Pleasant Plains senior midfielder GRACE SABATKA intercepted a pass and immediately launched the ball downfield to Bailey Leach.
The latter pivoted and assisted the go-ahead goal to a wide-open Callie Wagner in the penalty box that propelled the Cardinals to a signature 2-1 comeback win over Springfield High on April 24.
Sabatka didn’t get any credit statistically, but the result is all that matters.
“I don’t get the assist for that,” Sabatka said after the match, “but in my heart I know that I was a part of that play and a great job for Bailey even being there in the first place and a great job for Callie being there to finish that for us.”
Sabatka is among several Division I girls soccer pledges in the Springfield area. She signed with Southeast Missouri State University in November.
She has 17 goals and 17 assists through 21 matches this season and has tallied up 57 goals and 54 assists over her career.
The job also entails gritty “backstage work” that casual fans might miss. She was a constant roadblock against the Senators, to be sure.
“I’m a grinder I would say,” Sabatka said. “I like to put hard work into what I do and I’m passionate about what I do, especially with the team that I have. It’s hard not to play for the people who are around me. I love them a lot.”
That camraderie adds up to “a really great experience,” Sabatka said. That includes her younger sister, Emma, who is a defensive linchpin at the net.
“Coming out of the huddle, we say, ‘Family,’ and that means a lot who we are as people and who we are as a team,” Sabatka said.
Here are a few other Division I girls soccer players signed or committed around Springfield:
Bailey Leach, Pleasant Plains/New Berlin
The senior forward certainly appreciates Sabatka’s presence ever since they first started playing together when they were around 12 years old.
Just to end the season together “means a lot,” Leach said.
Leach provided the game-tying goal on a Raelyn Brammer corner kick in the win against SHS.
“It just shows the will of wanting to win and how much soccer means to us,” Leach said afterward.
Leach signed with Illinois State University in November.
She is The State Journal-Register’s two-time Small School Girls Soccer of the Year after registering a school-record 50 goals last season, along with 20 assists. Leach first won the award as a freshman when she drummed up 28 goals and 29 assists to lead the Cardinals to third place in the Class 1A state finals.
The Cardinals (20-0-1) return to the 1A playoffs after winning the Class 2A regional title over the past two seasons.
Leach recently shattered the school’s all-time scoring record and approaches the end of the regular season with 152 goals and 80 assists over her career.
“It’s sad,” Leach said of her final season, “but we know what our end goal is and we know we have potential to do that.”
Kamryn Hoffman, Springfield High
The imposing senior forward continues to draw a swarm of defenders.
Last season, Hoffman fueled the Senators to their first ever Class 2A state appearance with a school-record 58 goals and 29 assists. Her 27 consecutive matches with a goal set an IHSA record, as well.
She has unleashed 29 goals and 17 assists through 17 games this season.
Hoffman’s 146 goals and 98 assists put her on an unprecedented doorstep of achieving two career milestones. No player in IHSA recorded history has furnished both 150 goals and 100 assists. She is also one assist from Kristin Raynolds’ all-time school record that has stood since 1993.
Hoffman, who signed with University of Dayton in November, scored the opening goal in the loss to Plains. She emphasized afterward the team only needed to ratchet up its focus and execution around the net.
The Senators (13-3-1) indeed proceeded to capitalize on their opportunities in a 2-0 win over Chatham Glenwood for their second straight Central State Eight Conference title on May 5.
Hoffman and fellow senior Bridget Lyons each assisted to sophomore Addie Maddox in the second half. Lyons will play at University of Illinois Springfield.
“It’s so much fun,” Hoffman said. “I love these girls, I’m going to miss them. It’s been a lot of fun, so I’m excited to see how the rest of the season goes.”
Kinsley Zellers, Chatham Glenwood
Zellers and Hoffman initially crossed paths through the Springfield Area Soccer Association.
Zellers eventually turned to St. Louis Scott Gallagher.
“I played some other sports growing up,” Zellers said, “but it was kind of always soccer for me and then I made the move to Gallagher around sixth or seventh grade. That kind of brought my level up.”
The lengthy junior forward is committed to play at Miami (Ohio) University.
“I never want to stop playing soccer,” Zellers said. “College was a huge goal for me. I just kind of want to find a place where it felt like home and I get to enjoy those last four years. Miami is awesome, I’m super excited.”
Zellers’ size and penchant for scoring is redolent of another former Glenwood center back of 2023 state title fame — Haden Vlek, who was The State Journal-Register’s Large School Girls Soccer Player of the Year before departing to Indiana University.
Zellers provided the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Rochester on April 14 and both goals in a 2-0 win over Normal U-High on April 28. She has eight goals through 20 games.
Zellers described Vlcek as a role model.
“Our parents are really good friends and she lives down the street from me, so she’s always been an inspiration for me growing up,” Zellers said.
Mary Jane Keller, Rochester
The senior midfielder didn’t take long to figure out which outlet she preferred growing up.
“I actually used to be a dancer like my sister, and I knew that wasn’t for me,” Keller said. “And whenever I first started kicking a ball, I knew it was right for me from the beginning.”
Watching different players locally and abroad over the ensuing years stoked her passion for the game.
She has 11 goals and 12 assists through 16 games this season after signing with Ball State University in November.
“I used to play on an all-boys team, which definitely made me become a better player, and looking up to Messi or Ronaldo or Neymar, all those people I think made me want to become just like them,” Keller said.
Keller is focused on becoming a stronger player, “because at the next level, you’re all competing against each other, almost everyone’s better than you, so I think just being even stronger on the ball and being able to play with better people and try to beat better teams is just … I’m really looking forward to it.”
— Ryan Mahan contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: 5 Division I girls soccer players signed or committed around Springfield
Reporting by Bill Welt, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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