On Campus: Prairie Ridge grad Chelsea Gale and La Crosse teammates crushing it on and off the field

Playing for the ninth-ranked NCAA Division III women’s soccer team in the country has provided Chelsea Gale with plenty of memorable moments.

There was the school-record 21 wins last season for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, two deep NCAA tournament runs and only seven losses in its past 64 matches. But some of her best memories have come away from the field for Gale, a junior midfielder who is a Prairie Ridge graduate.

“I like to attribute a lot of our success to how we are off the field,” she said. “That translates a lot to having so much success on the field.”

Gale said the entire team, through various activities and events, has built numerous bonds and friendships.

“That’s sometimes hard to find on a team,” she said. The result is that La Crosse (14-1-1, 6-0 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) is ranked No. 9 by the United Soccer Coaches this week and locked up its second consecutive WIAC title last weekend.

The Eagles have bonded through problem-solving exercises, obstacle courses, team hikes on local bluffs and visits from motivational speakers, including Gale’s mother, Christine, a family law attorney who discusses “any topic that touches, impacts and changes the lives of women” on her own podcast, “Girl Out of Order.”

“We do some mandatory hangouts,” Chelsea Gale said. “Mandatory never sounds fun, but this is a lot of fun. We have ice cream nights. A bunch of us will go study together. We’ll go get coffee the day of the game.

“That closeness off the field really helps us create strong relationships that are presented on the field.”

Gale, who has started 35 times over the past two seasons, played center midfield in high school but was moved to outside mid at La Crosse, which made the third round of the NCAA Tournament last season and the Elite Eight in 2021. “With the outside mid, you get to run a lot and I love running,” said Gale, who has four assists this season. “You also get a lot of one v. ones, which is also something I enjoy. I really pride myself on how much I defend.”

The Eagles have outscored opponents 42-6 this season and rank 11th nationally in goals-against average (0.375 per match).

“We have a lot of really talented individual players, even on our second line and our third line,” Gale said. “When we sub in, the level [of talent] doesn’t go down.”

La Crosse’s 51-7-6 record over the past three seasons has the team thinking big this fall.

“This year, we decided our really big goal was to win the national championship, which we’ve never decided before because that’s a really big, daunting thing to say,” Gale said. “I feel like we’ve had enough success … that we need to start believing we can win it.

“It’s been building for a long time.”

Loras soccer wears crown: Loras College locked up the D-III American Rivers Conference women’s soccer regular-season title Tuesday with a 3-1 victory against Central College.

For the third consecutive season, the Duhawks (15-1, 8-0) went undefeated in conference play. The team opens the postseason league tournament Wednesday. Loras, which has outscored opponents 54-4 this season, has a contingent of three players from the McHenry County area.

McHenry’s Emerson Gassman, a freshman forward, has contributed a goal and four assists. Senior defender Rylee Quillen (Dundee-Crown) has two assists, and freshman midfielder Bella D’Amico (Woodstock North) has appeared in one game.

Loras is ranked No. 23 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches poll this week.

COD on a roll: The College of DuPage football team, which is ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division III, improved to 8-1 last weekend. With redshirt freshman Ramon Fuentes (Crystal Lake Central) starting at guard, the Chaparrals rank first nationally in rushing yards per carry (5.4) and second in rushing touchdowns (18) and total rushing yards (1,758).

Freshman Mason Wojtas (Huntley) is the team’s primary punter and has a 37.2-yard average per punt. He has had five punts this season downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Lewis soccer takes flight: The D-II Lewis University women’s soccer team is on a 7-0-3 run and hasn’t lost a match in seven weeks.

Senior defender Jordyn Bigos (14 games played) of Crystal Lake South, freshman midfielder Carlie Burns (six games) of Cary-Grove and freshman forward Francesca Pastorelli (two games) of Hampshire are among the team’s contributors.

Lewis (8-4-4 overall, 7-1-3 Great Lakes Valley Conference) has the second-best record in the 14-team conference.

• Barry Bottino writes about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at barryoncampus@hotmail.com and follow @BarryOnCampus on Twitter.