Soccer storylines: Belvidere North's Cortlyn Hefty has 40 goals, Boylan perfect in NIC-10
With just one or two weeks left in the girls soccer regular season, conference titles are still up for grabs in both the NIC-10 and in the Big Northern Conference.
So, too, is the scoring title for the state of Illinois, and Belvidere North's Cortlyn Hefty is right in the mix.
"She's even better than she was last year," Belvidere North head coach Jeremy Naff said. "She's just so good at seeing the field, knowing where to go with the ball, and finishing. Obviously, she can finish."
So let's take a look at some of the key storylines as we head into the backstretch of the season:
Cortly Hefty second in the state with 40 goals
Belvidere North's striker Cortly Hefty is continuing to rack up goals at an alarming rate.
Headed into Thursday's game at Auburn, Hefty had 40 goals through the team's first 14 games. She was No. 2 in the state of Illinois behind Herscher's Katelyn Borschnack, who had 43 goals. Last year Hefty scored 47 goals, which set a new school and NIC-10 record, and was second in Illinois at the end of it all.
Hefty had five goals in a 9-0 win over East back on March 28, and she's had four goals in a game four times since, and five times this year.
Belvidere North off to big start: Cortlyn Hefty has 12 goals in 1st 4 games, and Belvidere North is flexing muscles early on
Boylan leads NIC-10 race
Five teams in the NIC-10 still have a shot at the conference title, but after Tuesday night's 1-0 victory over Hononegah, defending champ Boylan has the leg up.
Boylan (9-3-2, 5-0 NIC-10) has six more regular-season games left, including four more within the conference, two of which are against teams still in the hunt. The Titans are at Guilford (7-5, 3-1 NIC-10) on May 7 and host Freeport (6-3, 3-2 NIC-10) on May 9.
In some other key late-season NIC-10 games: Hononegah (6-5, 5-1 NIC-10) hosts Belvidere North (13-1, 4-1 NIC-10) next Thursday, and North hosts Guilford on May 9 in the regular-season finale.
Top-heavy BNC is a battle
Four teams have a legitimate claim to have a shot at winning the championship in the BNC this season, and there is currently a three-way tie atop the standings, with another squad nipping at all of their heels.
And one of those teams, Oregon (11-1, 5-1 BNC), is off to its best start ever.
"We've been pretty sure in the final third, and this team is so unselfish and full of leaders, they've really stepped up," Oregon head coach Seger Larson said. "We could make a run this year. We want a conference title, and that's still out there. But we're really aiming for another shot at a sectional final."
Oregon had one of those in 2019 when it won its first regional title. But before making a run at that, the Hawks must first battle it out with Byron (11-3-1, 5-1 BNC), Dixon (10-6, 5-1 BNC) and Stillman Valley (12-4, 4-2 BNC) down the stretch.
Oregon's lone loss is to Byron; Byron's lone conference defeat is to Stillman Valley; and Stillman Valley fell to Oregon and Dixon.
Oregon was scheduled to play at Dixon on Thursday.
Playoffs closing in fast
Class 1A teams will wrap up the regular season on May 4 and begin the postseason the next week, while 2A and 3A teams will close out their regular seasons on May 11, and kick off regionals the following week.
The IHSA postseason seedings will be announced this Thursday while the pairings and brackets will be announced on Friday. Byron and Stillman Valley will host a regional at the 1A level; Belvidere North and Freeport will host regionals in 2A; and Harlem will host a 3A regional.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA girls soccer: Belvidere North's Cortlyn Hefty scores 40th goal
