DiVagno's shift to goalkeeper
‘D’-lights Lake Forest
By Bill McLean
Good thing Sophia DiVagno didn’t fully understand the offside rule in soccer years ago. An antsy 10U forward at the time, DiVagno kept getting called for the infraction.
Her Lake Forest Soccer Association (LFSA) coach, exasperated and no longer patient, chose to deploy DiVagno in goal.
Good call?
Nope.
Great call.
Call it a forward-thinking move involving a future star goalie.
DiVagno loved life in front of nets almost immediately, diving to her left and to her right with zero fear. The position fit her like a snug mitten.
She would then use both hands, as well as guile and a never-satisfied-with-success attitude, to become one of the best keepers in Lake Forest High School girls soccer history. A mere 12 shots got past DiVagno in her entire sophomore season (2018), a program record for fewest goals allowed in a single campaign. And the senior ranks first in program history in career goals-against average and career shutouts.
Her GAA last spring was a nanoscopic 0.71. She blanked 12 foes in 2019. Had Miss DiVagno donned a clean sheet for Halloween in any of the last three autumns, she would have been in the running for the Scariest Costume in the Presence of Formidable Forwards Award.
“When I played football while hanging out with my cousins, I was the wide receiver, never afraid to leave my feet for catches in end zones,” said DiVagno, a three-time LFSA Select state champion and the Scouts’ starting varsity keeper since early in her freshman season.
Her senior season, sadly, never took off because of the pandemic. The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors conducted a video conference on April 21 and decided to cancel all IHSA spring state tournaments. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education had announced that all Illinois high schools will complete the 2019-20 school term from home via e-learning amid COVID-19 concerns.
“The preseason practices we were able to hold were fantastic, easily some of the most competitive ones I’ve seen — and I’ve been coaching soccer since the 1850s,” said Scouts coach Ty Stuckslager, serious about his crew’s spirited practice sessions but not so serious about the 170-year coaching tenure.
“We had,” DiVagno said, “a ton of strong returning players. It was going to be a hardworking team, without a doubt. We were anticipating a lot of wins.”
The top win, in DiVagno’s prep career? Had to be the 1-0 defeat of Libertyville last spring, because it featured a save they’ll be talking about for decades.
“Sophia flew six to eight feet [to her left] to swat that shot away,” said Stuckslager, still in awe of the late stop. “A save like that, it raises the spirits of an entire defense and deflates everybody on the other team. She was an intelligent goalie for us, a true student of the game. Some goalkeepers tend to only react to situations. Sophia, she analyzes, anticipates, knows where she has to be and when she has to be there. But the thing about her, the thing that might have impressed me the most during her time with us, was her desire to always want to get better.”
DiVagno’s second-fondest memory from that win vs. Libertyville had nothing to do with soccer.
“I got mobbed by my teammates afterward,” said the two-time all-North Suburban Conference pick. “That was the only time I got happily tackled by my teammates in a game other than a shootout win or a playoff win.”
Among her other highlights in Scouts garb was the win over Highland Park, via PKs, in a 2018 regional semifinal on the home pitch. DiVagno faced four PKs and saved three of them.
“Sophia always outworked all others in training,” said Lake Forest goalkeepers coach Steve Douglass, who had worked with DiVagno since her middle school years. “She would push herself to get better, not only to support her teammates but also to learn and grow as a goalkeeper.
“Her best moments in training might have been when she was helping the younger goalkeepers learn the game, talking techniques and tactics and game situations with them and sharing her vast knowledge of the game.”
DiVagno’s sturdiness in goal at the high school level allowed her defenders to play a bold, assertive brand of soccer in front of her. You don’t get credit for assists for that; you get bushel baskets of praise: from teammates; from coaches.
“If the four defenders knew they could make a mistake and Sophia would cover for them, then they could take more aggressive angles to attack or make a tackle,” Douglass said. “That’s a huge relief for a coach. We always knew if something were to break down in front of her, Sophia would do something special.
“She was,” the coach continued, “an absolute anchor in the back for us.”
Douglass believes DiVagno has the abilities to keep nets fray-free at the college level. Douglass is not alone. But DiVagno, a former FC United and Eclipse club player, has opted to eschew competitive soccer and major in either communications or English at the University of Dayton. She hasn’t ruled out a stint or two with the women’s club soccer team at the Ohio school.
“I think it’s best for me, not playing [NCAA] soccer,” DiVagno said, adding she’d like to pursue a career that requires extensive stretches of time in other countries. “I want that real-college experience as a student.”
DiVagno spent more than five hours outdoors learning the tricks of the construction trade on May 8, a chilly day. Cousin Stevie, a Highland Park resident and construction management major at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, built a table in his family’s back yard. DiVagno served as the assistant and the observer and the deejay during the project.
“Country music,” DiVagno said. “I played Luke Bryan and Luke Combs songs. Stevie was in charge of the power tools; I did some measurements, and I learned a few skills. Stevie’s definitely a good teacher.”
The pair called it a day at 8 p.m.
This time of year, an entirely different kind of table (the NSC standings in girls soccer) would have been on DiVagno’s mind had there not been a pandemic. And her mother, Diane, would have taken hundreds and hundreds of soccer images as the Scouts’ team photographer by now.
“You want to know how many pictures my mom has taken of me in Lake Forest soccer games?” DiVagno asked. “Wow. My guess is 5,000, at least.”
That’s roughly the number of times DiVagno beamed off the pitch, every season, since her varsity debut in 2017.
“Sophia almost always has a smile going,” Stuckslager said. “She’s a good kid. She’s genuine. Has time for others. She’s done a lot of behind-the-scenes things for the team this spring.
“She superimposed college logos of our college-bound players on a team photo. Sophia also put together a video of highlights from our last three seasons.”
That video, in two words?
Just like her: a keeper.
‘D’-lights Lake Forest
By Bill McLean
Good thing Sophia DiVagno didn’t fully understand the offside rule in soccer years ago. An antsy 10U forward at the time, DiVagno kept getting called for the infraction.
Her Lake Forest Soccer Association (LFSA) coach, exasperated and no longer patient, chose to deploy DiVagno in goal.
Good call?
Nope.
Great call.
Call it a forward-thinking move involving a future star goalie.
DiVagno loved life in front of nets almost immediately, diving to her left and to her right with zero fear. The position fit her like a snug mitten.
She would then use both hands, as well as guile and a never-satisfied-with-success attitude, to become one of the best keepers in Lake Forest High School girls soccer history. A mere 12 shots got past DiVagno in her entire sophomore season (2018), a program record for fewest goals allowed in a single campaign. And the senior ranks first in program history in career goals-against average and career shutouts.
Her GAA last spring was a nanoscopic 0.71. She blanked 12 foes in 2019. Had Miss DiVagno donned a clean sheet for Halloween in any of the last three autumns, she would have been in the running for the Scariest Costume in the Presence of Formidable Forwards Award.
“When I played football while hanging out with my cousins, I was the wide receiver, never afraid to leave my feet for catches in end zones,” said DiVagno, a three-time LFSA Select state champion and the Scouts’ starting varsity keeper since early in her freshman season.
Her senior season, sadly, never took off because of the pandemic. The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors conducted a video conference on April 21 and decided to cancel all IHSA spring state tournaments. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education had announced that all Illinois high schools will complete the 2019-20 school term from home via e-learning amid COVID-19 concerns.
“The preseason practices we were able to hold were fantastic, easily some of the most competitive ones I’ve seen — and I’ve been coaching soccer since the 1850s,” said Scouts coach Ty Stuckslager, serious about his crew’s spirited practice sessions but not so serious about the 170-year coaching tenure.
“We had,” DiVagno said, “a ton of strong returning players. It was going to be a hardworking team, without a doubt. We were anticipating a lot of wins.”
The top win, in DiVagno’s prep career? Had to be the 1-0 defeat of Libertyville last spring, because it featured a save they’ll be talking about for decades.
“Sophia flew six to eight feet [to her left] to swat that shot away,” said Stuckslager, still in awe of the late stop. “A save like that, it raises the spirits of an entire defense and deflates everybody on the other team. She was an intelligent goalie for us, a true student of the game. Some goalkeepers tend to only react to situations. Sophia, she analyzes, anticipates, knows where she has to be and when she has to be there. But the thing about her, the thing that might have impressed me the most during her time with us, was her desire to always want to get better.”
DiVagno’s second-fondest memory from that win vs. Libertyville had nothing to do with soccer.
“I got mobbed by my teammates afterward,” said the two-time all-North Suburban Conference pick. “That was the only time I got happily tackled by my teammates in a game other than a shootout win or a playoff win.”
Among her other highlights in Scouts garb was the win over Highland Park, via PKs, in a 2018 regional semifinal on the home pitch. DiVagno faced four PKs and saved three of them.
“Sophia always outworked all others in training,” said Lake Forest goalkeepers coach Steve Douglass, who had worked with DiVagno since her middle school years. “She would push herself to get better, not only to support her teammates but also to learn and grow as a goalkeeper.
“Her best moments in training might have been when she was helping the younger goalkeepers learn the game, talking techniques and tactics and game situations with them and sharing her vast knowledge of the game.”
DiVagno’s sturdiness in goal at the high school level allowed her defenders to play a bold, assertive brand of soccer in front of her. You don’t get credit for assists for that; you get bushel baskets of praise: from teammates; from coaches.
“If the four defenders knew they could make a mistake and Sophia would cover for them, then they could take more aggressive angles to attack or make a tackle,” Douglass said. “That’s a huge relief for a coach. We always knew if something were to break down in front of her, Sophia would do something special.
“She was,” the coach continued, “an absolute anchor in the back for us.”
Douglass believes DiVagno has the abilities to keep nets fray-free at the college level. Douglass is not alone. But DiVagno, a former FC United and Eclipse club player, has opted to eschew competitive soccer and major in either communications or English at the University of Dayton. She hasn’t ruled out a stint or two with the women’s club soccer team at the Ohio school.
“I think it’s best for me, not playing [NCAA] soccer,” DiVagno said, adding she’d like to pursue a career that requires extensive stretches of time in other countries. “I want that real-college experience as a student.”
DiVagno spent more than five hours outdoors learning the tricks of the construction trade on May 8, a chilly day. Cousin Stevie, a Highland Park resident and construction management major at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, built a table in his family’s back yard. DiVagno served as the assistant and the observer and the deejay during the project.
“Country music,” DiVagno said. “I played Luke Bryan and Luke Combs songs. Stevie was in charge of the power tools; I did some measurements, and I learned a few skills. Stevie’s definitely a good teacher.”
The pair called it a day at 8 p.m.
This time of year, an entirely different kind of table (the NSC standings in girls soccer) would have been on DiVagno’s mind had there not been a pandemic. And her mother, Diane, would have taken hundreds and hundreds of soccer images as the Scouts’ team photographer by now.
“You want to know how many pictures my mom has taken of me in Lake Forest soccer games?” DiVagno asked. “Wow. My guess is 5,000, at least.”
That’s roughly the number of times DiVagno beamed off the pitch, every season, since her varsity debut in 2017.
“Sophia almost always has a smile going,” Stuckslager said. “She’s a good kid. She’s genuine. Has time for others. She’s done a lot of behind-the-scenes things for the team this spring.
“She superimposed college logos of our college-bound players on a team photo. Sophia also put together a video of highlights from our last three seasons.”
That video, in two words?
Just like her: a keeper.