Here are five storylines for the upcoming girls soccer season in McHenry County.

Can Richmond-Burton finish the job?

The Rockets came so close to winning their first state title last season when they lost in the final two minutes against Quincy Notre Dame in the Class 1A title match. R-B looked dominant for much of the season and the Rockets were left wondering how close they were to winning it all.

Luckily for the Rockets, they bring back much of last season’s team. Seven All-Kishwaukee River Conference honorees return this season, including Player of the Year Reese Frericks, who also earned All-Sectional honors from the IHSSCA. Much of the team’s scoring power returns too, including Layne Frericks, Jordan Otto and Margaret Slove.

The Rockets have returned motivated with a business-like attitude, knowing what they want to accomplish this season. Many of them played competitive soccer across with their clubs and head coach Casey DeCaluwe said they look even better than they did in their historic season.

R-B will be challenged this season, playing larger schools like Deerfield, Lake Forest, Antioch, Grayslake Central, Prairie Ridge, Burlington Central and McHenry. DeCaluwe wanted his team to be tested throughout the season, saying they can learn more from those types of losses than a win.

How much better can Crystal Lake Central become?

The Tigers showed off their growth and talent last season, running away to a FVC title with a 8-1 conference record and winning a regional title before losing in the sectional final in a shootout. Much of that talent comes back this season, but there will be some holes to fill.

Central will need to replace three key seniors: Sam Sander, Katlin Gaunaurd and Skyler Wolfgram. All three played a major role in dominating their portion of the field to make the Tigers look like a well-oiled machine with how well they could move the ball up the field and score.

They will have major talent returning, including top goalscorers Olivia Anderson and Brooklynn Carlson. Carlson scored 18 goals and Anderson added 11, both earning All-FVC and IHSSCA All-Sectional honors. Defender Chelsea Iles made a major impression as a sophomore and goalkeeper Addison Cleary turned away almost anything she faced.

With some new faces, it’ll be interesting to see if the Tigers can take the next step and qualify for the state finals.

Can anyone else contend for the FVC title?

This season’s run for the FVC title could come down to the wire more than it did last season. The Tigers won the title at 8-1 while Cary-Grove and Dundee-Crown finished second and third, respectively, with 6-3 records.

More teams could challenge the Tigers for this season’s FVC crown. Hampshire and McHenry finished fourth and fifth, respectively, last season and are bringing back experienced squads who lost some close matches last season. Both C-G and D-C lose major players who helped them succeed last year, but they still have enough players who know how to win as well. The remaining teams in the conference are also looking to make improvements after finishing in the bottom half of the conference.

While the Tigers seem to bring back the most talent from last year’s championship team, more teams could test them throughout the season and the conference crown could come down to the final day of conference play.

New turf

McHenry County-area teams gained two new field turf teams this season. Richmond-Burton and McHenry joined Huntley in having field turf competitive fields.

Both DeCaluwe and McHenry coach Andrew Stegenga said adding field turf has been game-changing and will help them prepare for the postseason where most matches are played on field turf. McHenry’ McCracken Field will be busy with different teams competing, but Stegenga hopes to play on the turf as much as possible.

Both coaches also hope more turf matches will also help in less postponements and cancellations caused because of wet and cold spring weather.

New names, new faces

There will only be three new coaches in the McHenry County area this season. Rob Eastland returned to coach Johnsburg while Sergio Orozco took over Marengo’s program after being an assistant coach and Megan Graf became the Marian Central coach.

Eastland returned to the Skyhawks after five years away to spend more time with his family. He led Johnsburg to two state trophies during his previous stint with the program. Orozco took over the Indians program after Michelle Bartula left after one season as head coach and Graf took over for Brittany Solomon, who served as the Hurricanes coach for four seasons.