Seven Standouts from Illinois' Freshman Class

The Prep Soccer 2028 rankings for Illinois were released this week. Check out <a href="https://prepsoccer.com/illinois/rankings/girls/2028-rankings/">the rankings here</a>. Learn more about <a href="https://prepsoccer.com/how-we-rank/">our ranking process here</a>.   Below is a scouting report on seven standouts from this class.    Defender from Central Illinois 2010 GA. Part of US Soccer Training ID Center events. She is right footed. Good on the ball. She is an excellent passer. She also strikes a good ball from set pieces. She takes free kicks and corner kicks for her club team. A strong defender. Capable of putting in a slide tackle in the open field. Reads the game well and makes key interceptions. Named to her club's Players of the Month for August for her strong start to the season. Very promising prospect.      Latawiec is a forward/midfielder for Galaxy GA 2010. She is off to a prolific start to the 2024/2025 club season with goals in nearly every game so far. The young standout has been a key part of the club team that enjoyed national success the past two summers. Latawiec is a skillful player who plays with a ton of confidence. She is a futsal player who uses those skills from the court on the field. Latawiec's unique ability to deceive with her ball skills and spin off defenders is a joy to watch. On top of that skill, her ruthless finishing in the final third makes her an elite prospect.      Silva might be the most natural finisher in this group. She has the innate ability to anticipate where the ball will be around the box and scores goals by the handful thanks to that ability. The level of competition can be a question mark for scouting purposes, but the game film shows a striker who knows how to score goals. She isn't always reliant on the assists from teammates either. She is brilliant in the press. Silva is a player that is worth putting on the radar at this point as she has incredibly instincts as a striker.      I'm shocked Smith isn't getting looks at the US Soccer Talent ID events. She is the most dominant midfielder in the ECNL RL level through the early part of the season - and her team is rolling through the competition at that level. Smith is a two-way player. Fierce tackler and brilliant ball striker who is scoring goals from outside of 30 yards. She needs to improve on checking her shoulders before receiving the ball and when she rushes her decisions on the ball, her technique can be sloppy which leads to less accurate passing. Overall, Smith still dictates the play in every game when she is on the field. She is going to be a key piece of the Libertyville 1974 side, which should be in contention at a national level for a title this season. Fellow midfielder, Teagan O'Neill, looks like she is going to be a special talent from the 2029 class. Some high school program is going to be very fortunate if they can line up the two of them.      Goldman is an outside back for FC United. She was part of the Illinois ODP team that was successful earlier this season. She is one of the most skillful outside backs in this class. She has elite ball skills and is a weapon in the attack. She loves to take players on 1v1, which helps her side create numerical advantages in the attack - because she always wins the duel with a successful dribble. Goldman is an asset for her club team and has a lot of potential as an elite defender.      Kienzle is listed as a forward on her ECNL player profile, but she is a defender/center back. This might be a recent change, but I've only seen her in that role at the start of the season. Kienzle is an excellent center back and a key reason why Libertyville 1974 is 7-0 in ECNL RL play through the first two months of the season and only conceded two goals in those games. Kienzle is a good 1v1 defender. She stands up forwards and uses her body to control where they can go. She has the pace to match up with the speedy attackers and the strength to hold off the physical center forwards. Kienzle makes good decisions on the ball and plays accurate passes. Kienzle is a star on the track and competes at cross country as well.      Mueller is a defender on the 1974 Libertyville ECNL RL 2010 team. She can play as an outside back or a center back. She does well in every role across the back four. She is good with either foot, which makes her a weapon in the build-up because she can break pressure against wingers not used to defending players adept with that dexterity. I've been impressed with her 1v1 defending especially on the wing. She is good at closing space and timing her tackles. Mueller might be overlooked at times but she has all the tools to be an outstanding prospect in this class.

The Prep Soccer 2028 rankings for Illinois were released this week. Check out the rankings here. Learn more about our ranking process here.