Preseason Dive Into Union Grove, One Of This Season’s Wild Card Teams

Unpredictability. It’s what makes sports so captivating, especially a sport like soccer. High school sports are the epitome of chaos. Every season, each school comes with a set of question marks.

Union Grove is no different. Their upcoming season is fraught with uncertainty. After losing to DeForest in the sectional semifinal in last year’s playoffs, the Broncos plan to improve upon their finish this year. A demanding schedule combined with some injury concerns makes for a possible sink or swim type of season for the Broncos.

One thing that isn’t up for debate is how crucial Norah McNulty will be to Union Grove this season. Last spring, as a sophomore, she earned the Southern Lakes Conference Player of the Year Award alongside an All-State Nomination. 

“Most people won’t disagree with me when I say that she was probably our best player last year,” said longtime Union Grove Girls Soccer Head Coach Sean Jung. 

He described McNulty’s all-around ability as a defender, adding that her pace and strength, combined with an understanding of how to prevent threats both on the ground and through the air, give her an edge on opponents.

McNulty, now a junior, will step into a bigger leadership role this season. Being named as a captain, she’s expected to lift up everyone else around her.

“There’s very little she can’t do,” Jung added, “Everything you want, she has.”

Not everyone on the team will be returning, however. The Broncos will have to fill a huge role this season. All-State Nominee and last year’s leading goalscorer, forward Rhyan Hood, graduated. 

The first name that came to mind to fill the striker position was Ruby Cristiansen. Last year, as a freshman, she was the team’s second leading scorer. Jung vividly described one way she made an impact last spring:

“In our first game last year against a really top-tier D1 Germantown team, she received the ball, took on their centerback, toasted her, and then torched one side netting to put us up one-nil.”

Coach Jung clearly believes she has an incredible amount of talent. However, the sophomore forward still has some areas for improvement, particularly on the mental side of the game. Jung mentioned she would sometimes get timid during games, especially when opponents got physical.

This year, Jung hopes Christiansen will continue to develop physically and play with increased confidence. He continued, “If she does that, I mean she could easily be our leading scorer.”

Ruby Christiansen wasn’t the only player to struggle with confidence last season. A broader theme of the group’s mentality arose throughout our interview. Although Coach Jung believes he’s found a solution: scheduling.

Union Grove will play a challenging run of matchups this spring. They’re set to play Non-Conference Matches against Germantown, New Berlin Eisenhower, Kenosha Tremper, Brookfield East, and last season’s D2 state champions, Brookfield Central.

Jung said this was a very intentional decision. “Last year, with the way things ended, I just felt like we hadn’t been tested enough. And all of a sudden, we were in that sectional game against a very good DeForest team,” a game that ended their season last year with a 2-0 loss. 

He explained that he felt the team was scared–as if they weren’t battle-tested enough throughout the season. He’d like his talented team to think more confidently and with purpose before games.

Jung used last year’s Pewaukee team as an example; They played an incredibly difficult group of teams and made a run to the state final despite finishing the regular season with a 9-8 record.

The plan is to utilize this schedule, including a tournament in Bettendorf, Iowa, to better understand the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Their schedule in the Southern Lakes Conference is no pushover either. Union Grove will have to take on Badger High School for their opening conference matchup, a team that he thinks can really surprise people this season. 

“Defensively, I think we’re going to be really hard to score on,” Jung proclaimed. However, they can’t expect to easily dominate the conference. They will have to go through Elkhorn, Westosha Central, and Waterford, all three teams that coach Jung says are difficult to play against.

The Broncos will conclude their regular season against the Oregon Panthers, an extremely successful program. Coach Jung told me that the regular season finale will be his final mental assessment of where the team is going into the postseason.

The schedule alone would be enough to keep them on their toes, but coach Jung will also have to navigate the return of several players from injury this season.

Senior Miley Morgan is one such player. She’s missed significant time recovering from two hip surgeries. As Morgan appears to be on track towards returning to the field this season, Jung hopes opponents have forgotten about her. 

Another intriguing player returning is sophomore Abby Waterworth. She’s dealt with multiple ACL injuries in the same knee, but Jung believes that a successful basketball season during the winter is a positive sign as we advance into the spring. 

Coach Jung also emphasized how integral Abby Sorensen is to their defense.  The Carthage College commit will defend alongside McNulty in the back line and can play a huge role in how effective the Bronco defense can be this season. 

If Union Grove is to have a successful season, then Jung believes that Morgan, Waterworth, and Sorensen will be names you hear about more often than not.

As we were wrapping up our conversation, Coach Sean Jung left me with this:

“I would emphasize that we could be really good, and we could drop off. It just depends on the schedule we’re playing... If things fall into place, we’ll be right back in the top five again, and if they don’t and injuries creep up and girls are unable to recover, then people could be asking what happened to Union Grove. It’s just such a wild card this year.”

When asked about what he’s most excited for during this upcoming season, Jung expressed that he’s most excited for the Sophomore Class coming up; He believes he has a great bunch of sophomores and looks forward to seeing how they turn out this year.

Undoubtedly, this Union Grove Squad will be challenged each and every day this season. Whether it’s battling through injuries, performing through a demanding schedule, or figuring out who will step up and lead the team. The only question left at the end will be: How did they respond?