Grayslake Central’s girls soccer team has worked very hard prior to their  season starting in order to prepare for many of the competitive teams that lie ahead in their schedule. Many of the athletes prepared by running cross country, or playing club soccer during the off-season, and have dramatically improved their skills through this. Head coach Keith Andersson has been coaching the girls soccer team since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has  seen the team grow up and improve throughout the years. One stand-out player that has improved significantly is  Sara Armstrong. “Holy cow, strength wise  –  I don’t know what they do in cross country, but she’s just stronger and faster and Sarah never stops. So it’s really cool to see that,” Andersson recounts. he team recently won their first conference game against Grayslake North for the first time in school history, Andersson said that it was truly the highlight of the season so far.

The team’s overall goal for the rest of the season is to win the NLCC. Andersson explained that teams against larger, more competitive schools are  “like preseason, so I can see what girls can play where and how we can… maybe rearrange the team. So when we go into conference we have a strong team…  our concern is we want to win conference, but losing Ella Tews was a big blow.” Tews, a senior player, suffered a concussion during the game against Grayslake North. Despite losing a star player like Tews, Andersson is still pushing to win conference, hoping the work the team puts in will be enough to enable them to do something never done before.

Regardless of the score, the girls have managed to bond together as a family. Whether that means eating team dinners together or cheering each other on, they have made an effort to grow closer as a team. Senior Valeria Ceja said, “We hype each other up on the bus before games, and we do a lot of team talks.”

Overall, the team has managed to become better, faster, and stronger during the off season, and they plan on continuing to persevere through the end of the season to win the conference, and hopefully have a strong postseason.