Girls soccer: 5 storylines to watch in McHenry County in 2025

The Northwest Herald girls soccer preview will appear in print Tuesday, March 18, with information on every local team. Until then, here are five storylines to look for in the 2025 season.

Will there be a break in the status quo?

Both Crystal Lake Central and Richmond-Burton have dominated McHenry County girls soccer over the past four seasons.

Central became the first McHenry County-area team to win a girls state championship in June when the Tigers took the Class 2A crown. The program has reached the state finals in two straight years, captured two straight sectional and three straight regional titles and won five straight Fox Valley Conference titles.

R-B hasn’t played too far behind. The Rockets haven’t lost a Kishwaukee River Conference match since 2019 and reached the Class 1A state finals twice during that span. The program has also won four straight sectional titles and five straight regional crowns.

But there could be some changes in the county’s hierarchy. Central graduated a large senior class from last season’s championship team and will have a new head coach after former coach Sarah Fack stepped down. R-B will also need to replace a large senior class that helped transform its program.

There are plenty of teams ready to challenge for the top of the mountain.

Who will compete for the FVC crown?

While Crystal Lake Central has dominated the FVC over the past five seasons, it hasn’t come easy. The Tigers have been challenged by different programs throughout the years and that will be the case again this spring.

The top contender will be Burlington Central. The Rockets fell a couple matches short of the Tigers in the FVC race but reached the state finals for the second time since 2017. They eventually lost to the Tigers in the Class 2A semifinals and finished fourth.

Burlington’s young lineup was led by a pair of NCAA Division-I recruits. Junior Mekenzie Rogers committed to Michigan State while junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Lorkowski committed to Purdue. Both will try to help their team not only win the FVC, but also their first-ever state championship.

Huntley will also remain in the FVC race after finishing a couple matches behind the Tigers last season. Senior forward Maddie Cummings and senior defender Jaci Laramie will both be key leaders for a group that’s won two straight regional titles.

Other teams like Dundee-Crown, Cary-Grove, Hampshire and Crystal Lake South will try to move up to the upper third of the FVC.

Can someone top Richmond-Burton in the KRC?

Richmond-Burton’s run through the KRC over the past four seasons has been one of the best in the conference’s history. But there have been close calls along the way.

Most of those close calls have come from Johnsburg. The Rockets survived the Skyhawks in the 2023 KRC tournament championship match in penalty kicks and came back to win their regular season match last year.

Johnsburg will try to take a big step with its young roster gaining a year of experience. Junior Elizabeth Smith should return and fill a major leadership role from a roster that lost some significant seniors to graduation.

Other teams like Woodstock North and Woodstock should contend for a top spot in the KRC, as well.

The Rockets won’t give up their reign of the KRC easily, though. While R-B graduated a large group of seniors who won a lot, the Rockets return players who gained experience during those wins. Sophomore Maddie Seyller made a big impact as a freshman last year and that should continue this year.

Can McHenry County’s postseason success continue?

While Crystal Lake Central and R-B have rightfully earned the spotlight over the past few seasons, there are plenty of McHenry County-area teams that have enjoyed postseason success.

The area has had at least five regional champions each postseason in the past three years. Six teams won regional titles in 2023 while five teams captured a regional crown in 2024 and 2022.

Crystal Lake Central and R-B have each won three straight regional titles, while Huntley, Burlington and Johnsburg have each won two over the past three years. McHenry, Marian Central, D-C and C-G each captured one.

Three teams have have reached the supersectional round over the past few years. R-B has won three straight sectional titles during that span while Crystal Lake Central has taken two and Burlington one.

Although seedings and assignments might fluctuate the total numbers, that postseason success is likely to continue this spring.

A few new faces

The area will feature four new head coaches this season.

Anne Santucci will take over at C-G for Ray Krystal, who led the program for 18 seasons. The Trojans won eight regional titles under Krystal.

Leah Rutkowski takes over at Crystal Lake Central after Fack transformed the program in her eight seasons as head coach. The Tigers won a state championship and won two supersectional titles, three sectional crowns and four regional championships. Rutkowski has also served as the school’s boys soccer coach over the past two seasons and won a regional crown in the fall.

Silmar Martinez will lead Woodstock North while Andrew Watson takes over at Marian.