ROCKFORD — A bounce-back season for the Rochelle Lady Hub soccer team came to a close as the girls took on host Boylan Catholic during the IHSA 2A Regional Semifinals on Tuesday.

An early barrage of goals quickly tipped the match in favor of the top-seeded Lady Titans, who handed the Lady Hubs a 9-0 loss and will advance to the championship round on Saturday. It was a season of tremendous growth for the Lady Hubs (9-16, 2-8 Interstate 8), who tripled their win total from 2024 and won a pair of conference games after finishing winless in the Interstate 8 last season. Rochelle rostered seven freshmen, all of whom played significant varsity minutes.

“We had a great season and our hats go off to the seniors because they really stepped up this year,” head coach Brad Male said. “We played through a few injuries, but the seniors and their overall commitment to the program were phenomenal. We had a lot of injuries last year and this year, I thought our camaraderie and our teamwork really showed from early on in the season.”

The Lady Hubs went nearly .500 in nonconference matches in 2025, finishing 7-8 with shutout victories against Stillman Valley, Sterling, Rockford Lutheran and Rockford Auburn. Rochelle swept its Interstate 8 home-and-home series with LaSalle-Peru and took second in tournament play at Genoa-Kingston, where the Lady Hubs defeated Rockford Christian and Pecatonica. 

Rochelle will graduate seven seniors including team captains Makayla Lara, Betty Flores and Emma Kennay, who emerged as key leaders on and off the field. Lara, who surpassed Tara Rogers as the program’s all-time career goals leader, spearheaded the charge on offense, scoring a team-high 27 goals and finishing one goal short of tying the single-season record. 

“We progressed throughout the year,” Male said. “Our off-the-ball play and our movement on the ball… We were looking for those through passes and we progressed nicely in those areas. I’m hoping that we can carry those improvements over to next season. Even during the offseason, all three of our captains were phenomenal and they’re going to be hard to replace. They have great leadership skills and they took ownership of the team. It’ll be hard to replace them.”

Kennay finished with six goals and one assist from the midfield, while Flores commanded the back line as Rochelle’s top defender. Yasmin Bahena, Jeanette Valle, Monserratte Marquez and Anahi Cervantes are four more seniors set to depart for the Lady Hubs, who saw several underclassmen take on varsity roles this season. Among them were freshman forwards Morgan DeLille (five goals) and Abigail Dougherty (three goals) who provided a punch on offense.

“We moved players around and played them in different positions,” Male said. “We’ll have some big shoes to fill at each position and with Makayla, Betty and Emma all leaving, there will be a transition. Our younger players showed what they can do and hopefully they’ll continue to step up. Being a freshman on the starting squad shows a lot of commitment to the program.”

Freshman midfielders Paige Harris (two goals and two assists), Natalie Foster (one goal) and Evelyn Garcia (one assist) emerged as key ball handlers throughout the season, while a trio of underclassman defenders including freshmen Martha Landa and Zoe Norberto, as well as sophomore Cali Zies, all played significant varsity minutes on the back line. Sophomore Yana Bartkiv finished with 104 saves despite having never played goalkeeper (or soccer) before this spring. Junior midfielder Deissy Torres and defender Abby Bozinovich could also return in 2026.