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DeKalb
Head coach: PJ Hamilton (fifth season)
Last season: 12-10-1, lost IHSA 3A Regional Championship to Dundee-Crown
Top returners: Matt Tuszynski, sr., MF; Seth Hess, sr., F; Gustavo Mendez, sr., D; Josh De Los Santos, sr., D.
Top newcomers: Daniel Blancas, sr., F.
Worth noting: The DeKalb boys soccer program played 13 mini-games over the summer to get a feel for where they were at as a program. While this team is led by seniors, they are not as experienced with in-game situational play. Jack Ager, Jaysen Quintero and Diego Rivas made great strides over the summer to put themselves in the conversation to be in coach PJ Hamilton’s starting 11 this fall.
“If we can understand what it takes to be successful on a day-to-day basis, we can be really competitive this year,” Hamilton said. “The DuPage Valley Conference is dangerous. It’s arguably the best soccer conference in the state of Illinois. We tell them to go play free. We’re okay with young men making mistakes on the field. We want them to make quick decisions. I think we’ve shown that we can compete with these bigger schools.”
Sycamore
Coach: Kevin Bickley (second season)
Last season: 14-12-1, 7-0, Interstate Eight Conference, lost to Lemont in a sectional semifinal
Top returners: Ethan Royer, sr.; Carson Matthews, sr.; Jameson Carl, jr.; Chandler Gatbunton, jr.; Liam Tran, jr.
Top newcomers: Henry Bumpus, jr.; Joey Rosenow, jr.; Rocco Lomonaco, jr.; Aiden Sears, soph.
Worth noting: Despite losing 11 players to graduation from last year’s squad, Spartans coach Kevin Bickley expects this team to compete for a regional championship. The Spartans had a productive summer when Bickley noted the physical and skill development of junior midfielder Jameson Carl.
“Physically, [Carl] got bigger and his confidence on the ball has been amazing,” Bickley said. “He really trained hard with DKCU in the offseason and it really shows.”
The Spartans kick off their season at 4 p.m. Tuesday with a non-conference match against Batavia.
Kaneland
Head coach: Scott Parillo (22nd season)
Last season: 14-9-2, 6-1, Interstate Eight Conference, lost to Sycamore in a regional final
Top returners: Sam Keen, sr., MF; Tommy Watson, sr., D; Izack Patino, sr., D; Michael Happ, sr., MF.
Top newcomer: Javony Ruiz, jr.
Worth noting: Sam Keen and Michael Happ had a great summer for the Knights according to head coach Scott Parillo. The veteran coach said that staying healthy will be key for his group if they are going to make a deep run in the state playoffs. But before that, Parillo has a checklist of sorts: Win the Body Armour series, win the Interstate Eight Conference title and then, win their regional.
Genoa-Kingston
Head coach: Thomas Moore (first season)
Last season: 18-5, 5-0 Big Northern Conference, lost to Westminster Christian in a sectional semifinal
Top returners: Jay Wolcott, sr., F; Santi Tomlinson, sr., MF; Brandon Wolcott, jr., D.
Top newcomers: Ayden Hernandez, fresh., MF.
Worth noting: Rookie head coach Thomas Moore has an exciting crew this season as the Genoa-Kingston boys soccer team looks to repeat as Big Northern Conference champions. Moore said that this team reloaded and is stocked with talent.
“This summer I was pleasantly surprised by the desire and skill of the underclassmen,” Moore said. “They will need to step up to fill the spots left by the 11 seniors that graduated last year. If my team can come together with the many new faces we can win conference and regionals for the third year in a row.”
Hinckley-Big Rock
Head coach: Scott Bastian (first season)
Last season: 7-17-1, 1-4 Little 10 Conference, lost to Mooseheart in a regional play-in
Top returners: Josh Badal, sr., MF; Daniel Hutchinson, sr., MF; Michael Murphy, sr., MF; Landon Roop, sr.,S; Tyler Smith, sr., S.
Top newcomers: Luke Badal, soph., D; Alex Casanas, soph., GK; Jacob Orin, soph., D; Sawyer Smith, soph., MF.
Worth noting: Head coach Scott Bastian brings over 30 years of experience coaching soccer at nearly every level in Hinckley-Big Rock to the table for a Royals squad that has a lot of experience. This isn’t Basitian’s first experience coaching this bunch either, as he coached some of the team in middle school a few years back. Seniors Danny McNamee and both Tyler and Sawyer Smith were fixtures at the HBR summer camps, improving their skills and helping coach the younger HBR players at the camps. This is the kind of culture Bastian is looking to build as the Royals work to climb the Little 10 Conference standings this year.
Indian Creek
Head coach: Nic Gaston (third season)
Last season: 1-21-1, 0-6, Little Ten Conference, lost to Westminster Christian in a regional semifinal
Top returners: Tyler Bogle, jr., S; Jacob Coulter, jr., GK; Cayden Gaston, jr., MF; Jakob McNally, sr., MF; Kason Murry, jr., MF; Lucas Odle, sr., MF; Logan Shrader, soph., MF.
Top newcomers: Sean Acker. frosh., F; Antonio Bonilla, soph., F; Jason Brewer, frosh., F; David Mandak, jr., F; Parker Murry, frosh., F; Cooper Rissman, soph., MF; Cooper Simonson, frosh., GK/F; Isaac Willis, frosh., F.
Worth noting: It has been a rough couple of seasons since third-year coach Nic Gaston took over an Indian Creek soccer program that was very top heavy, graduating 10 of their 11 starters. Coming into year three of the rebuild, the Timberwolves only lost one senior from last season and added 12 new players to the program. Gaston hopes that this year the team can take a big step forward and finish around the .500 mark, competing at a much higher level in the Little Ten Conference