Girls Soccer: ‘She’s doing some great things’ Sophomore Emily Petring enjoying super debut season for undefeated Downers Grove South

Emily Petring was one of five freshmen who made the Downers Grove South varsity soccer team in 2020.

That season, of course, was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But Petring made the most of her down time. She and her older sister, Taylor, were regular visitors to the school fields, where they spent countless hours practicing 1-on-1 drills.

Taylor, who just completed her redshirt freshman season at Newberry College, a Division II school in South Carolina, was a three-year varsity player for the Mustangs at outside back.

“During quarantine, when the whole pandemic started happening, we got out every day and came here, even when there were no goals (set up), and she worked me,” Petring said. “She defended me while I was trying to score. She worked me hard.”

Maybe that hard work is the reason why Petring has made scoring look easy this spring. The sophomore forward has tallied 17 goals and five assists in her first 11 high school games.

“For a sophomore it’s impressive,” Downers Grove South coach Chris Hernandez said. “She is an athletic, dynamic player.

“Her biggest strength is her mentality and understanding of what it means to play at this level.”

Petring is the catalyst of an explosive offense. The Mustangs (10-0) have outscored their opponents 57-6 and have already clinched the West Suburban Conference Gold Division championship.

While Petring never got the chance to play with star attackers Jordan Rose and Maddie Raftery, who graduated last year after combing for 37 goals in 2019, she did glean plenty of advice from the Division I players.

“They really taught me to be physical and the simple things like play your best, try your hardest,” Petring said. “It made me work harder.”

The hard work has paid off. Petring has recorded three hat tricks, and they haven’t all been against weak teams.

The Mustangs rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Oak Park 6-3 on May 6. Petring had three of South’s five unanswered goals.

Petring came through in the clutch again on May 13 in a 3-2 victory over Morton. The Mustangs trailed twice but Petring scored the game-tying goal in the second half and assisted on Mallory Qualizza’s game-winning goal in overtime.

“The IQ portion of how she moves in her runs and how to support teammates, that kind of sets her apart,” Hernandez said. “You add that with the natural technical ability that she has, she’s doing some great things as a sophomore.”

Petring said she gets her soccer skills from her mother, Kelly, who played college soccer at Lewis. Her father, Brian, played football at Kansas and Colorado State and is a special education teacher at Downers South.

Petring clearly has the goods to be a special player and wants to play in college one day and is thinking about majoring in engineering or forensic science. But at the moment she’s just savoring the chance to play.

“I just come out here and work the hardest I can and try to get better every single day,” Petring said. “I like playing with all my teammates.

“They’re like my best friends. Honestly, (playing soccer) is the best thing I’ve ever chosen.”