By Joanna Chadwick
Every team has something that sets them apart from the previous year.
For Bishop Carroll girls soccer team, coach Greg Rauch noted the talent and the chemistry.
“This team has proven to be the single most connected and deep team I’ve ever coached,” he said. “There is talent for days and they play for one another every game. Practices are intense but always with the goal of refining our key concepts.”
Carroll is 12-0 and has outscored opponents 71-6. They are the state’s highest scoring team, and in 6A and 4-1A, no team is within 19 goals. Class 5A’s KC Sumner has scored 67, while Maize South has scored 62.
“We count on our entire team to produce offensively and conversely to defend relentlessly,” Rauch said. “Analytics show that our outside backs — Lauren Suellentrop and Liza Dugan — have the most involvements offensively which is very counterintuitive for a high school soccer program.
“I would be remiss to not mention Leah Henke, Avery McCorry and Darby Howard as they form the most potent front line we’ve had. All are lethal and regularly produce individual brilliance.
“Our three attacking mids — Itzelle Lumbreras, Andrea Vielmas and Olivia Hermann — all drop dimes to our runners and are capable of striking the ball on frame themselves.”
On April 11, Henke scored four goals and assisted on the game-winning shot in the 5-4 overtime win over St. Thomas Aquinas, the four-time defending 5A champ.
As for that defense which has given up just six goals — Eisenhower has given up five goals, Sumner 3, and Kapaun has allowed six — it’s a total team effort.
“We ask them to hunt in packs and press the opponent,” Rauch said. “Asha Dugan is our holding mid and locks down the center of the park, Maddie Weed and Rachel Hawkins form a great center back duo.”
Certainly such success from Carroll isn’t a surprise. In 2024, Carroll was third, finishing second in 2023. The Eagles finished in the top four four times from 2017-2021.
“The team has been at a high level for a long time now,” Rauch said. “From Day 1, this group had a special feel about them as they can move the ball like nobody’s business.
“Many of the girls are back from last year, and we’ve seen individual improvement across the board, which in turn led to a collective elevation. Team speed is a real threat this season, as well.”
One thing that those outside the program might not know is that there’s talent through the whole program.
“The freshman class has been amazing and has filled in from the C team to JV and to Varsity,” Rauch said. “As a coaching staff, one major challenge that we face is keeping all of them motivated and competing day to day. Personally I feel that has a direct effect on the varsity team because no player is allowed to be complacent. The bond that our varsity team has fostered begins with our senior captains and runs through all of the girls.”
