2023 Northwest Herald Girls Soccer Coach of the Year: Crystal Lake Central’s Sarah Fack

Sarah Fack always knew Crystal Lake Central had the potential to make history this season, all the Tigers needed to do was work together in order to achieve their goals.

The Tigers were spearheaded by a talent junior class that had accomplished a lot heading into the season. Central won the Fox Valley Conference Tournament in 2021 and then claimed another FVC title and a regional title in 2022 before losing in the sectional final to Boylan in penalty kicks.

Fack kept her team focused entering this season, and the Tigers bought into her philosophy of everyone giving everything they had so Central could accomplish its goals. The Tigers grew as the season progressed, and they started to hit their stride at the right time.

Central won a fourth straight FVC title after going undefeated in conference play and won its third regional title in the past four postseasons. The Tigers kept up their run by getting revenge against Boylan in overtime to win the program’s second sectional title and took down Lake Forest for its first state berth. Although Central lost to Benet in the Class 2A semifinals, the program earned its first state trophy when it beat De La Salle to take home a third-place trophy.

The Illinois High School Soccer Coach Association named Fack the Coach of the Year in Section 6, five players earned honors from the organization, and six Tigers earned All-FVC honors.

For her team’s success, Fack is the Northwest Herald Girls Soccer Coach of the Year for the second time since 2019, selected by the sports staff with input from area coaches. Richmond-Burton’s Casey DeCaluwe also was considered.

Sports reporter Michal Dwojak caught up with Fack, who talked about what this past season was like, what she’ll remember the most and who made her laugh the most.

Is there a moment you’ll remember the most from this past season?

Fack: I thought the last game, ending on a nice win, just having that feeling of accomplishing what they set out for the season. Winning the supersectional, too, was pretty special.

Which one of your players did you find really inspiring this season?

Fack: All of them at different points had important roles on the team in different ways. One that’s just always been a hard worker and done a great job was Olivia Anderson. She just puts her head down and wants to be at every practice, wants to give her 100%, practice, game, whatever it is. She wants to inspire those around her to work as hard, so she definitely helped with that piece but everyone played their role. That’s what it takes to do as well as we did.

Did you feel a season like this was possible at the beginning of the season?

Fack: We had that really big group of juniors, and we knew we had a potential there, but lots of things can happen. Were we going to stay healthy? Was everyone going to be getting into sync together and getting on the same page, willing to do all the little things each day, which ended up happening? It’s never really guaranteed, so it was great to see if work out.

What got you into coaching?

Fack: I played soccer all my life, so it was a natural progression to go and start coaching.

How has your coaching style changed over the years?

Fack: Every year, you learn something else, and you adjust. Every year, too, is going to be different based on the group of players you have. Just learning what works, what doesn’t, being more flexible to meet the players’ needs really helps too.

What do you like most about coaching?

Fack: I would say seeing players play up to their potential each year and seeing those who have that intrinsic motivation be given the environment around them to be able to achieve what they want to achieve. So seeing those kids who want to go out to college or just want to have a really fun time in high school and have a great season. Just seeing them have fun is always great.

What is your proudest moment as a coach?

Fack: This season, everything leading up to it. Having everything fall into place and having all the girls want to get to state and work really hard all season, really be a team and do it together, really have fun. This whole season together.

What is something that people don’t know about you?

Fack: I have a soft spot for animals, and we have multiple rescue dogs and cats.

Which player on this season’s team makes you laugh the most?

Fack: Probably Shaylee Gough, because she’s just one of those kids who brings a lot of levity to the team and is always trying to lighten the mood. Whether that’s her crazy sock days or her outfits or telling her jokes. She’s always the one trying to make me laugh.

What will you remember the most about this year’s team?

Fack: The day-in, day-out, knowing that they had the ability to get to state and that if they worked hard and stayed focused, they could do it. I think they were really encouraging of each other, and that was really fun to see.