Waubonsie Valley senior goalkeeper Lauren Bornhoff has endured many pain-filled hours during her three-year varsity career.
Two significant injuries threatened to end her playing days prematurely, but they ultimately had a silver lining, for out of the darkness came a spark of ambition.
Bornhoff intends to become an athletic trainer, inspired by the treatment she got from physical therapists.
“I spent so much time here and at the ATI down the road, and I was kind of really fascinated with what they wanted to do and how they helped me,” she said. “I kind of got sucked in, and I wanted to do the same. I would have never known (without the injuries).”
Bornhoff didn’t know sesamoid bones exist until two years ago. After playing with an increasing amount of pain in her foot during her sophomore season, she finally went to see a doctor. She had surgery to remove one of the sesamoid bones near her big toe.
Bornhoff was feeling fine heading into her junior season.
“It was pretty painful because it causes a lot of cramps,” she said of the toe injury. “Then after sophomore year I got surgery, so I was recovering. I thought I was pretty good to go for my junior year. But then the first half of the first game, I fell on my shoulder and separated my AC joint. It was kind of an injury on an injury.”
The shoulder injury didn’t require surgery, but the long recovery process caused Bornhoff to miss the rest of the season. Her absence was a huge blow for the Warriors, who didn’t have another goalkeeper on the roster and were forced to use a field player in the net.
The results were striking. With Bornhoff playing in 2022, the Warriors allowed 27 goals and went 11-6-3. In 2023, they dropped to 7-12-1 and surrendered 58 goals, the most in program history.
But with Bornhoff playing every game this season, Waubonsie Valley finished the regular season with a 10-7-2 record, allowing 35 goals against a strong schedule.
Was Bornhoff’s presence a major factor in the team’s improvement?
“A hundred percent,” Waubonsie Valley senior defender Zoe Evans said. “Having a goalie definitely helps, and Lauren has given us that.
“She’s been there for us. I can trust her at any time she’s in goal. She’s made some unbelievable saves, so it’s been awesome.”
Indeed, Bornhoff has come up big many times. On April 2, she stopped a penalty kick in the Warriors’ 2-1 win against Naperville Central in a DuPage Valley Conference game that was played in swamplike conditions.
Waubonsie Valley’s Lauren Bornhoff (0) greets teammate McKinley Ladd (10) as teammates Ava Kus (3) and Chloe Shaffer (5) look on during introductions before a game against Benet in Aurora on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Jon Langham / Naperville Sun)
But her best statistical performance came April 20, when she made 16 saves as Waubonsie Valley upset St. Charles North 2-0 in a Naperville Invitational match despite being outshot 24-8.
Bornhoff has played well even in defeat. She made five saves, including two leaping efforts to tip shots into the crossbar, during the Warriors’ 5-2 loss to Benet in Aurora in the regular-season finale Thursday.
Sixth-seeded Waubonsie Valley will play 11th-seeded Plainfield East in the Class 3A East Aurora Regional semifinals on Tuesday.
“I’m really glad that Lauren is back healthy and able to play every game,” Evans said. “Because these games are brutal.”
It wasn’t a given that Bornhoff would return. She spent the winter helping the girls bowling team win the DuPage Valley Conference title. She qualified individually for the sectional, where she finished 17th with a 1,169 series (194.8 average), missing the state meet by 77 pins. But bowling is just a hobby for Bornhoff, while soccer is a passion.
“I was unsure if I was going to play this year or not,” she said. “I decided, heck, why not? So I started personal training with my fitness coach, and we got back into it, and I felt great. So I came to tryouts. I’m so happy to be back, fully healed.”
Given what she has been through, Bornhoff has enjoyed this season more than any other.
“It makes it more special,” she said. “I’m so grateful to be here.”
Waubonsie Valley goalkeeper Lauren Bornhoff kicks the ball away during a game against Benet in Aurora on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Jon Langham / Naperville Sun)
The adversity taught Bornhoff a lot.
“Mentally, it definitely took me on a roller coaster,” she said. “It was really hard to realize I couldn’t play soccer for a season. But overall, it made me so much stronger physically and mentally. It was just amazing.”
If this is Bornhoff’s final season of soccer, she’s at peace with it. She will attend Grand Valley State, initially just as a student.
“I’d love to play there,” she said. “We’re going to try out and see how it goes.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
