It’s been a heck of a year for the Plainfield North girls soccer team, yet it’s a testament to how talented their sectional is that it hasn’t resulted in a higher seed in the playoffs.

The Tigers still have two games this week to close out the regular season, but next week is when the “second season” begins. They’re 15-3 with 80 goals scored on the year compared to nine allowed. Two of their losses were to Oswego (on in PKs and the other 2-0) and the third was an OT loss to St. Charles East in March.

Yet for some reason, the Tigers are just the fourth seed in the Naperville Central Sectional. They’ll play 13th seed Aurora East on Wednesday, May 20 at Naperville North to open the regional semifinals.

Those losses to Oswego were the biggest factors. The Panthers (17-1-2) earned the second seed while the sectional hosts are the top seed at 16-0-1. Benet is the third seed.

As deeply talented as their postseason field may be, coach Kathleen Monterosso is just focused on what her team needs to do in order to best prepare themselves.

“Different people have been able to play a variety of different positions for us this season,” she said. “We just have to keep healthy. ...Different people have stepped up and that’s been a good piece for us.”

Cat scratch fever

A bit of an up and down regular season should actually benefit Plainfield Central as it gets ready for the IHSA playoffs.

The Wildcats currently sit at 12-8-2 with a regular season finale against Bolingbrook left to go. While Plainfield North and Plainfield South will be competing in the 3A playoffs, Plainfield Central and Plainfield East will push their way through the 2A bracket.

A challenging 3A schedule throughout the year along with injuries along the way have resulted in a solid if not spectacular win-loss record. That experience against the best of the best all year, however, has positioned them well in the playoffs.

The Wildcats will be the second seed of the Orion Sectional and will face No. 7 Romeoville to start the playoffs on Monday at Burlington Central. It’s not an easy task, but it’s far preferable to being a lower seed in a 3A sectional.

The season has very much been a balancing act as the Wildcats have scored 50 goals while conceding 40, including 16 in the past three games. They’ll be hoping the game against Bolingbrook (2-15-1) will serve as a proper tune up to get them ready for the postseason.

“Maintaining health is going to be key,” coach Ken Schoen said. “I think the girls who have filled in (for injured players) have filled in good. ...We’ve had some versatility from those players and they’ve gotten it done.”

Lincoln-Way Central top dogs at sectional

On one hand, Lincoln-Way Central came into the year needing to replace several key contributors, including Loyola-Chicago player Abby Sudkamp. On the other, they brought back an impressive trio of seniors, led by Taylor Watt (Eastern Illinois).

So the question was, how would new coach Breanna Bembenek and company fare? The answer is now clear: Very, very well.

The Knights have earned the top seed in the Andrew Sectional, picking up a first round bye that comes with it. They’ll get the winner of Homewood-Flossmoor and Bloom in the Regional finals.

The Knights are 14-2-1 on the year with 40 goals scored and only nine allowed. They’re in an outstanding position before that regional final game on May 22, but first they have to get past rival Lincoln-Way West this week to close the regular season.

Wither way, it’s been an excellent run for a team that’s been quite used to excellent runs the past few years.

How far we’ve come

Just three years ago, Providence was 6-17-1 and searching for answers. In came coach Mike Taylor and now those answers have presented themselves.

17-10-1 in 2024. 22-1-2 in 2025. Now, 13-3-3 and the number one seed in their own sectional. The Celtics have come a long way in a short time.

Providence will host the winner of Crete-Monee and Goode STEM Academy in the Kankakee Regional semifinals on Tuesday. They’re in good position to do some damage in the playoffs, too.

The Celtics have a great mix of senior leadership (Maggie Wolniakowski leads the team with 16 goals and 14 assists) and youthful energy (freshman Aubrey Curry has 11 goals on the year). They’ll have three more contests to close out the regular season before the playoffs, but they’re already looking like a good bet to make some noise in 2A.