After losing 4-1 against Libertyville High School at last year’s regionals, the girls varsity soccer team is ready to make a comeback for the 2017 spring season.

Now that seven seniors have graduated from last season, one of which is playing Division I at Alabama State University, Varsity Head Coach Ernie Billittier has no worries about what the season will look like this year.

“It looks like our younger players have an opportunity to step into leadership roles if they want it,” said Billittier.

Many of the younger players on the team have gained positive experiences which have prepared them to fill in the spots left behind by last year’s seniors.

Junior Molly Mishler said that she has gotten to learn how to become a productive leader on the field in order to help the team.

She added, “The girls make sure they’re doing what they need to do to make the team better and perform our best in games.”

In regard to how the season will look like this year Assistant Coach Heather Crawford believes filling in the spots of the departed seniors will be flawless due to early exposure on the field for the younger players.

“I’m confident that we’ll be okay,” said Crawford.

Additionally, many of the girls have also seen a greater connection among teammates after spending time together outside of practices. This year the girls were able to hit the weight room in late November and December for some conditioning to get prepared for the upcoming season.

“Already I think from our open gyms we have a great camaraderie,” said Crawford.  “The girls love each other; they love being around each other, and I think that will be huge this season and [will] translate onto the field and playing well together.”

Competition this year is strong; however, the girls are ready to get the season going in order to do some damage at regionals and beyond.

“[The other teams are] all very strong competitors, but I feel like a lot of people look down on us just because we are Mundelein, but we’ve beaten all those teams before in the past, and it’s not impossible to do it,” said Captain Emily Ollendick, senior.

Coach Billittier said towns looking down on Mundelein makes the team stronger and also gives them something to rally around.

“We already know that we have talent, and we know that other teams have talent,” he said, “So what really separates people is willingness to work hard, willingness to be mentally strong and willingness to come together as a team.”