DeKalb Barbs

Coach: Kaylyn Brooks, third season

Last year’s record: 3-17 overall, 0-5 DuPage Valley, lost 2-1 to Lake Park in a Class 3A St. Charles East Regional play-in game.

Top returners: Ashley Hernandez, sr., D; Beth Meeks, sr., GK; Michelle Gamboa, jr., D; Ailany Padilla, jr., D; Vanessa Perez, sr., MF; Arianna Weishaar, sr., MF; Alexia Ortiz, jr., MF; Demi McNeil, jr., F; Quinn McLane, jr., F; Janice Correa, jr., MF

Key newcomers: Jaqueline Davila, fr., MF; Evenlyn Guerra-Cruz, fr., MF

Worth noting: The team has posted five total wins in the last two years, but Brooks is optimistic again about the season. Specifically, she’s hoping the Barbs will be able to put more goals up on the board. She said she thinks Davila and Guerra-Cruz will be big parts of that, generating more consistent offensive pressure and more chances for McNeil and McLane to finish. Brooks is hoping for a turnaround for a program that hasn’t won more than seven games this decade, last finished .500 during a 10-10-2 season in 2019, last had a winning record (16-7-1) in 2018 - which is also the last time it won a regional.

Sycamore Spartans

Coach: Kevin Bickley, seventh season

Last year’s record: 18-4-2 overall, 9-1 Interstate 8, lost 3-1 to Burlington Central in Class 2A Sycamore Regional championship game.

Top returners: Cortni Kruizenga, sr., F; Garce Amptmann, sr., D; Izzie Segreti, sr., MF; Marin Gautcher, jr., MF; Lizzie Goff, jr., MF; Kelsie Ryder, so., D

Key newcomers: Lana Walker, sr., GK; Addi Rodriguez, jr., MF; Kylie Runkle, jr., D; Brooke Boryla, so., D

Worth noting: After a strong regular season that included 18 wins for the second straight year, the Spartans couldn’t repeat as regional champs, bowing out in the title game 3-1 to Burlington Central. They’ll have to start the clock over again on looking for consecutive regional titles for the first time since 2018-19. They haven’t advanced past the sectional round since taking third in Class 2A in 2016. Segreti led the team with 20 goals and 18 assists, while Kruizenga is a three-time Daily Chronicle All-Area selection, the last two seasons on the first team. She scored 18 goals and had six assists last year.

Kaneland Knights

Coach: Scott Parillo

Last year’s record: 18-6-2 overall, 9-1 Interstate 8, lost to Boylan Catholic 3-0 in a Class 2A Belvidere Sectional semifinal.

Top returners: Erin Doucette, sr., MF; Kyra Lilly, sr., MF; Taylor Mills, so., F; Ana Warrington, sr., D; Olivia Davis, jr., MF/F; Sophia Rosati, jr., MF; Corinne Faivre, so., D; Lilly Guzman, jr., GK; Audrey Noring, jr., D/MF; Maya Heller, jr., D

Key newcomers: Elsie Guernon, fr., F; Arden Stoddard, fr., F

Worth noting: The Knights are loaded with starters from last year, including Daily Chronicle Player of the Year Doucette, who scored a school-record 40 goals last year. Mills scored 23 in her first high school season, and Lilly knocked home 10 after 12 the year before. The Knights can win regionals in back-to-back years for the first time since 2015-2016. They’ve advanced past the sectional round once in school history, reaching a supersectional in 2015.

Genoa-Kingston Cogs

Coach: Holly Lippold, fifth season

Last year’s record: 21-3 overall, 8-0 Big Northern Conference, lost to Alleman 4-0 in a Class 1A Rock Island Alleman Sectional semifinal

Top returners: Madelyn Swanson, sr., GK; Dulce Ibarra, sr., D; Ayva Hernandez, so., MF; Isabella Ortegel, jr., D; Mariana Osorio, jr., MF

Key newcomers: Nayeli Gonzalez, fr., F/MF; Gisselle Abonce, jr., F/MF; Olivia Leonforte, fr., F/GK

Worth noting: The Cogs had the best season in school history. They won 19 straight games, won their first BNC title, and won a regional. They’ll lose a pair of 19-goal scorers to graduation, Ally Peogel and Samantha Wendt. Hernandez had 18 goals and 10 assists, so it will be interesting to see how her game evolves this season. It will also be interesting to see how freshmen like Gonzalez and Leonforte pick up the scoring slack and adjust to the high school game.

Hinckley-Big Rock Royals

Coach: Melissa Jennings, seventh season

Last year’s record: 3-10 overall, 0-3 Little Ten, lost to IMSA 2-1 in the Class 2A Kaneland Regional play-in game

Top returners: Grace Hall, jr., D; Anna Herrmann, sr., MF/F; Alana Faz, sr., MF/F; Mia Stein, so., F; Rachel Dean, jr., GK; Lilly Martin, so., F

Key newcomers: Isabella Martinez, so., MF; Cammy Daniels, jr., MF/D

Worth noting: The Royals are again in a co-op with Leland and Somonauk and have 25 players on the roster. Jennings said they expect even more JV matches this year. Hall (H-BR) will anchor the defense while splitting time with the newly formed Hinckley-Big Rock softball team, which had also been a co-op with Somonauk. Herrmann (H-BR) will focus more on goal scoring this year, and Stein (Somonauk) and Martin (Leland) should have big offensive numbers as well - unsurprising for Martin, who was the team’s leading scorer as a freshman last year.

Note: Indian Creek does not have a varsity team this year.