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With practices in full swing ahead of the start of games Aug. 26, we take a look at five storylines that will define the soccer season for the Daily Chronicle area.
Full previews including team capsules and top players will run later in August.
How does the Sycamore-Kaneland rivalry play out this year?
In 2023, the teams split the Interstate 8 title. The Knights won an early September meeting in Maple Park on penalty kicks, but later in the month the Spartans pulled out a 2-0 home win.
The teams ended up meeting in a regional semifinal in Rochelle. Kaneland ended up with “one good shot” as coach Scott Parillo described it for a 1-0 win before losing to Boylan for the title.
The Knights were loaded with senior talent last year. Matthew Mitchinson had five goals and seven assists, was all-conference and named to the Daily Chronicle All-Area second team. Sycamore has three first-team selections returning - senior midfielder Jameson Carl (22 goals, 12 assists), junior midfielder Aiden Sears (three goals, 10 assists) and junior defender Liam Tran.
Can DeKalb ride momentum in a new year?
The Barbs not only picked up wins over local foes Kaneland and Sycamore at the end of the year, they ended the regular season 5-1-1. Then to start the summer they went 5-1-2 through their first eight friendlies.
A lot of seniors graduated from that team, but second-team all-area selection Mauricio Jasso returns for his junior year after recording six goals and three assists last season. Now as one of the more experienced leaders his numbers should skyrocket. Henry Garcia had a big summer not only with the Barbs but with the DeKalb County United, playing on their men’s U23 team along with Carl.
The DuPage Valley Conference has always proven a challenge for the Barbs in soccer, but this is a team that has the potential to be as competitive as ever in the league and try to claim its first regional title since 2019.
How much does Indian Creek keep improving?
After winning two games combined in 2021 and 2022, the Timberwolves flirted with .500 last year, going 9-10-2 but losing in a regional semifinal.
A lot of their potential for this year comes from senior Tyler Bogle, who scored 21 goals and added three assists last year. The team MVP was on the Little Ten all-Conference team and was first-team all-area selection.
The Timberwolves had a strong run late last decade, winning their first regional title in 2019 and going 12-1-1 in the pandemic-shortened 2020-2021 season. And with Bogle surrounded by experienced pieces like senior goalie Jake Coulter and sophomore midfielder Jason Brewer, the team is poised to return to that level of success.
Is there a prolific goal scorer for Genoa-Kingston?
Every year it seems Genoa-Kingston has someone knock home 30 or more goals. Last year, Jay Wolcott had 48 and assisted on 11 others to be named all-sectional, all-conference and first-team all-area.
He’s gone to graduation as are the other top scorers. Goalie Jamie Serna is back for his senior season after four shutouts last year, allowing only five goals in the Big Northern Conference, well ahead of the next-best goalie who allowed 10.
If history is any indicator, there will be some player stepping up and knocking home a lot of goals for the Cogs. But even without a 30-plus goal scorer, Serna and the defense should have the Cogs competitive.
Who ends up as the best player in the area?
Matt Tuszynski had a strong year anchoring the Barbs defense last year in claiming the award, but has graduated. That leaves a wide-open race for the player of the year award.
Carl may be the frontrunner in this year’s group. He had gaudy numbers last year, and spent the summer playing alongside college players on the DKCU club. He’s been a first-team all-area pick for two straight years.
Plus you can throw in guys like Jasso, Mitchinson and Bogle into the mix on top of any surprises and you’ve got all the ingredients for an interesting season.