Tigers soccer features Chicago-area foursome

Four Tiger players hail from the Chicago suburb of Naperville.

By Vinnie Duber

Published Sept. 4, 2009

The Chicago suburb of Naperville is the fifth largest city in Illinois. It is fitting four players from this city now find themselves in Columbia, the fifth largest city in Missouri.

Senior forward Michelle Collins, her younger sister sophomore forward, Kendra Collins, freshman defender Kelsey Mulcahy and freshman midfielder Haley Krentz are all graduates of Naperville high schools and, now, all four are teammates at Missouri.

"I've known Michelle and Kendra since I was really little," Mulcahy said.

The longevity of these relationships could play a big role in team chemistry this season for the Tigers.

Mulcahy and the Collins sisters are graduates of Neuqua Valley High School and have been playing together for years.

"I told him (coach Bryan Blitz) I played with her in high school, these are her strengths, I know what you look for," Michelle Collins said. "When he went to check her out, it made it easy for him because he knew we came from the same type of background."

There's a reason Blitz recruited from Naperville in the first place; the city has a soccer tradition.

Since 1988, one of the four Naperville high schools — Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley, Naperville North and Naperville Central — has either won the state tournament or finished second in the state tournament eight times.

That total includes 2005, when both Collins sisters played for the Neuqua Valley team, which won the championship.

"One of the schools from our area always got into the final tournament," Michelle Collins said. "So it was always really competitive."

Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau won five straight state championships with St. Charles High School in St. Charles, Illinois between 1996 and 2000.

He has coached Neuqua Valley the past four seasons and coached the Collins sisters and Mulcahy during their high school careers.

"All three were great players — four-year varsity players at a very good soccer school," Moreau said in an e-mail. "All made All-Conference at least two years in a very competitive conference, and all three were extremely hard workers."

Krentz might not have played for Neuqua Valley, but her experience at Naperville North was equally valuable. She also played club soccer with Mulcahy, which eased her transition to NCAA competition.

In addition to Missouri's four players, assistant coach Shaunna Daugherty is also a Naperville native.

She graduated from Waubonsie Valley and coached there before becoming a coach with the Tigers.

"Winning isn't easy," Daugherty said. "So if you come from a winning tradition, you know how to win, you've been coached it, you've been taught it, you know how to compete. That's what we're all about at this level."

Daugherty said high school chemistry translates to the college level.

"Just having that little bit of bond and connection makes it that much easier," Daugherty said.

Moreau voiced a similar opinion.

"It helps knowing what to expect from your teammate," Moreau said.

Experience playing with each other can help the younger players adapt to the college game. And having a familiar face on campus helps anyone, not just soccer players, more quickly adapt to college life.

"[Kelsey] knows how I play, I know how she plays," Kendra Collins said. "It's a different kind of chemistry than coming in with a different class and not knowing anything about them and having to get used to how they play."