Ever-active Grace Bamber holds onto a possession vs. South Bend St. Joseph. PROVIDED/photo
Amazing Grace Bamber drew so many superlatives from Chesterton girls soccer coach Ben Forgey during her junior season that there probably isn’t much more Forgey can say about her.
Or is there? There is.
“You hate to say something like this, as good as she was last year, but at training and in the scrimmages we’ve had, she’s been at least twice as good,” Forgey said. Twice as good as really, really good is really, really, really, really good.
The middle of the field is an ideal place for Bamber because she’s in the middle of so many good things that happen for the Trojans, who went undefeated during the DAC season in 2021.
No matter what direction Bamber looks from the center of the field, she sees experienced talent. The entire starting back line is back and joined by talented freshmen. Sixty of last season’s 73 goals flew off the feet of players still in the program.
That stunning stat in addition to a talented freshman class doesn’t even tell the whole story of Forgey’s cause for optimism. He cited three forces he expects to be available more this season than a year ago as major reasons he’s so excited about a season that begins Tuesday at home against LaPorte.
First, assistant coach Silvio Spann’s non-soccer work hours have changed, which has enabled him to be a constant presence at training. Get Forgey started talking about the difference that has already made and you better clear your schedule for an hour or longer.
Next, talented juniors Tewabech Seerup and Olivia Virgil are healthy and have stood out in training after missing much of last season sidelined by injury.
Goalkeeper, manned the past three seasons by two-time all-state honoree Carley Balas, is the only position for which the Trojans do not have varsity experience returning. Addysun Arndt and Kori Downs are competing for the starting job.
A goalkeeper lacking experience can’t ask for a much better team to play behind than this one.
Senior outside backs Ingrid Hurst, a three-sport standout (basketball, track), and Emma Vetroczky started last season. So did center backs Brianna Hardsock and Adie Schneider.
“Hardsock with the pace and tenacity, and Schneider with the size and the reading of the game, they’re such a great pair the way they work together and cover for each other, and they each do it differently, they complement each other so perfectly,” Forgey said. “(Sophomore) Carmen Stark can really play. We’ve got some freshmen who can really play. We’ve got about seven defenders that I would not have trouble counting on from Day 1.”
The middle of the field is in good hands, er, feet with Bamber, Virgil and junior Ella Keane.
“Ella has grown up over the last two years and is so solid,” Forgey said. “Virgil can do anything. She can pick out a pass, she can finish, she can score with her head. She finishes well and then Grace.”
Amazing Grace, how sweet her game.
“Soccer means so much to her,” Forgey said. “She was always one of the younger players, one of the better players, but one of the younger players. Now it’s clear she wants that responsibility. She just wants it so bad. In every exercise she’s an example of how hard to go, how to bring a top-level of quality and an unmatched work rate.” Bamber led the Trojans in goals (20) and assists (12).
“We keep making our schedule more difficult,” Forgey said. “Will the numbers look the same?” I don’t know, but I’m telling you, the level she’s training at, the level she’s preparing to play at, watch out! Watch out, everybody! She’s at that level and she’s bringing everybody to that level and her teammates are happy to raise their level.”
Watching bad soccer can put the feisty Forgey in a bad mood. He’s been in a good mood lately.
“They’re all just enjoying training and the way Grace’s working with her teammates, sharing the ball, getting it back, hanging onto the responsibility and leading, it’s just fun,” Forgey said.
Sharing the ball with a goal scorer as gifted as Geenen doesn’t require a great deal of unselfishness. Passers get rewarded with assists.
“She’s technical and she’s got an eye for when to arrive in front of goal, so she scored a number of goals off of crosses where maybe someone else doesn’t get all the way in front of goal or doesn’t anticipate the cross right way, and she does,” Forgey said.
Four of the 23 players on the varsity roster are freshmen: Adey Avey, Aubrey Bamber, Claire Vrahoretis and Eva Montes.
“The freshmen are opening people’s eyes and being noticed from the start,” Forgey said. “Some of them are going to play right away. Some of them are going to need some developmental minutes. That is another component of why this group is training so hard. Some of the freshmen are training with the first group and they’re pushing them.”
Forgey expounded on how players on the other end of the experience spectrum have been bringing an invaluable approach to training.
“It’s been fun having a group that’s this deep with upperclassmen,” said Forgey, whose roster lists 10 seniors. “That’s given us a maturity that we haven’t always had. We’ve had hard-working groups, but the maturity is different. They can go into hard tackles, and they can play hard against each other, and there’s nothing personal. So, there’s nothing stopping them from working hard the entire time.”
A work in progress? Not really, at least not nearly as much as most high school teams.
“They’re willing to fight for each other, and they understand what they’ve been trying to build for several years now and this hopefully is the culmination season of the work that they’ve put in for three years and now it’s their chance to be relied upon as the undoubted leaders of the group,” Forgey said.