Buranosky speaks highly
of Metea Valley experiences
By Dave Owen
To understand how Paige Buranosky developed into an Chicagoland Soccer All-State defender at Metea Valley, one can start on the basketball court.
“My role (in basketball) was definitely to be the one with the energy,” said Buranosky, a guard for the Mustangs’ varsity hoops squad who averaged 3.2 points per game as a junior and 2.7 points a contest this past winter.
“I was not that good at basketball. I played, but skill-wise and scoring-wise I was one of the lower ranked girls on the team.
“But whenever I got on the court,” Buranosky added, “I would always sprint to every ball and work hard. And even on the bench I would always cheer and all that. I think I helped push my teammates more than just playing.”
The combination of that humble, team-first attitude and extra effort energy level that Buranosky displayed in that comment served her very well in her strongest sport, soccer.
Stepping right in as a starting defender freshman year, Buranosky was a central part of three-straight regional championship teams at Metea Valley.
“My role on the team (freshman year) was kind of small, because I was an outside back and I didn’t really know my role as a freshman,” she said. “But the next year when the senior center backs (from 2017) had graduated, we didn’t have anyone to play there. So coach (Chris) Whaley made me and Nicole Dawson into center backs.
“And ever since then, we’ve stuck with that position,” Buranosky added. “And it’s kind of shaped us into being more leaders on the team, just because we’re in the center of the field, and we see everything. It was hard to adapt at first, but I think over the two years of playing that position we kind of got used to it. And better.”
And when it came to getting better, Buranosky was eager to learn.
“The positive feedback is always good, but I needed the criticism too,” Buranosky said. “I always loved when (coaches) would tell me what I needed to work on, because I always wanted to fix my game and try to make the next game better than the previous game.
“I’m always hard on myself. Sometimes I lack the confidence, and just knowing what I need to work on or what I did good can really go a long way for me. I always loved the feedback coaches gave me, and even my teammates.”
With a talented and vocal goalkeeper in Valparaiso-bound Nikki Coryell also a defensive staple, the Metea defense had feedback, skill and experience in ample supply.
“The three of us (Buranosky, Dawson and Coryell) are so close, and not even on a soccer level but as friends,” Buranosky said. “All four of us seniors (adding in four-year varsity forward Sydney Rohm), over the past few years we’ve gotten so close. And I think playing soccer, that grew even more.
“We knew where each other were: sometimes we didn’t even have to say anything. Just playing with ‘Daws’ next to me, we know each other. We know if I step, she’ll have my back, and if she steps I’ll have her back. And Nikki (Coryell) behind us is probably one of the best communicators I’ve ever known.
“The backline and Nikki worked really well together,” Buranosky added, “and we owed Nikki a lot for that. Just because she helped us stay organized so much, and she honestly saved us so many times too. I would honestly mainly thank Nikki. But our team in general has been a very defensive team.”
The results were impressive, year after year.
In 2017, the Mustangs defense allowed just four goals in the last 12 games of the season. With current DePaul player Jade Eriksen-Russo leading the offense, that Metea squad produced a 16-4-4 record.
A string of four-straight shutouts late in 2018 (two of them in regional games) helped Metea Valley cap a 14-win season that year.
Last year, the Mustangs held a 7-8-2 record in early May. Then a 1-0 win over Naperville North (the Huskies’ final loss of 2019 en route to the Class 3A state title) began another strong late run that produced an eventual 11-9-2 record.
In all three years, Metea Valley won regional titles – extending a streak that goes back to 2014.
“I think our mindsets just changed,” Buranosky said of the Mustangs’ tradition of playoff success. “We understood (in postseason) that this could be our last game ever, we have to go out realizing that we go home (with a loss).
“That mindset just started to kick in for people, and I think at the end of the season it became more real, I guess. That ‘This could be our last game ever playing together,’ and for the seniors especially. Just knowing that, we were able to focus, and I think it made our practices a lot better and games so much better.”
Metea Valley’s playoff focus was put to the test last year.
“We were down a goal, it was muddy and rainy in a regional game last year (at Lockport),” Buranosky said. “It was back and forth, and we ended up winning (2-1 on goals by Kiley McKee and Jocey Grabow).
“That was a proud moment, just because as a team we were down, and to win that kind of boosted our confidence.”
The Mustangs’ season-ending loss at sectionals was another strong showing, a 1-0 loss to Naperville North.
“Just looking back over all the season,” Buranosky said, “how close we got and all that was probably more memorable than the accomplishments that we had.
“I’m really proud of our team for our regional play,” Buranosky added. “And even in some of the conference games (in the DVC): we had such a tough season last year (0-3-1 record in conference) and in previous seasons, just because the teams we play are so good.”
Several strikers on those DVC squads were a particular test for the Metea defense.
“Definitely Waubonsie (Valley) and Naperville North had some of the best forwards we had to go through,” Buranosky said. “From Waubonsie, Grace Setter and Megan Burling were very tough to play.
“We played against each other kind of my whole life through different club teams, so we know of each other and how we play. They’re both very good forwards, and both committed to (play at) colleges.
“And Naperville North,” Buranosky added. “Me and Dawson actually play with Hannah Martin on travel. She‘s a very good forward, but since we play with her in club (for Galaxy in Naperville), we all kind of know how each other play. So that kind of helped us, just to be more relaxed knowing that ‘We can do this.’”
“I know we struggled some last year with the offensive part,” Buranosky added, “but we understood how to shut down teams and we also knew the other teams and how they scored. We just tried to prevent their top scorers from even getting a chance at any good shot. I think that helped us.”
As her high school career progressed from freshman newcomer, Buranosky was helped by developing an individual can-do attitude.
“I think I improved just with my communication skills and being more of a leader, because freshman and sophomore year I was more shy,” Buranosky said. “I didn’t want to say anything that would upset the upperclassmen, and I didn’t want to do anything that would tick anyone off.
“I was kind of more reserved. And then as I got older in junior and senior year, I became more like, ‘The things I say can be helpful for some people, so I need to start doing that.’ And my coaches also encouraged me and gave me a lot of good feedback that has helped me a lot. I think that helped me grow as an individual, not just on the soccer field. I think that’s made me into who I am today.
“In soccer obviously everyone has bad games,” Buranosky added, “but you can always control what you say to teammates to push them and motivate them. I’m kind of a goofy person, so I always try to make people laugh and bring energy so everyone else can be more pumped up.
“I think that helped. And my teammates always encouraged me too. It was kind of a back and forth, team atmosphere type of thing.”
Despite downplaying her basketball skills, Buranosky was a solid contributor to that team as well. Fittingly, that was especially true on defense: she led the team in steals (2.0 per game) as a junior.
“Basketball was something I did for fun,” said Buranosky, who was also teammates with Coryell on that team, “and it kind of took my mind away from soccer.
“You use different muscles; it was just a whole different game. I’ve played soccer my whole life so I definitely love soccer a lot more. I used basketball as a way to prepare for the soccer season, and I was able to balance it out (academics with soccer and basketball) because I love playing sports.”
Unfortunately COVID-19 would prematurely end Buranosky’s Metea career. Shortly after practice began, soccer season was first delayed and then called off.
“At first it was hard,” Buranosky said, “but over the next few weeks we kind of accepted it.”
And rather than mourn the lost season, the Mustangs have refocused.
“Our team has been so good doing Zoom calls once or twice a week,” Buranosky said. “Our coach split the team into groups. Each captain took a group, and we’ve been doing team challenges involving fitness and juggling and all those things.
“And also a few of my teammates set up a drive to donate to the Hesed House (homeless shelter) and Edward Hospital. We were able to donate a lot of things, over 90 different bags of items.
“So we’ve been trying to stay involved with each other and our community as much as we can,” Buranosky added. “It’s unfortunate we can’t play soccer, but I think we accepted it and are just trying to stay in touch now.”
The lost 2020 season didn’t alter Buranosky’s future plans.
“I’m going to Michigan State but I won’t be playing soccer there,” said Buranosky, who plans to major in nursing at the East Lansing, Mich. school. “I’ll probably join the club team or intramural team.
“I listed the pros and cons of playing (college) soccer, and I realized I wanted to go to college: one, for academics; and two, for the college atmosphere. I didn’t want soccer to be all I had and all I did.
“I’m OK with leaving soccer,” she added. “It’s not like the end (of playing), but I won’t do it on an everyday competitive basis. I think realizing that made me more accepting of not playing (college) soccer. I’m happy with my choice.”
The same happiness applies to her four years at Metea Valley.
“Being in this program has been amazing,” Buranosky said. “You do things not for yourself: it’s a team-based thing, and I love that because you’re not focused on what you do but more on the team and other people around you.
“It’s made me realize that there’s so much more to life than soccer or basketball.”
of Metea Valley experiences
By Dave Owen
To understand how Paige Buranosky developed into an Chicagoland Soccer All-State defender at Metea Valley, one can start on the basketball court.
“My role (in basketball) was definitely to be the one with the energy,” said Buranosky, a guard for the Mustangs’ varsity hoops squad who averaged 3.2 points per game as a junior and 2.7 points a contest this past winter.
“I was not that good at basketball. I played, but skill-wise and scoring-wise I was one of the lower ranked girls on the team.
“But whenever I got on the court,” Buranosky added, “I would always sprint to every ball and work hard. And even on the bench I would always cheer and all that. I think I helped push my teammates more than just playing.”
The combination of that humble, team-first attitude and extra effort energy level that Buranosky displayed in that comment served her very well in her strongest sport, soccer.
Stepping right in as a starting defender freshman year, Buranosky was a central part of three-straight regional championship teams at Metea Valley.
“My role on the team (freshman year) was kind of small, because I was an outside back and I didn’t really know my role as a freshman,” she said. “But the next year when the senior center backs (from 2017) had graduated, we didn’t have anyone to play there. So coach (Chris) Whaley made me and Nicole Dawson into center backs.
“And ever since then, we’ve stuck with that position,” Buranosky added. “And it’s kind of shaped us into being more leaders on the team, just because we’re in the center of the field, and we see everything. It was hard to adapt at first, but I think over the two years of playing that position we kind of got used to it. And better.”
And when it came to getting better, Buranosky was eager to learn.
“The positive feedback is always good, but I needed the criticism too,” Buranosky said. “I always loved when (coaches) would tell me what I needed to work on, because I always wanted to fix my game and try to make the next game better than the previous game.
“I’m always hard on myself. Sometimes I lack the confidence, and just knowing what I need to work on or what I did good can really go a long way for me. I always loved the feedback coaches gave me, and even my teammates.”
With a talented and vocal goalkeeper in Valparaiso-bound Nikki Coryell also a defensive staple, the Metea defense had feedback, skill and experience in ample supply.
“The three of us (Buranosky, Dawson and Coryell) are so close, and not even on a soccer level but as friends,” Buranosky said. “All four of us seniors (adding in four-year varsity forward Sydney Rohm), over the past few years we’ve gotten so close. And I think playing soccer, that grew even more.
“We knew where each other were: sometimes we didn’t even have to say anything. Just playing with ‘Daws’ next to me, we know each other. We know if I step, she’ll have my back, and if she steps I’ll have her back. And Nikki (Coryell) behind us is probably one of the best communicators I’ve ever known.
“The backline and Nikki worked really well together,” Buranosky added, “and we owed Nikki a lot for that. Just because she helped us stay organized so much, and she honestly saved us so many times too. I would honestly mainly thank Nikki. But our team in general has been a very defensive team.”
The results were impressive, year after year.
In 2017, the Mustangs defense allowed just four goals in the last 12 games of the season. With current DePaul player Jade Eriksen-Russo leading the offense, that Metea squad produced a 16-4-4 record.
A string of four-straight shutouts late in 2018 (two of them in regional games) helped Metea Valley cap a 14-win season that year.
Last year, the Mustangs held a 7-8-2 record in early May. Then a 1-0 win over Naperville North (the Huskies’ final loss of 2019 en route to the Class 3A state title) began another strong late run that produced an eventual 11-9-2 record.
In all three years, Metea Valley won regional titles – extending a streak that goes back to 2014.
“I think our mindsets just changed,” Buranosky said of the Mustangs’ tradition of playoff success. “We understood (in postseason) that this could be our last game ever, we have to go out realizing that we go home (with a loss).
“That mindset just started to kick in for people, and I think at the end of the season it became more real, I guess. That ‘This could be our last game ever playing together,’ and for the seniors especially. Just knowing that, we were able to focus, and I think it made our practices a lot better and games so much better.”
Metea Valley’s playoff focus was put to the test last year.
“We were down a goal, it was muddy and rainy in a regional game last year (at Lockport),” Buranosky said. “It was back and forth, and we ended up winning (2-1 on goals by Kiley McKee and Jocey Grabow).
“That was a proud moment, just because as a team we were down, and to win that kind of boosted our confidence.”
The Mustangs’ season-ending loss at sectionals was another strong showing, a 1-0 loss to Naperville North.
“Just looking back over all the season,” Buranosky said, “how close we got and all that was probably more memorable than the accomplishments that we had.
“I’m really proud of our team for our regional play,” Buranosky added. “And even in some of the conference games (in the DVC): we had such a tough season last year (0-3-1 record in conference) and in previous seasons, just because the teams we play are so good.”
Several strikers on those DVC squads were a particular test for the Metea defense.
“Definitely Waubonsie (Valley) and Naperville North had some of the best forwards we had to go through,” Buranosky said. “From Waubonsie, Grace Setter and Megan Burling were very tough to play.
“We played against each other kind of my whole life through different club teams, so we know of each other and how we play. They’re both very good forwards, and both committed to (play at) colleges.
“And Naperville North,” Buranosky added. “Me and Dawson actually play with Hannah Martin on travel. She‘s a very good forward, but since we play with her in club (for Galaxy in Naperville), we all kind of know how each other play. So that kind of helped us, just to be more relaxed knowing that ‘We can do this.’”
“I know we struggled some last year with the offensive part,” Buranosky added, “but we understood how to shut down teams and we also knew the other teams and how they scored. We just tried to prevent their top scorers from even getting a chance at any good shot. I think that helped us.”
As her high school career progressed from freshman newcomer, Buranosky was helped by developing an individual can-do attitude.
“I think I improved just with my communication skills and being more of a leader, because freshman and sophomore year I was more shy,” Buranosky said. “I didn’t want to say anything that would upset the upperclassmen, and I didn’t want to do anything that would tick anyone off.
“I was kind of more reserved. And then as I got older in junior and senior year, I became more like, ‘The things I say can be helpful for some people, so I need to start doing that.’ And my coaches also encouraged me and gave me a lot of good feedback that has helped me a lot. I think that helped me grow as an individual, not just on the soccer field. I think that’s made me into who I am today.
“In soccer obviously everyone has bad games,” Buranosky added, “but you can always control what you say to teammates to push them and motivate them. I’m kind of a goofy person, so I always try to make people laugh and bring energy so everyone else can be more pumped up.
“I think that helped. And my teammates always encouraged me too. It was kind of a back and forth, team atmosphere type of thing.”
Despite downplaying her basketball skills, Buranosky was a solid contributor to that team as well. Fittingly, that was especially true on defense: she led the team in steals (2.0 per game) as a junior.
“Basketball was something I did for fun,” said Buranosky, who was also teammates with Coryell on that team, “and it kind of took my mind away from soccer.
“You use different muscles; it was just a whole different game. I’ve played soccer my whole life so I definitely love soccer a lot more. I used basketball as a way to prepare for the soccer season, and I was able to balance it out (academics with soccer and basketball) because I love playing sports.”
Unfortunately COVID-19 would prematurely end Buranosky’s Metea career. Shortly after practice began, soccer season was first delayed and then called off.
“At first it was hard,” Buranosky said, “but over the next few weeks we kind of accepted it.”
And rather than mourn the lost season, the Mustangs have refocused.
“Our team has been so good doing Zoom calls once or twice a week,” Buranosky said. “Our coach split the team into groups. Each captain took a group, and we’ve been doing team challenges involving fitness and juggling and all those things.
“And also a few of my teammates set up a drive to donate to the Hesed House (homeless shelter) and Edward Hospital. We were able to donate a lot of things, over 90 different bags of items.
“So we’ve been trying to stay involved with each other and our community as much as we can,” Buranosky added. “It’s unfortunate we can’t play soccer, but I think we accepted it and are just trying to stay in touch now.”
The lost 2020 season didn’t alter Buranosky’s future plans.
“I’m going to Michigan State but I won’t be playing soccer there,” said Buranosky, who plans to major in nursing at the East Lansing, Mich. school. “I’ll probably join the club team or intramural team.
“I listed the pros and cons of playing (college) soccer, and I realized I wanted to go to college: one, for academics; and two, for the college atmosphere. I didn’t want soccer to be all I had and all I did.
“I’m OK with leaving soccer,” she added. “It’s not like the end (of playing), but I won’t do it on an everyday competitive basis. I think realizing that made me more accepting of not playing (college) soccer. I’m happy with my choice.”
The same happiness applies to her four years at Metea Valley.
“Being in this program has been amazing,” Buranosky said. “You do things not for yourself: it’s a team-based thing, and I love that because you’re not focused on what you do but more on the team and other people around you.
“It’s made me realize that there’s so much more to life than soccer or basketball.”