Girls soccer: Richmond-Burton’s Maddie Seyller beats obstacles to win KRC opener against Johnsburg

JOHNSBURG – Maddie Seyller jogged toward the middle of a frozen field with a smile on her face. As her Richmond-Burton teammates sprinted through frigid winds and engulfed her with hugs and screams, Seyller tried to comprehend what had just happened.

On paper, Seyller had just scored the game-winning goal against her team’s heated rival Johnsburg with about two minutes left in the match.

But that wasn’t the hard part to comprehend.

Seyller wasn’t supposed to score the go-ahead goal as a freshman. Seyller wasn’t supposed to be on that field Wednesday afternoon. Seyller wasn’t supposed to be playing soccer at all.

[ Photos: Richmond-Burton vs. Johnsburg girls soccer ]

Almost a year and a half after an accident forced her to have 15 surgeries on her foot and planted doubt in her mind that she would ever play soccer again, there Seyller was on that frozen field. She scored the game-winning goal to give the Rockets a 4-3 win.

“I’m very excited, and I’m glad I scored that goal,” Seyller said. “I’m just excited I’m back on the field.”

Seyller returned to the field despite the odds. Seyller was part of an ATV accident in August 2023 where the vehicle flipped and landed on her foot. She lost two toes because of the accident, and doctors at one point told Seyller she’d never play sports again.

But Seyller remained positive throughout her recovery, even after going through all those surgeries. She had her last surgery in October and worked her way back onto the field with the Rockets.

That’s how Seyller found herself in an improbable moment. With the match tied at 3, Seyller saw the ball fly in off a corner kick to her right. She poked her foot toward the ball and knocked it in, giving her team a 4-3 lead with 2:16 left in the match.

The moment almost felt too good to be true for Johnsburg coach Rob Eastland. He and Seyller’s father were there when the accident happened and saw how badly Seyller’s foot was injured.

Eastland helped Seyller work her way back on the pitch and hugged her after Wednesday’s match. All he could say was Seyller had to be the one to score.

“You couldn’t write a script for a kid that probably deserved to score a winner, really,” Eastland said. “That was awesome.”

The perfect script came after the Rockets (2-1-1, 1-0 KRC) squandered an early 2-0 lead. They trailed the Skyhawks 3-2 with five minutes left when Bri Maldonado sailed in her second goal of the match off a deep shot that just made its way in with 4:18 left.

R-B rode that momentum to an unforgettable moment from Seyller.

“They responded and answered our call,” R-B coach Casey DeCaluwe said. “That’s a really good team across the way. I knew it was going to be a battle.”

Johnsburg (3-2, 0-1) regrouped after a slow start to the match. The Rockets’ Maldonado scored off a corner kick to give her team a 1-0 lead 35:05 left in the first half and Jordan Otto headed in a goal to make it 2-0 with 28:20 left in the first.

“I’m very excited and I’m glad I scored that goal. I’m just excited I’m back on the field.”

—  Maddie Seyller, Richmond-Burton freshman

The Skyhawks got back into the match when Mackenzie McQuiston scored off a penalty kick with 10:02 left in the first half. McQuiston scored again off a corner kick to tie the match 2-2 with 33:52 left and earned a hat trick when she just beat out R-B goalkeeper Taylor Labay on a breakaway. She tapped in the ball to make it 3-2 with 27:11 left in the match.

Despite the loss, Eastland thought Wednesday’s match was exactly what it should be: a rivalry match between neighboring schools who finished at the top of the KRC last season.

“Two good teams,” Eastland said. “For this little area right here, the quality in these two schools has been really strong for a long time. It just shows a standard of the game that’s fantastic.”

Seyller took in the moment after the match. She celebrated with her teammates once the final buzzer sounded and took a photo with some Johnsburg players to commemorate a moment that wasn’t supposed to happen.

There’s still a lot of work left to be done this season. But it’s nice to get a chance to do it.

“I’m just glad I can play.”