SCN juniors champing at the bit
By Gary Larsen
The futbol players in the Class of 2021 at St. Charles North are at different stages of their varsity journeys, but all were primed to make their marks on one of Illinois’ top programs before fate intervened this spring.
The canceled 2020 season figures to fuel some serious senior-year urgency for seven North Stars next season.
“That’s all we’re thinking about,” defender Makenna Collins said. “This year got taken away, and we thought we had a good chance to get to state, so next year it’s all-or-nothing.”
Coach Brian Harks will have seniors ready to compete all over the pitch next season, “and they’ll all be major contributors next year,” he said.
Collins and fellow defender Grace Barresi lead their class's core in varsity tenure, having both played as outside backs as freshmen. Barresi’s older sister Claire was a four-year North Stars’ varsity defender who graduated in 2017, and Harks knew what the program was getting when sister Grace Barresi arrived in 2018 as a freshman.
“Grace grew up watching SCN soccer and understanding what it meant,” Harks said. “Her freshman year it was clear that she was varsity-ready. She made the most of it and fit right in immediately.
“Makenna was the last varsity player chosen her freshman year. The thing that was remarkable about her is that she’s the type of player who’s a sponge. Tell her something one time, and she immediately incorporates it on the field.”
In 2019, four classmates from the class of 2021 joined Barresi and Collins on the varsity, in Bridget Wolf, Maddie Rossi, Talia Pellegrini and Sydney Stitz.
Collins and Barresi moved from the outside to the inside, with Wolf and then-senior Ali Wessel as outside defenders.
All that defensive core did was hold opponents to 70 shots in 23 games for a 19-2-1 team that only gave up 15 goals in 2019.
“Grace and Makenna played together like one person on the field,” Harks said. “They took ownership as center backs and our backline last year was phenomenal.”
Wessel provided senior leadership in back that year, and Wolf wasted little time establishing herself as a varsity player.
“Bridget started game number two as a sophomore and never looked back,” Harks said. “She’s tall, strong, fast and very smart. It didn’t take her very long to pick up the role of an outside back.”
Stitz was in the process of establishing her varsity credentials as a sophomore before an ACL injury ended her season prematurely. Stitz’s versatility will allow Harks to use her in back or at midfield in 2021.
Rossi saw time at outside mid as a sophomore and her smarts and willingness to track back defensively were impactful.
“Right off the bat in the first two weeks of this season it was clear that she was going to have a big year,” Harks said.
Midfielder Pellegrini didn’t play soccer her freshman year and began the 2019 season on the JV team until Harks saw her rip a shot inside the side netting during a game early in the season.
“I told our JV coach ‘I hope you enjoyed her because she’s up with us now,’” Harks said, “and she was a huge impact player for us at center mid last year.”
The seventh of North’s juniors this year was Bella Miteff, who was a leader on the JV last year as a sophomore. Miteff shined in practice before the coronavirus effectively canceled the 2020 season.
“She’s got a ton that she’ll bring to the team,” Collins said. “We only saw her play for about two weeks before the season got canceled, but we had a bunch of quarantine challenges going on and she really stepped up in those. She showed that she was here for the team, and she’ll give everything she has for us.”
North’s significant seven know how lucky they are to have another season in the sun to play together next year — a reality denied for the seven seniors on this year’s team.
All of the North Stars returning next year feel for seniors Sami Rydberg, Jordan Boyd, Sarah Andrey, Anna Weyman, Kellie Callaghan, Alyssa Kraft and Alyssa Mileham.
“We’re all so close as a team it’s just awful they didn’t get to experience their senior seasons,” Rossi said. “They’re all amazing people, and they’ve always been so positive and wanted people to do better and be better. They’ll be deeply missed next year.”
Barresi agreed.
“I would just say thank you for all the hard work they put in,” Barresi said of the seniors. “Especially for waking up early, setting things up for practices, and it’s really sad that they didn’t get to play their senior season.”
The new seniors hope to do those graduates proud next year, holding up a tradition as one of the state’s top high school programs.
“This (formerly) junior class has a great mixture of all the right qualities,” Harks said. “They’re super serious, driven and focused players. You can tell they truly have fun playing with each other and fighting for each other.”
Barresi, a team captain along with Collins, Rydberg, and Andrey this year, is looking forward to returning to the field in 2021.
"We're definitely already talking about next year," Barresi said. "We're so close as a team, and we're looking forward to playing SCN soccer again."
By Gary Larsen
The futbol players in the Class of 2021 at St. Charles North are at different stages of their varsity journeys, but all were primed to make their marks on one of Illinois’ top programs before fate intervened this spring.
The canceled 2020 season figures to fuel some serious senior-year urgency for seven North Stars next season.
“That’s all we’re thinking about,” defender Makenna Collins said. “This year got taken away, and we thought we had a good chance to get to state, so next year it’s all-or-nothing.”
Coach Brian Harks will have seniors ready to compete all over the pitch next season, “and they’ll all be major contributors next year,” he said.
Collins and fellow defender Grace Barresi lead their class's core in varsity tenure, having both played as outside backs as freshmen. Barresi’s older sister Claire was a four-year North Stars’ varsity defender who graduated in 2017, and Harks knew what the program was getting when sister Grace Barresi arrived in 2018 as a freshman.
“Grace grew up watching SCN soccer and understanding what it meant,” Harks said. “Her freshman year it was clear that she was varsity-ready. She made the most of it and fit right in immediately.
“Makenna was the last varsity player chosen her freshman year. The thing that was remarkable about her is that she’s the type of player who’s a sponge. Tell her something one time, and she immediately incorporates it on the field.”
In 2019, four classmates from the class of 2021 joined Barresi and Collins on the varsity, in Bridget Wolf, Maddie Rossi, Talia Pellegrini and Sydney Stitz.
Collins and Barresi moved from the outside to the inside, with Wolf and then-senior Ali Wessel as outside defenders.
All that defensive core did was hold opponents to 70 shots in 23 games for a 19-2-1 team that only gave up 15 goals in 2019.
“Grace and Makenna played together like one person on the field,” Harks said. “They took ownership as center backs and our backline last year was phenomenal.”
Wessel provided senior leadership in back that year, and Wolf wasted little time establishing herself as a varsity player.
“Bridget started game number two as a sophomore and never looked back,” Harks said. “She’s tall, strong, fast and very smart. It didn’t take her very long to pick up the role of an outside back.”
Stitz was in the process of establishing her varsity credentials as a sophomore before an ACL injury ended her season prematurely. Stitz’s versatility will allow Harks to use her in back or at midfield in 2021.
Rossi saw time at outside mid as a sophomore and her smarts and willingness to track back defensively were impactful.
“Right off the bat in the first two weeks of this season it was clear that she was going to have a big year,” Harks said.
Midfielder Pellegrini didn’t play soccer her freshman year and began the 2019 season on the JV team until Harks saw her rip a shot inside the side netting during a game early in the season.
“I told our JV coach ‘I hope you enjoyed her because she’s up with us now,’” Harks said, “and she was a huge impact player for us at center mid last year.”
The seventh of North’s juniors this year was Bella Miteff, who was a leader on the JV last year as a sophomore. Miteff shined in practice before the coronavirus effectively canceled the 2020 season.
“She’s got a ton that she’ll bring to the team,” Collins said. “We only saw her play for about two weeks before the season got canceled, but we had a bunch of quarantine challenges going on and she really stepped up in those. She showed that she was here for the team, and she’ll give everything she has for us.”
North’s significant seven know how lucky they are to have another season in the sun to play together next year — a reality denied for the seven seniors on this year’s team.
All of the North Stars returning next year feel for seniors Sami Rydberg, Jordan Boyd, Sarah Andrey, Anna Weyman, Kellie Callaghan, Alyssa Kraft and Alyssa Mileham.
“We’re all so close as a team it’s just awful they didn’t get to experience their senior seasons,” Rossi said. “They’re all amazing people, and they’ve always been so positive and wanted people to do better and be better. They’ll be deeply missed next year.”
Barresi agreed.
“I would just say thank you for all the hard work they put in,” Barresi said of the seniors. “Especially for waking up early, setting things up for practices, and it’s really sad that they didn’t get to play their senior season.”
The new seniors hope to do those graduates proud next year, holding up a tradition as one of the state’s top high school programs.
“This (formerly) junior class has a great mixture of all the right qualities,” Harks said. “They’re super serious, driven and focused players. You can tell they truly have fun playing with each other and fighting for each other.”
Barresi, a team captain along with Collins, Rydberg, and Andrey this year, is looking forward to returning to the field in 2021.
"We're definitely already talking about next year," Barresi said. "We're so close as a team, and we're looking forward to playing SCN soccer again."