Notebook: Crystal Lake South, Hampshire
By Jared Birchfield
Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) named Crystal Lake South’s Tom Coughlin as the 2020-21 Under 17 Player of the Year. The Gators senior plays on the Eclipse Select SC club team.
Coughlin, a member of both Crystal Lake South’s Class AA 2018 state champion and 2019 runnerup, leads the Gators in scoring with nine goals.
Road trip
Crystal Lake South travels to play in Whitefish Bay, in Milwaukee’s north suburbs, on Saturday.
The Blue Dukes were 8-0-0 as of Sept. 19 and ranked no. 8 in the country according to internet site prepsoccer.net.
For perspective, five Illinois teams are ranked in the top 24: no. 16 Morton, no. 18 Evanston, no. 21 St. Charles East, no. 23 New Trier and no. 24 Fremd.
“We want to test ourselves and get ourselves ready for the postseason,” said Gators’ coach Brian Allen. “Playing a national power like Whitefish Bay is a great opportunity for these guys to get out of the area and play a perennial top team and see where we stack up. Plus, we get a chance to look at ourselves to see if we’re ready or if we need to improve.”
That’s not the last the Chicagoland area will hear of Whitefish Bay. The Blue Dukes will travel to Northfield to be New Trier’s homecoming opponent on Oct. 1.
A busy schedule
Although Hampshire is not going out of state or challenging a national power, the Whip-Purs have a busy week with four contests scheduled. They had back-to-back matches on Monday (an 8-0 win over North Belvidere) and Tuesday against Crystal Lake South (a 3-0 loss).
On Thursday, Hampshire travels to Crystal Lake to face Fox Valley Conference foe Crystal Lake Central and wraps up the week Saturday hosting a nonconference match with Glenbard South.
“It’s a pretty heavy week,” said Hampshire coach Chayanne Martinez. “We’ll try to do as many rotations as we can. It just that time of season where we are halfway through, and we still have a longer season to go. We just got to make sure that we don’t risk any injuries that we don’t have too.”
New player on tap
Listed as 5-foot-2 on the roster, Hampshire’s Samuel Beer may be one of the shortest players on a high school varsity roster. The sophomore starting defender has come up big for his team according to Martinez.
“It’s his first year playing at Hampshire, and we couldn’t be happier,” the coach said. “He’s very smart on the ball. He definitely helps us defensively and helps us on the attacking side as well by making quick plays and overlapping.”
By Jared Birchfield
Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) named Crystal Lake South’s Tom Coughlin as the 2020-21 Under 17 Player of the Year. The Gators senior plays on the Eclipse Select SC club team.
Coughlin, a member of both Crystal Lake South’s Class AA 2018 state champion and 2019 runnerup, leads the Gators in scoring with nine goals.
Road trip
Crystal Lake South travels to play in Whitefish Bay, in Milwaukee’s north suburbs, on Saturday.
The Blue Dukes were 8-0-0 as of Sept. 19 and ranked no. 8 in the country according to internet site prepsoccer.net.
For perspective, five Illinois teams are ranked in the top 24: no. 16 Morton, no. 18 Evanston, no. 21 St. Charles East, no. 23 New Trier and no. 24 Fremd.
“We want to test ourselves and get ourselves ready for the postseason,” said Gators’ coach Brian Allen. “Playing a national power like Whitefish Bay is a great opportunity for these guys to get out of the area and play a perennial top team and see where we stack up. Plus, we get a chance to look at ourselves to see if we’re ready or if we need to improve.”
That’s not the last the Chicagoland area will hear of Whitefish Bay. The Blue Dukes will travel to Northfield to be New Trier’s homecoming opponent on Oct. 1.
A busy schedule
Although Hampshire is not going out of state or challenging a national power, the Whip-Purs have a busy week with four contests scheduled. They had back-to-back matches on Monday (an 8-0 win over North Belvidere) and Tuesday against Crystal Lake South (a 3-0 loss).
On Thursday, Hampshire travels to Crystal Lake to face Fox Valley Conference foe Crystal Lake Central and wraps up the week Saturday hosting a nonconference match with Glenbard South.
“It’s a pretty heavy week,” said Hampshire coach Chayanne Martinez. “We’ll try to do as many rotations as we can. It just that time of season where we are halfway through, and we still have a longer season to go. We just got to make sure that we don’t risk any injuries that we don’t have too.”
New player on tap
Listed as 5-foot-2 on the roster, Hampshire’s Samuel Beer may be one of the shortest players on a high school varsity roster. The sophomore starting defender has come up big for his team according to Martinez.
“It’s his first year playing at Hampshire, and we couldn’t be happier,” the coach said. “He’s very smart on the ball. He definitely helps us defensively and helps us on the attacking side as well by making quick plays and overlapping.”