University High School Pioneers bring home first girls soccer title
NORMAL, Ill. — Even in the middle of watching her team lose or tie six of the first nine matches of the season, Coach Hayley Sefton saw continued progress in her young University High School soccer team.
Despite just two seniors and five freshmen starters, Sefton thought, 鈥淲hy not us?鈥� as she contemplated how far the Pioneers might go.
The Pioneers were coming off a trip to the state tournament last year, had received an influx of freshmen talent and had positive team chemistry develop almost immediately during preseason conditioning.
鈥淵ou never know for sure if you鈥檙e going to have a good team no matter how much talent you have,鈥� Sefton said. 鈥淏ut you could just feel it with this team. It felt good even from the start.鈥�
The Pioneers, a Class 1A school in girls soccer, played a challenging schedule against many 2A and 3A schools. Sefton felt the difficult schedule was preparing the team for a postseason push, and indeed it was. The Pioneers finished the season with 10 straight victories, including eight shutouts, to become the first Intercity girls soccer team to win a state championship.
鈥淚t is an unreal feeling. You work really hard for a really long time to make something like that happen,鈥� said Sefton after her 15th season as the Pioneers鈥� head coach. To be the first school in town to do that is just fantastic. I think it tells a lot about the program and team atmosphere that we鈥檙e trying to create at U High. I鈥檓 really proud that we could win it for our school.鈥�
The Pioneers were named Female Team of the Year by the Bloomington-Normal Sports Commission and was recognized at a banquet in June.
U High鈥檚 postseason magic marched on despite a injury to starting goal keeper Grace Groetken. She broke her wrist making the game-winning save on a penalty kick in the super-sectional win over Herscher that avenged a loss earlier in the season.
The injury knocked Groetken out for the state tournament, and Sefton turned to junior Nina Sundaram, a softball player who came out for high school soccer for the first time, to shore up the goal keeping duties in the state tournament. Sundaram turned away all eight shots on goal in the semifinal win over Pleasant Plains and the championship overtime victory over Rock Island Alleman.
鈥淪he鈥檚 a shortstop in softball,鈥� Sefton said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 athletic and she can catch the ball. I have seen her play and was totally confident in Nina. It was sad that Grace went down, but we all knew Nina could do it.鈥�
Sefton names player captains each year. The captains, who must be seniors, were Charlise Carr and Lilly Miller.
鈥淲e were a young team, and Charlise and Lilly did a great job of welcoming the freshmen,鈥� Sefton said. 鈥淚t never felt too cliquey. They all hung out together. Not all teams are like that.鈥�
The Pioneers started five freshmen and three sophomores. Freshman Aubrey Balota exploded onto the high school scene by leading U High with 32 goals and 10 assists. Balota scored the game-winning goal in the state semifinal and assisted on the only goal of the game in the championship game, feeding Carr in the first overtime.
鈥淎ubrey definitely got better as the season went along,鈥� Sefton said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 just a really good kid who works hard. She still loves to listen and learn. Sometimes when you have a freshman that scores more than anyone else, that can go bad for the team. Her being a team player was huge for us. She has a very bright future. She could go a long way.鈥�
Sophomore Maya Lanier was second on the squad with 11 goals and seven assists.
It was the third trip to state for Sefton as head coach at U High. The Pioneers finished second in 2017 and fourth in 2012 and last season. With two more talented freshmen expected to join the fold next spring, the Pioneers are likely thinking big again for 2024, although they will bump up to Class 2A.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a blast next spring,鈥� Sefton said. 鈥淚 think we can make a pretty good run again.鈥�
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.