 and Illinois 10 polls have always separated the Chicago teams which are readily available for our northeastern-Illinois-based main staff to watch and observe in contrast to the statewide programs outside the area that we have limited access to and less institutional knowledge of.
The Final 50 combines the polls to rank the state’s top teams. All records are final.
Key: FRSR-final regular season rank; PR-preseason rank; NR-not ranked; HM-honorable mention: I-Illinois 10 rank.
By Patrick Z. McGavin
In the exhilarating aftermath of Naperville North’s shootout victory over top-ranked Barrington in the Class 3A championship at North Central College on Saturday night in Naperville, Steve Goletz took a moment to reflect on an extraordinary final push by his team.
With its Final Four shootout victories over Lyons and Barrington, Naperville North won nearly as many games during the state tournament (seven) as it did during the regular season (eight).
Naperville North won its third Class 3A state tournament in the last eight years. Goletz’s first two teams, in 2012 and 2013, were heavy favorites. This team was different with its underdog status, but it was a tough, skilled and hungry group.
The coach’s previous teams of the last three years had better individual talent. This team just meshed at the perfect time.
“I thought we were a good team, even during the regular season,” Goletz said. “We just played really good teams. The hard part was managing the emotions of the kids. We are so used to winning here. When you have setbacks -- and they were deserved because we made mistakes and got punished for them -- we had some kids who had to go through growing pains.”
This marked the third-straight year the large school state championship was decided by penalty kicks. Barrington coach Ryan Stengren has been on both sides. His Fillies beat New Trier in 2017 and 2018.
Stengren is advocating for a change to the system, believing the state should either go to two 45-minute halves or return to the previous format of playing four 10-minute overtimes. It is worth remembering that Goletz’s 2012 victory over St. Charles North played out in the 110th minute on a last-second goal by Hannah Drendel.
The fact of the matter is, coaches overwhelming disapprove of winning or losing on penalty kicks, especially in the most important game of the year.
Shootouts tend to render the 100 minutes of action that preceded them moot. The issue is not going to resolved today, but perhaps is something the state soccer coordinators will address.
As Goletz pointed out, so many factors have to congeal to win a state title.
“A lot of things have to go right along the way,” he said, “the draw that you get, the opponents that you get, and we had some injuries and had other kids step up.
“I kept preaching to them from the first day we are good enough to beat anybody if we play hard, do the details, defend hard and do not try to do too much.
“I have never had a group of kids from the end of the regular season to the postseason who bought in like these kids. It was so special.”
The spotlight was not the Huskies’ alone. In Class A the week before, Columbia completed one of the most impressive performances in the history of small school girls soccer. The Eagles, who beat Neuqua Valley during the season, were unbeaten against Illinois competition.
They dominated the state tournament with convincing wins over Althoff in the supersectional and Lisle in the semifinal. Playing a very good North Shore Country Day team one year removed from a state finals appearance, Columbia glided to the 4-0 state championship victory.
Senior forward Columbia Jones and senior keeper Rylee Iorio powered a team capable of playing with any program in the state.
The most riveting moment belonged to Benet, the Class AA champion who rallied with a goal in the 79th minute to force overtime. After a 47-minute weather delay, the Redwings captured their first state title in history with the thrilling 2-1 double overtime victory over Wauconda.
The game illustrated a classic maxim about playing on the field. Few observers gave Wauconda much of a shot. The Bulldogs were just 1:46 seconds away from winning a state title. “It was just totally ripped away from us,” said senior defensive midfielder Abigail McHugh, a Northern Illinois recruit.
The Class 3A state finals again underscored the dominance of three programs: Naperville North, Barrington and New Trier. Those schools have now combined for the last eight state championships in Class 3A.
Their dominance is not likely to end anytime soon. Naperville North’s two best players are juniors Hannah Martin and Leah Shumate. New Trier’s spellbinding Emma Weaver is also back. Barrington has multiple returning players led by Tina Teik.
The regular season is predictive of state tournament performance; it just cries out for context. Naperville North participated in the state’s two signature in-season tournaments: the Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic and Naperville Invitational. So did New Trier and Lyons. Barrington played in the Naperville Invitational, sharing the title with St. Charles North after weather wiped out the final.
Despite the loss, Barrington concluded one of the great runs in the history of the sport. The senior class, led by Ashley Prell, Christine Batliner and Madi Rosen, won two state titles and finished runner-up. They also won a sectional their freshman year.
They won 92 games in their remarkable careers.
Until her offseason ACL injury, Illinois-recruit Prell was the state’s best player. She provided tantalizing flashes of her ability in the state title game. Her injury changed the dynamics of the season, and opened up the field to other challengers to Barrington’s reign.
Naperville North upended Barrington’s near monopoly on Chicagoland Soccer’s year-long poll.
On March 10, we published the First 50, a poll of the state’s top programs.
Just as the season had a circular structure that began and ended with high-profile showdowns between Naperville North and Barrington, the closing Final 50 poll bookends the remarkable 2019 season.
Out of necessity and access, the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 and Illinois 10 polls have always separated the Chicago teams which are readily available for our northeastern-Illinois-based main staff to watch and observe in contrast to the statewide programs outside the area that we have limited access to and less institutional knowledge of.
The Final 50 combines the polls to rank the state’s top teams. All records are final.
Key: FRSR-final regular season rank; PR-preseason rank; NR-not ranked; HM-honorable mention: I-Illinois 10 rank.
| Rank | FRSR | PR | Team | W | L | T | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 3 | Naperville N | 15 | 5 | 4 | Huskies match boys -- 3A state title |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Barrington | 22 | 2 | 1 | Fillies complete extraordinary 3-year run |
| 3 | 4 | 4 | New Trier | 22 | 3 | 5 | Phenomenal Emma Weaver led the Trevs |
| 4 | 2 | 2 | SC North | 19 | 2 | 2 | Greatest team not to make finals |
| 5 | 3 | NR | Stevenson | 22 | 2 | 2 | Beat Naperville N, New Trier |
| 6 | 6 | 26 | Benet | 24 | 3 | 1 | Jaimee Cibulka delivers AA title |
| 7 | I1 | 46 | Columbia | 27 | 2 | 1 | Class A champ 27-0-1 vs. state schools |
| 8 | 7 | 8 | Lyons | 18 | 4 | 1 | Only losses to Naperville N, New Trier |
| 9 | 5 | 43 | SC East | 22 | 6 | 0 | 3A sectional finalist returns 9 starters |
| 10 | 16 | 17 | Wauconda | 19 | 3 | 2 | Came up just short in thrilling AA final |
| 11 | 9 | 5 | Neuqua V | 10 | 5 | 4 | Danielle Hopkins led the Wildcats |
| 12 | HM | 7 | Andrew | 21 | 6 | 1 | Megan Nemec was driving force |
| 13 | 19 | 11 | GBS | 20 | 4 | 2 | Makayla Stadler will be missed |
| 14 | 20 | 16 | Evanston | 14 | 6 | 2 | Beat Benet and Lane to finish strong |
| 15 | 8 | 19 | Lane | 19 | 4 | 1 | City power deserves seeding respect |
| 16 | 23 | NR | Young | 18 | 7 | 1 | Mia Lisanti led team that came of age |
| 17 | 18 | 23 | Fremd | 14 | 5 | 3 | Jennifer Norris led Vikings to great year |
| 18 | 11 | NR | Waub Valley | 17 | 3 | 2 | Megan Burling finished with 27 goals |
| 19 | 13 | NR | St. Ignatius | 19 | 3 | 2 | Lost PK heartbreaker to Benet |
| 20 | I4 | 40 | Triad | 20 | 4 | 2 | Jordan Wilson leads Knights to AA 3rd |
| 21 | HM | NR | Joliet Cath | 18 | 3 | 0 | Angels earn 1st state trophy |
| 22 | 15 | 35 | Lemont | 18 | 5 | 1 | Erin Crispo led Indians to great season |
| 23 | 12 | 36 | Batavia | 17 | 5 | 2 | Bulldogs shared 1st DuKane title |
| 24 | 14 | 44 | Conant | 16 | 3 | 2 | Part of MSL trinity of superpowers |
| 25 | 17 | 15 | WW South | 14 | 5 | 1 | Celebrated senior class was strong |
| 26 | I10 | 14 | ND (Peoria) | 18 | 5 | 1 | Irish capture another Class AA sectional |
| 27 | NR | NR | Minooka | 15 | 9 | 2 | Made Cinderella supersectional push |
| 28 | HM | 24 | Cary-Grove | 14 | 3 | 1 | Trojans gain 3A sectional final again |
| 29 | HM | NR | Sandburg | 15 | 5 | 1 | Bounce-back season, sectional finalist |
| 30 | HM | NR | NSCD | 16 | 4 | 0 | Raiders dazzle, B2B A runnerup finishes |
| 31 | NR | 28 | Edwardsville | 14 | 10 | 0 | Great closing run, sectional final |
| 32 | HM | NR | S Elgin | 14 | 4 | 3 | Frosh Katrina Barthelt starred |
| 33 | HM | 32 | Glenbard E | 18 | 5 | 2 | Lindsey Novak, Amy Chiero left mark |
| 34 | HM | NR | CL Central | 19 | 4 | 0 | Gave Pr Ridge AA sectional title defeat |
| 35 | 21 | 47 | Pr Ridge | 20 | 2 | 1 | Bittersweet end to stellar campaign |
| 36 | I7 | NR | Dunlap | 16 | 4 | 1 | Gave ND (Peoria) great challenge |
| 37 | I5 | NR | Geneseo | 22 | 2 | 1 | Set school record for season wins |
| 38 | 22 | 27 | Geneva | 11 | 6 | 2 | Jenna Dominguez led fine campaign |
| 39 | 24 | NR | Jones | 18 | 7 | 0 | Avery Kaplan goes out in grand style |
| 40 | NR | 33 | Naperville C | 11 | 9 | 1 | Stunned Neuqua V. for regional title |
| 41 | HM | 34 | Metea V | 11 | 9 | 2 | Nikki Coryell 1 of state’s top keepers |
| 42 | NR | NR | Maine S | 16 | 5 | 3 | Hawks qualify for loaded NT Sectional |
| 43 | 25 | 10 | Loyola | 9 | 7 | 2 | Greatness awaits fine freshmen class |
| 44 | I3 | 15 | Normal | 19 | 5 | 2 | Upset by Minooka in sectional semi |
| 45 | HM | 49 | Warren | 13 | 9 | 3 | Courtney Chomko 1 of best 'Devils' ever |
| 46 | NR | NR | O’Fallon | 14 | 7 | 2 | Finished strong with regional crown |
| 47 | NR | NR | Glenwood | 16 | 6 | 0 | Ousted by Triad in sectional final |
| 48 | I2 | NR | Althoff | 21 | 5 | 1 | Sectional winners in strong Class A field |
| 49 | NR | NR | Sycamore | 20 | 2 | 0 | Taylor, Kierah Meier led to sectional semi |
| 50 | NR | NR | Granite City | 12 | 6 | 3 | Played one of state’s toughest schedules |