McCaslin's only season at
St. Charles East unforgettable
By Dave Owen
From the time St. Charles East’s Elle McCaslin first saw a soccer ball, a scorer’s mentality was born.
“When I was younger, my mom (Erin) told me I used to score on both goals,” said McCaslin, who began playing soccer at age four. “Whatever goal was in front of me, I would shoot the ball.”
Added McCaslin with a laugh: “That’s probably why I don’t play defender.”
With the offensive numbers she consistently put up (29 goals, 15 assists last spring) and a future playing for Mississippi State University, any role but striker was really never an option.
But beyond McCaslin’s superstar offensive talents, her soccer voyage hasn’t always been smooth sailing: frequent moves around the Midwest, then what could have been some very poorly timed adversity.
One of those moves and a huge dose of the adversity coincided in the summer of 2018.
Having relocated to St. Charles from suburban Detroit after her sophomore year of high school, McCaslin’s adjustment to new surroundings soon became secondary when she suffered a torn ACL.
But as an elite scorer who never let double-teaming defenses slow her down, McCaslin wasn’t about to let a major knee injury deter her.
“Doctors had told me I’d probably be out for nine months, and I came back in 5 1/2 months,” McCaslin said.
“I had surgery Aug. 6 (of 2018), was cleared (for sports) in January, and I actually got to finish playing basketball that season with my team (at St. Charles East).”
An accelerated return was one thing. But then to slice and dice soccer defenses less than eight months after the surgery required a really special talent level and mentality.
“I just tried not to play scared,” she said, “because I knew that would hold me back. I just forgot about it (the knee injury), like nothing had happened. Then it was way easier.”
And moving to a new town in the middle of high school? Again, McCaslin focused on the upside and blocked out any negatives.
“It was difficult,” she said, “but I’ve lived in four states now so I’m used to the moving around thing.
“If you look at the positives, it’s not that hard. I met a whole new bunch of really good people, and got to experience things a lot of people don’t get to experience. Being at two high schools wasn’t the worst thing.”
If this sounds like the toughness and discipline typical of a linebacker, it comes naturally.
McCaslin’s father Brad has been a college football coach for 20 years, with his coaching stints as a defensive assistant at Nebraska-Omaha, Drake and Eastern Michigan accounting for the first three moves of her life.
When he became head coach at Benedictine University in Lisle in the spring of 2018, the family was packing its bags again.
And thanks to Elle McCaslin, St. Charles East athletic teams were the beneficiaries.
“Basketball and soccer have always been my main two sports: I don’t remember much (time) without them,” she said. “When I moved here I knew I was also going to play high school basketball. Basketball has always been one of my favorite things to do.”
McCaslin even dabbled in football a bit, serving as a kicker on the Saints’ varsity football team in 2019.
But it was the soccer pitch where she would make her main impact. And pave her way to a future of playing in the Southeastern Conference.
Yet in what was a too common theme to her junior year, even that future at Mississippi State wasn’t finalized without some drama and uncertainty.
The college search appeared settled at the end of McCaslin’s sophomore year, by which time her Michigan Jaguars club soccer team had already reached the Michigan state finals three times.
“My club coach in Michigan (Andy Richards) started the recruiting process and was there for the whole process,” McCaslin said. “He told me the (Mississippi State) coach at the time (Tom Anagnost) was one of his really close friends who he had coached with before.
“I went on a visit and fell in love with the campus. I fell in love with the coaches too.”
Then after guiding Mississippi State to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018, Anagnost took the head coaching job at the University of Illinois-Chicago in January, 2019, and was replaced by ex-Auburn assistant James Armstrong.
“There was a coaching change, so we have all-new coaches,” McCaslin said. “But they’re just as good. The new girls love them all.”
But that love didn’t come without a new courtship.
“We were a class of 11 (recruits by Anagnost), and only three of us got to stay,” McCaslin said. “The new coaches came and evaluated all the (players) that were committed (to Mississippi State) by the first coaches, and it was me and two others that they kept.
“We had to almost play for our spots again, so that was nerve-wracking. They evaluated all the girls during club season. But since I was coming back from my ACL, they watched me in a random high school game. It was like the sixth game after I got back, so it was very scary.”
But if all she had endured the previous months didn’t rattle McCaslin, knowing her potential future coaches were in attendance that April day was not going to be a deal breaker.
And averaging over a goal per game in St. Charles East’s 22-6-0 season, McCaslin impressed the Bulldogs brass just as she did every Illinois prep coach and player she faced.
Along with, of course, Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo.
“Elle proved last year that she is one of, if not the most effective player in our state,” DiNuzzo said. “She has the ability to break down the opponents backline, create something out of nothing and change a game with her athleticism.”
McCaslin sees one aspect of that athleticism as the key to success.
“I think my height (5-foot-11) definitely gives me an advantage,” she said. “Because most defenders aren’t very tall, being able to use that definitely helps.”
And beyond the obvious talent, there are intangibles.
“What makes Elle a joy to be around is her selflessness and her ability to be a good teammate,” DiNuzzo said.
That showed when she was asked about the highlights of her junior season, in which earned her Chicagoland Soccer and IHSSCA All-State honors. She also claimed the IHSSCA Player of the Year honor in her first Illinois season and a United Soccer Coaches All-American.
“I’d definitely say my team: we were so close,” McCaslin said. “And also coming to a team that won a lot of games was definitely very fun.
“My Michigan team won a lot too (two district titles in high school), but it was different here. I’d say the competition being different was probably the biggest thing.”
McCaslin arrived in Michigan from Iowa in the summer before seventh grade, as Drake head coach Chris Creighton took the Eastern Michigan job that year and brought McCaslin’s father (the defensive coordinator) with him from Des Moines.
Those four years in the Detroit suburb of Plymouth gave her a good basis of comparison to sports in Illinois.
“I would say Michigan soccer definitely wasn’t as competitive as it is here high school-wise,” McCaslin said, “but club I think is the same. I still got to play a few more Michigan teams when we went to (club) tournaments, but high school soccer I’d say is way better here.
“In basketball I think Michigan was better because of where we were (suburban Detroit). There was more, I guess, focus on basketball, and soccer wasn’t as big. Basketball is one of the main sports there.”
As her soccer future began to take shape early in high school, McCaslin was also grateful for the support she got on the basketball court.
“My basketball coach in Michigan (Ryan Ballard) was almost like a second dad to me,” she said. “He even helped me with the recruitment process, and it was really good to have him as a coach because he supported me with everything.
“Missing time for soccer, he didn’t punish me or anything. Soccer was always the first priority, and he understood that.”
After two seasons of basketball at St. Charles East, McCaslin had one more sports season to look forward to in March: soccer.
And with a strong nucleus of returning players back from last year, the Saints appeared well positioned for their best run at a state title since winning it in 2000.
Then in mid-March, COVID-19 closed schools and resulted in the delay and then cancellation of the 2020 spring season.
“It’s hard to know that we got so close as a team (this season) and then never got a chance to play,” McCaslin said. “We had a really talented team this year, and we didn’t get to showcase that, which everyone is really bummed out about.”
Whatever huge success was denied this spring, McCaslin could savor one championship moment with teammates on the soccer field.
Last summer, she joined St. Charles East seniors Megan Stout and Alondra Carranza on the Campton United 19U 2001 Premier team that won the Illinois State Cup last fall.
“I’ve been to the state finals (in club) four years in a row now (three in Michigan),” McCaslin said, “and we had always taken second place by one goal, so winning it was definitely fun.
“We won the (title) game 3-0, and once we scored first, we kind of thought it was over. It was fun after four years finally winning one.”
St. Charles East juniors Hannah Miller and Lindsey Rzeszutko are also in the Campton United club program.
“High school was the first time we had played together,” McCaslin said, “but then going back into club (last summer) and having them all know how I played, rather than starting on a whole another team and having to learn how to play how to play with each other was definitely easier.”
Due to the pandemic,the Campton 2001 Premier squad will apparently miss its chance to repeat its State Cup title this summer in Bloomington. But like past challenges, McCaslin hopes to head to Mississippi State and return to the field from the COVID-19 delay stronger than ever.
“I think it definitely motivates me, now that I’ve been off for so long,” she said.Defensive attitude pays off for Metea's Buranosky
By Dave Owen
To understand how Paige Buranosky developed into an all-state soccer 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 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 back line 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, the COVID-19 virus 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.”
St. Charles East unforgettable
By Dave Owen
From the time St. Charles East’s Elle McCaslin first saw a soccer ball, a scorer’s mentality was born.
“When I was younger, my mom (Erin) told me I used to score on both goals,” said McCaslin, who began playing soccer at age four. “Whatever goal was in front of me, I would shoot the ball.”
Added McCaslin with a laugh: “That’s probably why I don’t play defender.”
With the offensive numbers she consistently put up (29 goals, 15 assists last spring) and a future playing for Mississippi State University, any role but striker was really never an option.
But beyond McCaslin’s superstar offensive talents, her soccer voyage hasn’t always been smooth sailing: frequent moves around the Midwest, then what could have been some very poorly timed adversity.
One of those moves and a huge dose of the adversity coincided in the summer of 2018.
Having relocated to St. Charles from suburban Detroit after her sophomore year of high school, McCaslin’s adjustment to new surroundings soon became secondary when she suffered a torn ACL.
But as an elite scorer who never let double-teaming defenses slow her down, McCaslin wasn’t about to let a major knee injury deter her.
“Doctors had told me I’d probably be out for nine months, and I came back in 5 1/2 months,” McCaslin said.
“I had surgery Aug. 6 (of 2018), was cleared (for sports) in January, and I actually got to finish playing basketball that season with my team (at St. Charles East).”
An accelerated return was one thing. But then to slice and dice soccer defenses less than eight months after the surgery required a really special talent level and mentality.
“I just tried not to play scared,” she said, “because I knew that would hold me back. I just forgot about it (the knee injury), like nothing had happened. Then it was way easier.”
And moving to a new town in the middle of high school? Again, McCaslin focused on the upside and blocked out any negatives.
“It was difficult,” she said, “but I’ve lived in four states now so I’m used to the moving around thing.
“If you look at the positives, it’s not that hard. I met a whole new bunch of really good people, and got to experience things a lot of people don’t get to experience. Being at two high schools wasn’t the worst thing.”
If this sounds like the toughness and discipline typical of a linebacker, it comes naturally.
McCaslin’s father Brad has been a college football coach for 20 years, with his coaching stints as a defensive assistant at Nebraska-Omaha, Drake and Eastern Michigan accounting for the first three moves of her life.
When he became head coach at Benedictine University in Lisle in the spring of 2018, the family was packing its bags again.
And thanks to Elle McCaslin, St. Charles East athletic teams were the beneficiaries.
“Basketball and soccer have always been my main two sports: I don’t remember much (time) without them,” she said. “When I moved here I knew I was also going to play high school basketball. Basketball has always been one of my favorite things to do.”
McCaslin even dabbled in football a bit, serving as a kicker on the Saints’ varsity football team in 2019.
But it was the soccer pitch where she would make her main impact. And pave her way to a future of playing in the Southeastern Conference.
Yet in what was a too common theme to her junior year, even that future at Mississippi State wasn’t finalized without some drama and uncertainty.
The college search appeared settled at the end of McCaslin’s sophomore year, by which time her Michigan Jaguars club soccer team had already reached the Michigan state finals three times.
“My club coach in Michigan (Andy Richards) started the recruiting process and was there for the whole process,” McCaslin said. “He told me the (Mississippi State) coach at the time (Tom Anagnost) was one of his really close friends who he had coached with before.
“I went on a visit and fell in love with the campus. I fell in love with the coaches too.”
Then after guiding Mississippi State to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018, Anagnost took the head coaching job at the University of Illinois-Chicago in January, 2019, and was replaced by ex-Auburn assistant James Armstrong.
“There was a coaching change, so we have all-new coaches,” McCaslin said. “But they’re just as good. The new girls love them all.”
But that love didn’t come without a new courtship.
“We were a class of 11 (recruits by Anagnost), and only three of us got to stay,” McCaslin said. “The new coaches came and evaluated all the (players) that were committed (to Mississippi State) by the first coaches, and it was me and two others that they kept.
“We had to almost play for our spots again, so that was nerve-wracking. They evaluated all the girls during club season. But since I was coming back from my ACL, they watched me in a random high school game. It was like the sixth game after I got back, so it was very scary.”
But if all she had endured the previous months didn’t rattle McCaslin, knowing her potential future coaches were in attendance that April day was not going to be a deal breaker.
And averaging over a goal per game in St. Charles East’s 22-6-0 season, McCaslin impressed the Bulldogs brass just as she did every Illinois prep coach and player she faced.
Along with, of course, Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo.
“Elle proved last year that she is one of, if not the most effective player in our state,” DiNuzzo said. “She has the ability to break down the opponents backline, create something out of nothing and change a game with her athleticism.”
McCaslin sees one aspect of that athleticism as the key to success.
“I think my height (5-foot-11) definitely gives me an advantage,” she said. “Because most defenders aren’t very tall, being able to use that definitely helps.”
And beyond the obvious talent, there are intangibles.
“What makes Elle a joy to be around is her selflessness and her ability to be a good teammate,” DiNuzzo said.
That showed when she was asked about the highlights of her junior season, in which earned her Chicagoland Soccer and IHSSCA All-State honors. She also claimed the IHSSCA Player of the Year honor in her first Illinois season and a United Soccer Coaches All-American.
“I’d definitely say my team: we were so close,” McCaslin said. “And also coming to a team that won a lot of games was definitely very fun.
“My Michigan team won a lot too (two district titles in high school), but it was different here. I’d say the competition being different was probably the biggest thing.”
McCaslin arrived in Michigan from Iowa in the summer before seventh grade, as Drake head coach Chris Creighton took the Eastern Michigan job that year and brought McCaslin’s father (the defensive coordinator) with him from Des Moines.
Those four years in the Detroit suburb of Plymouth gave her a good basis of comparison to sports in Illinois.
“I would say Michigan soccer definitely wasn’t as competitive as it is here high school-wise,” McCaslin said, “but club I think is the same. I still got to play a few more Michigan teams when we went to (club) tournaments, but high school soccer I’d say is way better here.
“In basketball I think Michigan was better because of where we were (suburban Detroit). There was more, I guess, focus on basketball, and soccer wasn’t as big. Basketball is one of the main sports there.”
As her soccer future began to take shape early in high school, McCaslin was also grateful for the support she got on the basketball court.
“My basketball coach in Michigan (Ryan Ballard) was almost like a second dad to me,” she said. “He even helped me with the recruitment process, and it was really good to have him as a coach because he supported me with everything.
“Missing time for soccer, he didn’t punish me or anything. Soccer was always the first priority, and he understood that.”
After two seasons of basketball at St. Charles East, McCaslin had one more sports season to look forward to in March: soccer.
And with a strong nucleus of returning players back from last year, the Saints appeared well positioned for their best run at a state title since winning it in 2000.
Then in mid-March, COVID-19 closed schools and resulted in the delay and then cancellation of the 2020 spring season.
“It’s hard to know that we got so close as a team (this season) and then never got a chance to play,” McCaslin said. “We had a really talented team this year, and we didn’t get to showcase that, which everyone is really bummed out about.”
Whatever huge success was denied this spring, McCaslin could savor one championship moment with teammates on the soccer field.
Last summer, she joined St. Charles East seniors Megan Stout and Alondra Carranza on the Campton United 19U 2001 Premier team that won the Illinois State Cup last fall.
“I’ve been to the state finals (in club) four years in a row now (three in Michigan),” McCaslin said, “and we had always taken second place by one goal, so winning it was definitely fun.
“We won the (title) game 3-0, and once we scored first, we kind of thought it was over. It was fun after four years finally winning one.”
St. Charles East juniors Hannah Miller and Lindsey Rzeszutko are also in the Campton United club program.
“High school was the first time we had played together,” McCaslin said, “but then going back into club (last summer) and having them all know how I played, rather than starting on a whole another team and having to learn how to play how to play with each other was definitely easier.”
Due to the pandemic,the Campton 2001 Premier squad will apparently miss its chance to repeat its State Cup title this summer in Bloomington. But like past challenges, McCaslin hopes to head to Mississippi State and return to the field from the COVID-19 delay stronger than ever.
“I think it definitely motivates me, now that I’ve been off for so long,” she said.Defensive attitude pays off for Metea's Buranosky
By Dave Owen
To understand how Paige Buranosky developed into an all-state soccer 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 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 back line 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, the COVID-19 virus 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.”