Metea Valley’s Lily Senese is known and respected for her aggressiveness on the field.
The junior forward has two things in mind whenever she spies the ball. First, she wants to possess it. Then she wants to put it in the back of the net.
Senese is pretty good at doing both.
“Lily has definitely stepped up this year,” Metea Valley senior forward Cydnie Bayless said. “She’s playing very aggressive, which is good.
“We lost some of our aggressive players (to graduation), so she’s really taken that position and she’s helping us a lot. She is always able to make a play.”
Senese, a Northern Michigan commit, has been making a lot of plays for the Mustangs (3-0), scoring three goals in the past two games. She scored the tying and winning goals in their 4-1 win over Wheaton North on Thursday and bagged the only goal in a 1-0 victory over host Benet at Benedictine on Saturday.
“She does not like to be on the bench,” Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said. “She loves to be on the field, and if she keeps scoring goals, then that’s exactly where she’s going to be.”
There’s little chance Senese will return to the bench. She started a couple games last season but mainly was a reserve behind Tyra King and Jordan Lange.
Even so, Senese still managed to rack up nine goals and six assists for the Mustangs, who went 19-1-3. Now she’s a starter on a still-formidable front line that includes Bayless, a Northern Illinois recruit, and Lucy Burk, a Northern Michigan recruit.
“It’s a pretty big change, but I like it,” Senese said. “It’s given me more opportunities to show what I can do and gives me more confidence. Obviously, Tyra and Jordan were a huge factor in that they carried this team a lot. But now I feel like it’s my turn to help carry this team a little bit.”
Senese did that against Benet. The Mustangs were playing without junior midfielder Olivia Hernandez and senior midfielder Kaylee Hansen, who were on college visits.
The Redwings (1-1-1) controlled the action until Senese scored against the run of play in the 19th minute. She received a pass from Bayless in the box, turned and ripped a 12-yard shot past Benet senior goalkeeper Kate Grubish.
It was Metea Valley’s only shot of the first half and one of three overall.
“My back was facing toward the goal, so I didn’t know what I could do,” Senese said. “I turned anyway, and the shot was there, so I just took it.
“That brought the energy up a ton, and we were able to stay focused and not worry about having to score. We were able to stay calm.”
Indeed, after senior goalkeeper Alyssa Gluting, a Fairfield commit, made seven of her eight saves in the first half, the Mustangs played much better after intermission.
“After that goal, we really started playing hard defensively and offensively,” Bayless said. “We were working hard on defense in order to make offensive opportunities.”
Senese was a major part of that effort.
“She did a great job today,” Whaley said. “She always works hard, and she’s got a great shot, obviously, so it’s just getting her in the positions to score.
“She’s got a mind for it and a nose for it, which is great.”
In fact, it’s always been that way for Senese since she started playing.
“Honestly, I don’t know where it came from,” she said. “I’ve just been like that my whole life, since I was 3. So I just go for it.”
Senese is not the first member of her family to play soccer. Her cousin Sophia Senese was a four-year varsity player for the Mustangs who continued her career at Elmhurst, and her brother Michael Senese recently finished his career at Metea Valley.
“My brother is a huge supporter,” Lily Senese said. “He plays with me and helps me a lot. He’s the one that makes me go hard at the ball.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
