Warren’s Addison Stanciak never doubted her decision to forgo basketball and softball to play soccer year-round.
Stanciak, an all-state pick last season, is on track to become one of the best players in program history.
“I decided in middle school, in sixth grade, that I wanted to play just one sport,” she said. “I knew back then that soccer was my favorite sport.”
But at one point Stanciak did question her ability to play soccer in high school. After she suffered a torn labrum in her right hip in the summer before her freshman year, Stanciak was sidelined for more than five months and wasn’t cleared to play until five days before Warren’s tryouts.
“I wondered if I would be the same soccer player I was before I had surgery,” she said. “The timing was very important too. I was coming to a new team with girls up to four years older than me. I think without the surgery, I would have questioned my ability, but it made it more prominent after having the surgery.”
Seven games into Stanciak’s junior season, there’s no questioning the Saint Louis recruit’s place in the program. Stanciak, who has three goals and one assist for the Blue Devils (3-4) this season, ranks sixth in career goals and eighth in career points. She finished with 23 goals and five assists last season.
“The year she had last year — I keep track of the historical records — and she’s moving up pretty quick in our history,” Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. “I said at last year’s banquet she had the potential to be Warren’s top scorer in history by a long stretch.
“Addison looks up to some of the players we had, like Ella Skelton, and tried to emulate her style. She had some really good role models within our program.”
Warren’s Addison Stanciak settles the ball during a game against Carmel in Mundelein on Friday, April 5, 2024. (Mark Ukena / News-Sun)
McCabe noted Stanciak’s ability to score from long distance.
“Her shot is clearly one of the things that sets her apart from most attacking players,” McCabe said. “She strikes the ball about as good as any girl player that I’ve coached, as well as many of the boys players. She’s just a really powerful, strong and aggressive player who has powerful shots.”
Carmel coach Stephanie Kile wanted to keep Stanciak off the scoreboard during the teams’ game on Friday. Despite a solid job by the Corsairs’ back line, Stanciak managed to score the winning goal in the Blue Devils’ 2-1 comeback victory.
“She’s a great player,” Kile said. “We knew if she gets the ball, she will look to turn and shoot. We knew that coming in but thought if we could keep her at bay, then we would be all right.
“She’s very good. We contained her. But she still got some shots off, which showed how special of a player she is.”
Warren senior defender Mia Gloria said Stanciak puts so much pressure on opposing teams, especially in the final third of the field.
“Addison is a very special player because she works so hard,” Gloria said. “She hustles for every ball she goes for. If she’s in front of the net, she’s probably going to score it. It’s very rare she misses.
“She’s a great teammate and leader on the team.”
But Stanciak, whose older brother, Ryan, played soccer for the Blue Devils and father, Ron, is an assistant coach for Rockford Raptors FC, isn’t satisfied. She wants to continue to improve.
“Last year was a very big eye-opener for me,” she said. “I didn’t think that was something I was capable of doing. I’ve had so many people on the team support me, and my teammates have put a lot of trust in me by getting me the ball to score. I’ve been working hard to get better.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter.
