LINDEN -— The most prolific goal scorer in North Montgomery girls soccer history has found her home.
On Wednesday. Teegan Bacon officially signed to continue her soccer career at Division III powerhouse North Central College in Naperville, Illinois.
The Cardinals are coming off a 12-2-5 season which saw them reach the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship game for the second straight season. They also achieved their first-ever NCAA DIII Top 25 ranking where they were as high as 18th in the country.
“The coaches there are really the type of coaches that I love playing for,” Bacon said. “They made me feel comfortable and the girls there are very nice and super talented. I know they’ll continue to help me grow as a player over the next four years. I’m just very excited and am ready for all of it.”
With the success of the North Central program the last few seasons, Bacon sees her situation as an incoming freshman similar to when she joined the North Montgomery program four years ago. Both teams were on the rise and she hopes the success the Chargers eventually were able to have can replicate itself at the collegiate level.
“I knew that this was going to be a great opportunity for me to help grow myself and help grow the program there,” she said. “I want to be a part of something that hopefully turns out very well there, and you can see how they’ve grown the last few seasons and have the talent they’ve been able to bring in. To be able to be wanted by them for their future when they already have a ton of talent is a big honor.”
North Montgomery girls soccer coach Julie Hodges believes North Central and Bacon are a perfect fit.
“In high school you don’t get to choose where you play, but that’s what’s so great about the college process is you get to choose where you want to be,” Hodges said. “For them, they have faith in Teegan and what she can bring to the program. It shows what kind of person and player that she’s become over the course of her career.”
The step up from high school to a nationally ranked D3 program will be one that will take some getting used to, however, Hodges knows Bacon will do everything she can do adapt to the collegiate style of play.
“Teegan is by far the most determined player that I’ve ever coached,” she said. “A lot of freshman don’t jump into a program right away and start. Whether that happens for her or not, no matter where she ends up fitting in, she’ll have that level of determination that can carry her as far as she wants to go. That goes beyond her soccer career too. Whenever she’s done with soccer that determination will carry with her throughout the rest of her life.”
Bacon knows she will have to continue to work on her soccer skills in order to be successful in college, and that nothing will be handed to her with the Cardinals.
“I will need to get stronger,” she said. “They’ve already sent me their weight program so that’s something that I’m already working on. Being able to find my options sooner when I receive the ball is a big thing as well. One of my current coaches has helped me a ton with that so that I can make more time for myself. Being able to play with all of these talented players I think feels great to me because I know I won’t be alone and asked to do too much right away. It’s exciting to come into a class that has as much talent as ours does.”
