Seniors Izzy Strnic and Annie Trayser are veterans and mainstays for the Nazareth Academy girls soccer program on the defensive back line.
“We were on the same [left] side the entire year,” Trayser said. “We played on the same side last year, too, so we’ve played on the same side for a while.”
Appropriately, they also shared a historic moment with the Roadrunners Saturday. Nazareth finished a program-best fourth in Class 2A after reaching the state finals for the first time at North Central College.
The Roadrunners (16-12-1) lost to Springfield 4-0 for third place after a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to St. Ignatius in the semifinals, Friday, on a goal with just 13.2 seconds left in regulation.
“When I came here my first year, [I thought] there’s no way we would get here but we actually did,” said Strnic, the Roadrunners’ lone four-year varsity player. “I feel like we built the program from nothing to something so it’s a good feeling.”
Nazareth entered the postseason, losing its last five regular-season games, four by shutout, but then beat its first five playoff opponents by a combined 17-5, including Belvidere North 2-1 at the St. Francis Supersectional, June 3.
“I don’t know if we necessarily peaked, but we found a groove for sure,” Trayser said. “It’s really cool to see it start to grow our senior year; starting to work together helped us a lot. I’m close with the freshmen, even though I’m a senior. We’re all very close, no matter what the age is. I think it just kind of happened. It came together as a group.”
Strnic and Trayser were the only regular senior starters and were co-captains with seniors Sarah Owen and Isabel Cervantes, who started Saturday. Trayser, Owen and Cervantes are third-year varsity players.
Strnic and sophomore Molly Moore were all-sectional and junior Olivia O’Neill was honorable mention. Strnic, Moore, O’Neill, Trayser and junior Esme Blaskin received All-East Suburban Catholic Conference honors.
Nazareth coach Rob Cianci took over when the seniors were freshmen. The 2024 Roadrunners captured their second regional in his first three seasons but lost to Wheaton Academy in the sectional semifinals. Much of this season’s progress came from depth, using several lineups and playing several 3A schools, such as a 2-0 loss at Lyons Township May 10.
“We’re a very young team. It was a great run and we look forward to bringing it all back next year,” Cianci said. “Annie and Izzy are our rocks. We’ve nicknamed [Strnic] Ice because she’s been cold and works hard, phenomenal. With what I ask of our outside backs, I haven’t subbed [Trayser] in two years. She just runs up and down the sideline and does all of the hard work. To have a team get to this point and finish fourth, the history of making it, it’s quite a notch for them to leave a legacy.”
Moore (16 goals, 11 assists), junior Lily Martinez (9 goals, 5 assists), freshman Daniella Berruti (8 goals, 6 assists), sophomore Samantha Austin (8 goals, 3 assists) and O’Neill (8 goals, 2 assists) were leading scorers. Sophomore goalie Ana Djurasovic also excelled, withstanding 11 shots on goal by Springfield (26-2-1) and four by St. Ignatius (19-9-1), which beat Peoria Notre Dame 1-0 for the state title Saturday.
The Roadrunners also made history by beating ESCC rival St. Viator for the first time, 2-0, April 30.
“The four years I’ve been here, I’ve never been on a team that’s so close,” Strnic said. “Those [playoff wins] stood out to me the most. We really started to play as a team and play for what we’ve worked for the entire year.”
LTHS boys volleyball
The Lions reached the state quarterfinals last year with a rousing three-set victory over rival Oak Park and River Forest in the sectional final.
In an even tighter postseason rematch, the Lions lost to the Huskies 25-19, 22-25, 26-24, May 31, in the Hinsdale Central Sectional semifinals.
“It really was an incredible game. I felt like we played an amazing game, yet we came up just short,” LTHS senior libero Vaughn Guilfoile said. “We could have just as easily come out on top. But that’s the way the game goes sometimes.”
“It was a great back-and-forth match between two strong programs,” said LTHS coach Brad Skendzel. “We had opportunities and leads in the third set and to pull away and we were unable to.”
The Lions (29-9), the sectional’s No. 5 seed, had focused on gradual and steady improvement this season. They had nine returnees from the 2024 state roster but graduated several key starters.
In West Suburuban Conference Silver play, the Lions had lost to top-seeded ORPF 25-20, 25-21 after a 7-0 start, but that also was back on April 8.
“We felt we were playing way better volleyball than when we played them in April so we were pretty confident in our ability to pull it off,” Guilfoile said. “I think we were successful in a sense of how much we have grown as a team. With a few lineup tweaks and a lot of good practices, by the end of the year we knew we were one of the strongest teams in the state.”
The Lions graduate eight seniors but return junior outside hitter Brody Lee-Caracci, who earned second-team all-state honors from the Illinois Volleyball Coaches Association and All-WSC Silver.
“Our senior class has always played together. As close as they were with each other as a class, they always made sure our underclassmen were included. They were super-determined to win but they also made sure that everybody was having fun,” Lee-Caracci said.
“I knew a bunch of the [OPRF] kids and it was great to play against them. It was an unfortunate ending for sure but everybody played super-well.”
Before the loss, the Lions won nine straight since a three-set loss to state runner-up Glenbard West, May 13. The streak included a pair of two-set wins over rival Hinsdale Central, the second 25-8, 25-23 in the sectional quarterfinals, May 29.
OPRF lost in the sectional final to No. 2-seed Sandburg, which lost in the state quarterfinals to fourth-place O’Fallon. The Lions’ other losses included Sandburg and Downers Grove North twice and state quarterfinalist Wheaton Warrenville South once in three meetings.
“We had multiple lineups to try and find our most consistent play. I believe this was a large reason for our success, knowing that we could interchange players and roles,” Skendzel said.