{"id":76645,"date":"2026-06-03T03:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/76645\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T03:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:24:15","slug":"lemont-beats-geneva-3-0-to-reach-state-in-coach-rick-prangens-final-season-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/76645\/","title":{"rendered":"Lemont beats Geneva 3-0 to reach state in coach Rick Prangen\u2019s final season \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since taking over the boys program in 1992 and the girls program two years later, Lemont<\/a> soccer coach Rick Prangen has become very familiar with the IHSA postseason.<\/p>\n

With the girls team\u2019s 3-0 win over Geneva<\/a> (15-7-1) in Tuesday\u2019s IHSA Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional, Prangen will end his final season by coaching Lemont (23-1-1) at state for the ninth time in his career overall, and seventh with the girls program, to try and secure the first soccer state title in school history. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t say it was expected and we started the season off saying the state finals was our goal,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s magical. And for me for selfish reasons in my last year doing it, to go back to a final four, to get a trophy my last season, that\u2019s storybook stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Girls Soccer: Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional – Lemont vs. Geneva Lemont’s Gabby Kuruc is rushed by teammates after scoring a goal during Lemont’s 3-0 victory over Geneva in the IHSA Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Tiffany Blanchette)<\/p>\n

Prangen made his first trip to state in 2007 with the boys program, returning in 2024 with a fourth-place finish. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s coached the girls to fourth place in 2013, 2015 and 2017, third place in 2011 and 2018 and a second place in 2009.<\/p>\n

While Prangen has 35 regional titles, 17 sectionals and soon nine trips to state under his belt, for junior Gabby Kuruc and her teammates, Friday\u2019s state semifinal against Crystal Lake Central<\/a> will be their first state game.<\/p>\n

She said they\u2019re heading to North Central College with the aim of finishing as strong as they can for their coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely exciting for him,\u201d she said. \u201cOne last time, we have to make the best of it. Hopefully we can get first to make it even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lemont's<\/p>\n

Girls Soccer: Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional – Lemont vs. Geneva Lemont’s Gabby Kuruc takes a shot on goal under pressure from Geneva’s Ella Howard during Lemont’s 3-0 victory over Geneva in the IHSA Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Tiffany Blanchette)<\/p>\n

Kuruc got Lemont on the board first on Tuesday, redirecting a corner from freshman Madison Weil into the net with 22:46 to go in the first half. <\/p>\n

After a corner from Kuruc in the second half led to a scramble in front of the net, senior Chase Bergeson got her foot to the ball first and doubled Lemont\u2019s lead with 28:36 to go. <\/p>\n

With just 6:57 to go, Kuruc finished off a great pass from Weil to seal Lemont\u2019s 3-0, supersectional-clinching win.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Girls Soccer: Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional – Lemont vs. Geneva A shot by Lemont’s Gabby Kuruc, left, scores past Geneva’s goalkeeper Skyla Rothaar and defender Alexis Guess (10) during Lemont’s 3-0 victory over Geneva in the IHSA Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Tiffany Blanchette)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019d told me at the beginning of the season that we were going here, it would seem crazy to me,\u201d Kuruc said. \u201cWe had a lot of new freshmen players and we didn\u2019t know what they were capable of. But obviously they\u2019re all great players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weil, Abbey Schrimpl, Natalie Robbins and Emma Heinz are among the standouts of the talented freshman class that reinforced a returning group led by the likes of Kuruc, Chase and Ava Bergeson and Ava and Bella DeMaio.<\/p>\n

Being able to come in and make an impact right away has allowed this Lemont team to make it this far, and Weil said her more experienced teammates made it easy for new players to fit right in.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing here as a freshman is definitely nerve-wracking because you don\u2019t really know what\u2019s coming,\u201d she said. \u201cI think having a good team bond, the upperclassmen inviting you into their group and making you feel welcome and just the determination we have at practice to keep going is just amazing. It makes you thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lemont's<\/p>\n

Girls Soccer: Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional – Lemont vs. Geneva Lemont’s Karina Zych prevents a goal attempt by Geneva’s Tegan Modjeski during Lemont’s 3-0 victory over Geneva in the IHSA Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Tiffany Blanchette)<\/p>\n

In order to head home with a state title, Lemont will have to thrive for two more games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you go into that game and you have to know that you belong there because you earned it to be there,\u201d Prangen said. \u201cYou worry about your last game being your best game and you don\u2019t worry about the result. I think that\u2019s the biggest thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s the mentality, I\u2019ll take it win or lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Geneva, Tuesday\u2019s loss brought an end to the program\u2019s deepest postseason run since 2005.<\/p>\n

This season came on the heels of a 2025 season in which the Vikings went 5-13-4, finishing below .500 for the first time since 2015.<\/p>\n

\"Geneva's<\/p>\n

Girls Soccer: Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional – Lemont vs. Geneva Geneva’s Tegan Modjeski reacts to nearly scoring during Lemont’s 3-0 victory over Geneva in the IHSA Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Tiffany Blanchette)<\/p>\n

Head coach Megan Owens said she saw resiliency in that team, despite things not going the way they wanted, and the players that were back this year were able to finish on a much higher note. <\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was kind of a different type of season,\u201d she said. \u201cWe struggled a little more, so these kids really learned how to handle adversity. We had a little bump in the road at one point this season where we lost three in a row, and the girls went on a big tear. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a great group, they really responded hard and came together as a team. That\u2019s all you can ask as a coach.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since taking over the boys program in 1992 and the girls program two years later, Lemont soccer coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[25111,65,29214,31042,1980,40027,2262,40026],"class_list":["post-76645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-dupage-and-cook-county-front-headlines","tag-geneva","tag-geneva-preps","tag-girls-soccer","tag-kane-county-front-headlines","tag-lemont-preps","tag-premium","tag-will-county-front-headlines"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116684040685708344","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}