Difference-makers Adey Avey, Claire Vrahoretis at head of strong senior class that leads the way for Chesterton girls soccer program

TOM KEEGAN
Onwardtrojans.com

Every conversation about the strengths of this year’s Chesterton girls soccer team must start with a senior class led by returning captains Adey Avey and Claire Vrahoretis, but if it ends there, the Trojans won’t reach their desired destination.
“They’re working the hardest when we’re in the gym. They’re working the hardest when we are in a scrimmage,” eighth-year head coach Ben Forgey said of the senior class showing the way for an otherwise young roster. “What it’s telling everybody else is not that we think we can coast, not that we think we’re great. It’s telling everybody else that you guys are going to have to work that hard and we want you to work that hard to come with us and do something because they know it’s their last go at this and they’ve got the talent, but we also have a very young group.”
When a team’s best performers are seniors, that removes the risk of younger, more talented players deferring when they should be dominating. It can minimize the chances of jealousies forming. It can help everything fall into place.
“Everybody knows who to look to for inspiration, for leadership, for everything,” Forgey said of Avey and Vrahoretis. “So, we’re all fortunate that we know what we’re looking at, we know where to look for it, and they’re giving it. We’re lucky that they’ve got that frame of mind.”
Eight of the 21 players on the roster are seniors. The others: Surilynn Desch, Alice Fancher, Salina Ford, Eva Montes, Natalie Peters, Laney Sensibaugh.
“I say those two first because they’re returning captains, but Alice, Eva, Salina, all the seniors, have been competing just as hard,” Forgey said.
In Avey, the Trojans have what every soccer team needs: an athlete with a knack for scoring goals. She led the team as a sophomore with 15 goals when the Trojans went 13-5 overall and 6-1 in the DAC and again with 17 as a junior, when the team went 7-10, 4-3. Forgey expects the most productive season yet from Avey.
“She will score goals because she is an elite-level talent,” Forgey said. “If she doesn’t win region player of the year, something went wrong either with our group or with her health. She has every tool, every ability that it takes to be that region player of the year. She hasn’t been it yet, and part of that is due to team success or lack thereof, but if she keeps her head down and keeps her teammates working as hard as she is, she’s got the talent to be the best player in the region.”
Provided she stays healthy.
“Now, she can’t have a broken back,” Forgey said. “She had a broken back all last season, so her numbers weren’t as good as they would have been. Her performances weren’t as good as they would have been, nor would mine have been if I were doing anything with a broken back.”
Vrahoretis had six goals and three assists last season, but that only hints at the value she brings.
“She’s so tough in the middle of the field. She almost plays like two or three players, the amount of ground she can cover,” Forgey said. “She’s so strong, and in the girls game that we play, she plays it stronger than others, the way she tackles, the way she uses her body. It’s hard to compare her to others. She also pairs that with the technique. She’s got as good a touch as any of the smaller, quicker players, but is able to do that in a bigger, stronger frame. She can boss around the midfield when she wants to.”
Montes gives the Trojans a ton of experience and production. She scored 10 goals last season and has given her coach reason to believe she has tightened up her game.
“Eva does everything well,” Forgey said. “We measured a ton of components at tryouts, and she was our top performer over everything that we compiled, and it was because she’s so fit. She never stops running, but she also plays the game in a way where her touch has gotten so much better over her four years here, and she’s just an impact player both on the attack and tracking back, helping defensively. We could almost play without a defender on her side, and she’d just go cover the entire touch line. She’s willing to work. She loves running. She plays so hard, and her finishing has been a bit better this summer than it has been in previous years.”
Mia Aguilar is the lone junior on the roster, so the Trojans’ depth is such that they must bank on young talent to fit in early.
Talented freshmen Lilly Duracz, a goal-scoring threat, and McKenzie Cochran, a goalkeeper, will be counted on to contribute immediately.
Forgey called Cochran “the leader in the clubhouse,” to land the starting job in the net. For someone her age, Cochran has played a lot of soccer against strong competition.
“We’re going to expect McKenzie to make mistakes, but we’re also going to trust that she will be the best that she can be,” Forgey said. “I’m 47 and I don’t know everything in the world so for her to be 14 or whatever she is, of course she doesn’t know everything in the world. She has a long way to go, but the flip side of that is just think of how great she can be one, two, three years from now.”
Seniors Surilyn Desch and Natalie Pieters supply depth at goalie.
Moving to the other end of the field, Forgey called Duracz, “humble and she’s willing to listen and learn. She’s talented and she gives it a go and she flies past kids, but she also understands that while she of course is going to want her goals, she understands that Adey Avey is our best player and the more we can get the ball to Adey Avey, the more it’s going to free her up and the more success we’re going to have. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say get the ball to your best players and let them do what they do. Now, we’re also smart enough as a group, Adey, Claire, Eva, they’re smart enough as players to say, hey, if the other team is double-teaming me, we have a freshman who can fly. Come double me and I’ll play her in and she’s going to score goals, too.”
Seven sophomores made the varsity roster.
“Sophomores that we’re looking for big contributions from would be Arohi (Agashe), Natalee (Bachman), Campbell (Gingrich), Gabby (Roberson), Lorelai (Simmons) and Claire (Sutter). If they work really hard, that will allow our senior difference-makers to make a difference. If they’re not ready and are underwhelming along with a couple of freshman contributors and some other sophomores, if they’re not ready, then we’re going to have a tough season, but we have what it takes.”
In his seven completed seasons in charge of the program, Forgey has won an outright DAC title and two shared ones and has had a winning conference record every year. The DAC records and titles (in parentheses), including shared ones, of the top four programs in the conference during Forgey’s time at Chesterton: Valparaiso 42-7 (four); Chesterton 41-8 (three), Crown Point 40-9 (four, including an active streak of three); Chesterton 39-10 (three); Lake Central 31-18.
“We don’t have a lot of depth, but we do have 13, 14, 15 that we could count on to play well enough, play hard enough, that we’ve got enough difference-makers to win games,” Forgey said. “I would say we have a senior class that is maybe the most talented, definitely has difference-makers that are up there with anyone in the region. Yes, we know there is someone who has been kind of on top for the last few years in Crown Point, but our senior class has everything that it’ll take to beat those guys.”
The Trojans’ Maroon & Gold scrimmage is today at 6 p.m. They open the season on the road against LaPorte on Tuesday at 6 p.m.