Timothy Christian’s Drye family enjoys ‘full-circle moment’ in run to fourth place at IHSA Class 1A state

NAPERVILLE – The last time Timothy Christian played in the Class 1A state finals, in 2021, Nate Drye was in the stands with his youngest daughter, Samantha, to watch his oldest daughter, Madison, lead the Trojans to a second-place finish.

On Friday, Nate and Samantha were on the field and Madison was watching from the stands as the Trojans received the fourth-place trophy following a 4-0 loss to Williamsville in the third-place match at North Central College.

[ Photos:Timothy Christian vs. Williamsville, IHSA Class 1A state third-place match ]

It was a full-circle moment for the family, especially Nate Drye, who became Timothy’s coach last season, one year after Madison graduated. Madison now plays basketball at Taylor University.

“My oldest, Madison, went to state and finished second in her sophomore year,” Nate Drye said. “So when the playoffs started, we talked about it would be nice to bookend the sisters with a trip to state Sam’s senior year. It actually happened, so that was really awesome.”

Nate Drye was the boys basketball coach at Aurora Central Catholic for 17 years, but he’s also coached soccer at various levels for two decades. He coaches his son, Dylan, a sophomore who plays soccer and basketball at Timothy, in club soccer.

But coaching Samantha’s high school team has been meaningful for Nate Drye.

“It’s been the thrill of my life,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better season.

“We just have great girls. They play hard, they get along, they encourage each other, and Sam is a great leader of all that. I’m just blessed to be a part of it and I couldn’t be any more blessed to lead this program.”

Samantha Drye, a senior midfielder, led the Trojans (16-5-2) on the field, serving as a co-captain with senior defender Amanda Schnurr and sophomore midfielder Mia Schilf. She scored nine goals, including the game-winner with 10 seconds left in the second overtime to beat Chicago U-High 1-0 in the supersectional, and a team-high 18 assists.

“She had a knack for making the crucial pass at the crucial time and then she also had a knack for scoring big goals,” Nate Drye said. “She just did a great job all year.”

Samantha Drye had fun all year, too.

“It’s really awesome,” Samantha Drye said. “It’s really cool to be able to set people up and it’s really cool to have teammates that finish those goals and just being able to trust each other and know that’s going to happen.”

Samantha Drye got to play with her sister for her first two years with the Trojans, then played for her father in her last two. She considers herself doubly lucky for that.

“My dad has coached me my whole life and he coached sports for a long time before we were born, so I’ve always looked up to him,” Samantha Drye said. “He knows a lot of stuff about a lot of different sports, so it’s just been really cool to have someone who is always going to support you.”

Like her sister, Samantha Drye will play a different sport in college. She’s headed to Asbury University, a Division III school in Kentucky, to play tennis and double major in accounting and actuarial mathematics.

“I think it’s really cool that I got to be there for her games and she was able to be here for mine, because she’s home from college,” Samantha Drye said. “It was really big for her that I got to be there for all the games.”

The father-daughter dynamic inspired other Trojans like sophomore defender Avery Croff.

“It’s been so fun seeing how well they support each other and encourage each other,” Croff said. “When Sammy had that goal to get us to state, they immediately ran to each other and that picked us all up.

“It was a hard-fought game, so to see that they were encouraging each other just really uplifts the team so much.”

Croff said Samantha Drye provided the Trojans great leadership despite having to deal with a nagging hip injury.

“I feel like no matter what she’s going through she puts in 100 percent effort every single day,” Croff said. “She tries her best, she lifts up the team and it’s amazing.”

While the Trojans fell short of their goal of capturing the first state championship in program history, they returned to Elmhurst with their third state trophy. The Drye sisters had a big role in two of them.

“It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for the last four years,” Samantha Drye said. “Ever since our freshman year, it is what we wanted, so we got it and it’s really cool.”