Naperville North's Magee makes
most of 1-year varsity career
By Matt Le Cren
Emily Magee’s varsity soccer career didn’t begin the way she would have liked.
It won’t end the way she wants it to, either.
But the Naperville North senior, who will miss her final season due to a second torn ACL, sure accomplished a lot in the short time she had to shine.
Magee was a starting center back on the Huskies’ 2019 Class 3A state championship team, a squad that will forever be known for pulling one of the biggest upsets in state finals history.
And Magee will be remembered for the gritty determination she showed in returning from her first torn ACL to become one the top defenders in the state.
“She was a massive piece (of that team),” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “To watch the evolution of Emily (was special).”
Goletz could see early on that Magee was a talented player. She played on the JV1 team as a freshman because the Huskies were stacked with great center backs like Morgan Krause and Morgan Lockridge.
“I could tell freshman year that she was going to be a kid that was going to be an impact defender for us,” Goletz said. “I had her penciled in as a starter as a sophomore, then she gets hurt.”
Indeed, Magee hurt her knee during a club game and had surgery in January of her sophomore year. It would be a year before she returned to action.
By the start of the 2019 campaign, Magee was physically fit but understandably unsure of herself.
“Tearing your ACL is way harder mentally than it is physically,” Magee said. “When I came back, I wasn’t as confident as I was before I tore my ACL. I didn’t want to do it again.
“Goletz kept pressuring me. I’m the type of kid that needs to get pushed down or someone needs to tell me I’m not doing good enough. I get angry, and then I do really well.”
That’s exactly what happened. Magee and the Huskies struggled early on against a tough schedule – they won only eight of 17 games in the regular season – but got hot as the calendar turned from April to May and the temperatures warmed.
“She stayed positive,” Goletz said. “She was a part of the group as a sophomore but the big piece for me was watching her from Day 1 of her junior year during tryouts to how she played during the state finals run. That was incredible.
“It’s hard for a kid to get your confidence and get back up to the speed of play and to do it at such a high level. Her and Reilly Riggs last year were fantastic. A lot of pieces went into the puzzle but those two were pretty big pieces in regards to the way that we played defensively.”
Riggs, a Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater who now plays for Northwestern, was a known commodity at the time. Few people outside the program knew about Magee because she had yet to make her varsity debut. But Goletz had confidence in her.
“I was super hard on Emily when she came back just because of the potential that I knew she had,” Goletz said. “I remember a couple of conversations after games that didn’t go our way (telling her) that when she plays with confidence and she commands the field, we’re really hard to beat.
“I thought in the state tournament run she was absolutely every bit of that and that was the reason why we didn’t get beat.”
Magee remembers those conversations as being the catalyst for her stellar play.
“Halfway through the season, Goletz had a talk with me saying that my confidence isn’t there, and he knows it can be there,” Magee said. “Then it came back, and we all started doing really well.
“Especially as a center back you have to be really talkative and control the game.”
Magee and Riggs controlled the penalty area in a 0-0 tie after 100 minutes that led to a shootout win over Barrington, which was heavily favored to win its third-consecutive state championship.
The Fillies’ high-powered offense was expected to overwhelm the Huskies, who could not match Barrington’s scoring prowess or individual talent.
Recognizing that, Goletz decided that unless his team got opportunities to counterattack, he would have the Huskies bunker in and play for penalty kicks.
The girls made the unprecedented strategy work, expending a tremendous amount of energy in holding off the Fillies through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.
Incredibly, Naperville North won the game without taking a shot, prevailing 3-1 in the shootout as goalkeeper Amanda Johnson made two saves.
“It was tiring but honestly, it’s pretty much a blur,” Magee said. “I just remember trying my hardest to not let the people in front of me get the ball and then when they did, get it off of them.
“It was scary how many shots they had on goal, and we had absolutely none. The pressure was on. They were subbing out our wide backs nonstop.
“I was just like, ‘Can I have a break?’ But I didn’t want a break, because I didn’t want to give that moment up.”
Lifting the state championship trophy with her teammates was a moment etched in Magee’s mind.
“It was really awesome,” Magee said. “I can’t even put words to it.
“It was the coolest thing ever, especially since we were underdogs. We weren’t expected to win that game at all.”
The victory was the crowning achievement for all the Huskies, but it was perhaps even more special for Magee because of what she had overcome.
“It was hard coming back but it was definitely worth it,” Magee said. “I wouldn’t change the season for anything.
“Winning state was probably the best day of my life, especially that it was my first varsity season, was amazing.
“After state, Goletz hugged me and said, ‘I knew you could do it, kid.’”
Magee didn’t know it then, of course, but that was the final match of her high school career.
“It broke my heart when I got the text that she now had torn her other one before her senior season,” Goletz said. “It’s hard for a kid mentally to come back from one, but to come back from two, especially after such a great run and to win a state championship and then have your senior year cut short.
“That’s tough to swallow, but she was great at tryouts and during the first couple weeks of practice in terms of passing the ball back and forth in drills in non-contact stuff. It’s good to have her around.
“She’s able to lead from example. If we are able to get the season going, she will be a vocal leader from the sidelines.”
Before her latest injury, Magee was hoping to play in college and was drawing some belated interest.
“I had probably four Division I schools reach out to me during the state tournament run asking, ‘Hey, where was this kid?’” Goletz said. “I explained the situation and they were just starting to get back on board (recruiting her) and then she (gets hurt) again in a club game.”
Sadly, Magee is far from the only athlete to suffer multiple torn ACLs and she won’t be the last to have her playing career ended by injuries. But she has some advice for those who have to rehab from such setbacks.
“A lot of people who are around you when you tear your ACL want to push you,” Magee said. “That’s a good thing, but you know your body and you know what you can and can’t do, so you can’t put yourself down if you’re not doing something someone wants you to be doing.
“You need to try to stay positive and bring your best qualities to the field when you get back.”
As Magee knows, that is not easy, but it is doable.
“It’s hard. It takes at least three months to get back to your full self, playing a nonstop game,” Magee said. “You have to stay positive. You’re going to fall but you have to stay positive.”
Magee will no longer make a difference on the soccer field, but she’s positive she can do so in different ways. She plans to study environmental science at Michigan State.
“I basically want to come up with ways to save the Earth,” she said.
That’s a laudable goal and an especially poignant one in these difficult times. Goletz doesn’t doubt her ability to make an impact.
“She’s obviously a super smart kid and (comes from a) fantastic family,” Goletz said. “She’s going to go on to do great things.
“It might not be through soccer, but her perseverance and determination and being able to take a bad situation and make it good will serve her really well in life in whatever she does.”
most of 1-year varsity career
By Matt Le Cren
Emily Magee’s varsity soccer career didn’t begin the way she would have liked.
It won’t end the way she wants it to, either.
But the Naperville North senior, who will miss her final season due to a second torn ACL, sure accomplished a lot in the short time she had to shine.
Magee was a starting center back on the Huskies’ 2019 Class 3A state championship team, a squad that will forever be known for pulling one of the biggest upsets in state finals history.
And Magee will be remembered for the gritty determination she showed in returning from her first torn ACL to become one the top defenders in the state.
“She was a massive piece (of that team),” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “To watch the evolution of Emily (was special).”
Goletz could see early on that Magee was a talented player. She played on the JV1 team as a freshman because the Huskies were stacked with great center backs like Morgan Krause and Morgan Lockridge.
“I could tell freshman year that she was going to be a kid that was going to be an impact defender for us,” Goletz said. “I had her penciled in as a starter as a sophomore, then she gets hurt.”
Indeed, Magee hurt her knee during a club game and had surgery in January of her sophomore year. It would be a year before she returned to action.
By the start of the 2019 campaign, Magee was physically fit but understandably unsure of herself.
“Tearing your ACL is way harder mentally than it is physically,” Magee said. “When I came back, I wasn’t as confident as I was before I tore my ACL. I didn’t want to do it again.
“Goletz kept pressuring me. I’m the type of kid that needs to get pushed down or someone needs to tell me I’m not doing good enough. I get angry, and then I do really well.”
That’s exactly what happened. Magee and the Huskies struggled early on against a tough schedule – they won only eight of 17 games in the regular season – but got hot as the calendar turned from April to May and the temperatures warmed.
“She stayed positive,” Goletz said. “She was a part of the group as a sophomore but the big piece for me was watching her from Day 1 of her junior year during tryouts to how she played during the state finals run. That was incredible.
“It’s hard for a kid to get your confidence and get back up to the speed of play and to do it at such a high level. Her and Reilly Riggs last year were fantastic. A lot of pieces went into the puzzle but those two were pretty big pieces in regards to the way that we played defensively.”
Riggs, a Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater who now plays for Northwestern, was a known commodity at the time. Few people outside the program knew about Magee because she had yet to make her varsity debut. But Goletz had confidence in her.
“I was super hard on Emily when she came back just because of the potential that I knew she had,” Goletz said. “I remember a couple of conversations after games that didn’t go our way (telling her) that when she plays with confidence and she commands the field, we’re really hard to beat.
“I thought in the state tournament run she was absolutely every bit of that and that was the reason why we didn’t get beat.”
Magee remembers those conversations as being the catalyst for her stellar play.
“Halfway through the season, Goletz had a talk with me saying that my confidence isn’t there, and he knows it can be there,” Magee said. “Then it came back, and we all started doing really well.
“Especially as a center back you have to be really talkative and control the game.”
Magee and Riggs controlled the penalty area in a 0-0 tie after 100 minutes that led to a shootout win over Barrington, which was heavily favored to win its third-consecutive state championship.
The Fillies’ high-powered offense was expected to overwhelm the Huskies, who could not match Barrington’s scoring prowess or individual talent.
Recognizing that, Goletz decided that unless his team got opportunities to counterattack, he would have the Huskies bunker in and play for penalty kicks.
The girls made the unprecedented strategy work, expending a tremendous amount of energy in holding off the Fillies through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.
Incredibly, Naperville North won the game without taking a shot, prevailing 3-1 in the shootout as goalkeeper Amanda Johnson made two saves.
“It was tiring but honestly, it’s pretty much a blur,” Magee said. “I just remember trying my hardest to not let the people in front of me get the ball and then when they did, get it off of them.
“It was scary how many shots they had on goal, and we had absolutely none. The pressure was on. They were subbing out our wide backs nonstop.
“I was just like, ‘Can I have a break?’ But I didn’t want a break, because I didn’t want to give that moment up.”
Lifting the state championship trophy with her teammates was a moment etched in Magee’s mind.
“It was really awesome,” Magee said. “I can’t even put words to it.
“It was the coolest thing ever, especially since we were underdogs. We weren’t expected to win that game at all.”
The victory was the crowning achievement for all the Huskies, but it was perhaps even more special for Magee because of what she had overcome.
“It was hard coming back but it was definitely worth it,” Magee said. “I wouldn’t change the season for anything.
“Winning state was probably the best day of my life, especially that it was my first varsity season, was amazing.
“After state, Goletz hugged me and said, ‘I knew you could do it, kid.’”
Magee didn’t know it then, of course, but that was the final match of her high school career.
“It broke my heart when I got the text that she now had torn her other one before her senior season,” Goletz said. “It’s hard for a kid mentally to come back from one, but to come back from two, especially after such a great run and to win a state championship and then have your senior year cut short.
“That’s tough to swallow, but she was great at tryouts and during the first couple weeks of practice in terms of passing the ball back and forth in drills in non-contact stuff. It’s good to have her around.
“She’s able to lead from example. If we are able to get the season going, she will be a vocal leader from the sidelines.”
Before her latest injury, Magee was hoping to play in college and was drawing some belated interest.
“I had probably four Division I schools reach out to me during the state tournament run asking, ‘Hey, where was this kid?’” Goletz said. “I explained the situation and they were just starting to get back on board (recruiting her) and then she (gets hurt) again in a club game.”
Sadly, Magee is far from the only athlete to suffer multiple torn ACLs and she won’t be the last to have her playing career ended by injuries. But she has some advice for those who have to rehab from such setbacks.
“A lot of people who are around you when you tear your ACL want to push you,” Magee said. “That’s a good thing, but you know your body and you know what you can and can’t do, so you can’t put yourself down if you’re not doing something someone wants you to be doing.
“You need to try to stay positive and bring your best qualities to the field when you get back.”
As Magee knows, that is not easy, but it is doable.
“It’s hard. It takes at least three months to get back to your full self, playing a nonstop game,” Magee said. “You have to stay positive. You’re going to fall but you have to stay positive.”
Magee will no longer make a difference on the soccer field, but she’s positive she can do so in different ways. She plans to study environmental science at Michigan State.
“I basically want to come up with ways to save the Earth,” she said.
That’s a laudable goal and an especially poignant one in these difficult times. Goletz doesn’t doubt her ability to make an impact.
“She’s obviously a super smart kid and (comes from a) fantastic family,” Goletz said. “She’s going to go on to do great things.
“It might not be through soccer, but her perseverance and determination and being able to take a bad situation and make it good will serve her really well in life in whatever she does.”