5 girls soccer storylines to watch in Kane County for the 2025 season

The 2025 girls soccer season is underway. Here are five storylines to watch as the season progresses in the Kane County-area during the 2025 season.

Will the DuKane Conference title return to St. Charles?

The 2024 season marked the first season since the conference’s inception in 2019 that neither St. Charles East or St. Charles North finished atop the standings, with Wheaton North beating out both programs for the title.

But despite falling just short, the North Stars still had a plentiful end to their season, one which included winning their 21st consecutive regional title, their sixth sectional in nine seasons and finishing as the Class 3A runners-up after falling to New Trier in a shootout of the title match.

The Saints also saw plenty of success despite their fourth-place finish, as they only allowed two goals in conference play in the season and also won their 10th straight regional title.

Both teams come into the season liking their chances of getting back on top of the conference. The North Stars returned a good chunk of their defense and have senior Kaitlin Glenn leading a young offensive core, while the Saints returned all-state goalkeeper Sidney Lazenby to help lead the 11 underclassmen (three freshmen, eight sophomores).

Can Burlington Central make another deep run?

Burlington Central managed to work its way to the Class 2A state semifinals for the first time since 2017, where it came away with a fourth-place finish.

Can Central make it back to state and go for its first state title this season?

While the Rockets will be without Mekenzie Rogers, who scored 37 goals last year, they still return a good core from last season, with junior goalkeeper and goalkeeper Mackenzie Lorkowski headlining the roster.

The Rockets will also be aiming to win their first Fox Valley Conference title since joining the league in 2019. Central finished third in the standings last season, two games behind conference and Class 2A champion Crystal Lake Central.

What can Geneva do with its young team?

Things will look a little different on the pitch for Geneva this season.

The Vikings graduated a senior class of 10 seniors, including nine starters, that helped them win back-to-back regional titles. Only senior Riley Prior and junior Audrey Stredde return to the starting lineup for the 2025 season.

And while Geneva has plenty of underclassmen and subs from last season eager to fill in, head coach Megan Owens has said the Vikings will definitely need some time to grow and jell together as a team before heading into conference play.

Will Batavia start a new regional title streak?

Batavia’s quest for winning a third-straight regional title for the first time in program history last season was brought to a halt in the regional title game.

This season, the Bulldogs will try to get another regional title streak going.

Batavia bought back 10 players to its roster from last year, with a majority of them seeing plenty of play last season after multiple players went down with injuries.

Can Kaneland rebound after 2024 season ended in heartbreak?

Kaneland’s 2024 season ended in dramatic fashion, with the Knights falling to Sycamore in penalty kicks in the regional final.

This season, the Knights hope that they can avoid a similar fate.

Kaneland will need some help in the scoring department to get to that point, as it graduated both Jade Schrader (21 goals, 12 assists last season) and Emily Kunzer (five goals, five assists in five games).

The most likely duo to replace the forwards is the junior duo of Kyra Lilly and Erin Doucette. Lilly was second on the team in both goals (12) and assists (7) last season, while Doucette netted 11 scores in her sophomore campaign.

The Knights also have key returners on defense, as senior defender Zoe Gannon and senior goalkeeper Natalie Myers return from a backline that recorded 12 shutouts.