Sports
Girls Soccer: Lady Raiders Post Best Record in 21 Years
With four seniors headed for graduation, Bolingbrook looks to solid group of underclassmen to continue improvement.
The Bolingbrook girl’s soccer season ended after a Waubonsie Valley on Wednesday.
But the season was far from lost as the Lady Raiders (13-9-1) posted their best record since the 1990 season, when the team went 14-2-2, and recorded their first-winning season since 1993.
“We’ve had our ups and downs this season," said head coach Martin Uscila. "We started on fire. The girls have met my expectations this year. [Since ’93] we haven’t won a conference game.”
The Raiders jumped out to a 7-1-1 start this season, but cooled down after losing four straight to Stagg, Willowbrook, Andrew and Lincoln-Way Central.
While posting a fifth-place finish in the Southwest Suburban Conference, they scored 50 goals this season as a collective unit.
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The Lady Raiders will be sad to see forward Brianna Carcerano, midfielder Gaby Pontarelli, defender Shannon Ullery and goalkeeper Erika Banks—their lone seniors—graduate.
“I’ve watched the girls’ progress over the years, and they’ll become even better,” Carcerano said of the underclassmen. “This is a family I will never forget. If I’ve learned anything from soccer, it’s to believe.”
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“We’ve put everything in our hearts into [this season],” Pontarelli said. “My best memory was in West Aurora [this season] when we were down 2-0 at half. Coach said winning this game doesn’t take skill, it takes heart. We ended up winning 4-2. We did what we could this season and it was a great run.”
The future seems bright for this bunch as Bolingbrook showcases a young roster.
“I feel like everything we pushed on the underclassman was for their best, and that’s how you should be as a senior,” Ullery said. “I think when we were freshmen the expectations weren’t set high but we got better.
“The underclassmen know they’re part of the best record. They will keep pushing and probably do better than we did."
There are eight juniors, seven sophomores and four freshman on the team. Uscila praised the leadership role that his small group of seniors provided for the underclassmen.
“I think we were a great group,” Uscila said of his seniors. “These kids have a lot to live up to in the upcoming years. I think this is just the start. We’re only getting better.”
