It's never easy to maintain a long winning streak, but the Cyclone women's soccer team has established a four-year tradition they intend to continue into the 2019 season.
Last year, the Cyclones earned a fourth consecutive Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference and NJCAA Region IV championship along with another trip to the NJCAA championship. Individual players have earned a list of awards, and the team has been ranked in the top 20 in the NJCAA Division I polls since 2017. It all makes for a big target on their backs as they eye a fifth straight season of accomplishments.
Going into his fifth season leading the program, head Coach Al Palar has made winning a staple of the women's soccer program. This year he has one of the smallest rosters in his tenure with seven sophomores and eight freshmen because they graduated several top players and lost a few returners. The conference and region also have more teams posing competitive threats. Despite all that, the Cyclones were ranked No. 15 in preseason NJCAA polls and have another talented squad to put on the field.
Key returning sophomores include All-Conference and All-Region player Iris Cruz (Hubbard), Lauren Pikulski (Lockport Township), Madi Davis (Lockport Township), Anna Kois (Stagg), Xochiquetzal Torres (Argo) and Jasmine Quezada (Thornton Fractional North).
"I will look to all and any of these players for leadership on and off the field. The great thing about Lauren, Madi and Xochi is they are very versatile and can play multiple positions if needed. That's always a luxury for a coach, knowing I can plug them anywhere, and they will willingly do the job and do it well," Palar said. "Jasmine is someone who we expected big things from last year, but constant injuries hindered her from reaching her potential. She recently had surgery and has been recovering, so hopefully she'll become the difference maker she can and should be."
The incoming freshmen to keep an eye on are Gisselle Almazan (Eisenhower), Allison Schaar (Schaumburg), Azury Sanchez (Solorio Academy) and Jocelyn Estrada (Eisenhower), who will be the starting goalie.
"Gisselle had a great preseason, and she will look to be a huge difference maker right away for us from either the forward or midfield positions. I am expecting and hoping Allison will be our play maker and one of our most dangerous players this season in the attack. She has a lot of experience playing at a high-level club, and she is very good on the ball," Palar said. "I love the type of player Azury is. She is extremely committed, works very hard and always does things at a high speed, which is a very underrated and rare characteristic. She likely will be an outside midfielder or forward for us. We will rely on her speed and creativity in the attack."
Even with the challenges the Cyclones are up against, Palar and his team are excited and looking forward to the possibilities.
"If we can stay healthy throughout the season, we should be at the top like we are used to. However, I know we will have a few more challengers this year than usual. Of course, every season everyone always wants to be the one to beat us. It's not easy to be mentally and physically prepared for a whole season of games in which teams are gunning for you and probably have the game against Moraine Valley circled on their schedule. So, we have our work cut out for us. As always, I expect us to be conference and region champs for the fifth year straight," Palar said. "Every Moraine Valley women's soccer team will have high expectations and pressure from now on, but if the willingness to prepare and work throughout the season is there every day, I am confident we will be back in Florida in the middle of November for nationals."