The seemingly endless road to Reilly Novak’s first high school soccer game didn’t give her confidence it would be an auspicious debut.
A freshman at the time, Novak tried to focus as she sat with her new Lake Zurich teammates during the bus ride to Zion-Benton.
“It was really nerve-wracking,” she said. “It’s a long way there to Zion, so I had to lock in. It was very stressful.”
Novak had already impressed Lake Zurich’s coaches enough to make the varsity team, but it was time to deliver.
“My staff and I definitely noticed her at camp and thought, ‘Wow, she can do some really good things,’” Lake Zurich coach Mike Castronova said. “Her skills with the ball and going to goal stood out right away.”
Novak came off the bench in that season opener against the Zee-Bees. When Castronova called her name, she trotted onto the field, hoping to make an impact. It took her just five minutes.
That’s when Novak scored her first varsity goal. A few minutes later, she scored another. By the end of the Bears’ 7-0 win, Novak had a hat trick.
“It was the best moment of my life,” she said. “Everyone was happy and celebrating a lot. It was amazing.”
Novak was just getting started. The 5-foot-9 forward begins her junior season with 32 career goals and 19 career assists for Lake Zurich (17-3-2), which has lost to Barrington in three straight Class 3A sectional championship games.
Novak assumes the role of veteran leader for the Bears, who hope to advance further this season. They haven’t reached the state semifinals since 2004.
“Reilly keeps everybody level and keeps everybody working hard,” Castronova said. “We want to have fun and enjoy the season, but we want to go out there and win. So during practice and during games, we want to stay focused and be ready for the big moments.”
Novak, a Creighton recruit, loves those big moments.
“Last season, we had OBB, which was Operation Beat Barrington,” she said. “But this year, we’re going down to 2A, so it’s going to be OBL, Operation Beat Libertyville. They’re our biggest rivals this season.”
Novak, who moved to Lake Zurich from Seattle a few years ago, remains loyal to Seattle Sounders FC, the MLS team. Her family calls her “Honey Badger,” an homage to former Sounders star Osvaldo Alonso, who was given that nickname for his fearless style of play. Novak also wears Alonso’s No. 6 in his honor.
“When I have the ball, I just have to be a honey badger and be fierce,” she said.
Novak has played with that mentality for a long time, according to her mother, Christine.
“She played on boys teams for a few years,” Christine Novak said. “We used to joke a lot about there being no crying in soccer, and looking back, there were some boys’ parents who were complaining that Reilly was either too hard or too aggressive, and one of the boys on the field was crying. At the end of the game, Reilly was like, ‘Mom, I told him there was no crying in soccer.’”
Reilly Novak has no intention of letting up.
“I still have to put in all the work,” she said. “I can’t just stop and lay back. I need to keep going and never give up.”
Sam Brief is a freelance reporter.
