Gust grand at forward

Comments (...)

Marian Central's Kyle Gust is the Northwest Herald Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Gust had 31 goals and 19 assists this season, helping the Hurricanes go 20-6-1. (Travis Haughton - thaughton@nwherald.com)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Comments

Share

For more high school sports, visit McHenryCountySports.com

Kyle Gust did not set out this season to do anything more spectacular than play hard-nosed soccer.

The Marian Central senior forward had enjoyed a banner season in 2008, helping the ’Canes to an IHSA Class 2A supersectional with 17 goals and 11 assists.

His consistency up top had become a staple in Marian’s scoring attack and had established Gust as one of the area’s elite forwards.

Gust took it one step further this season. His 31 goals broke Marian’s school record for most in a season – the previous mark was 28, set by Aaron Nichols in 2006 – and helped the ’Canes produce their best regular season in years.

For his efforts on the field this year and his explosive presence up top, Gust is the Northwest Herald Boys Soccer Player of the Year. The recipient is selected by the sports staff with input from local coaches. Gust edged Crystal Lake South sophomore forward Charlie Oliver for the honor.

Woodstock senior forward Christian Harvey and Gust’s Marian teammate, senior midfielder Tyler Lundquist, also received strong consideration.

“[Breaking the record] wasn’t something I set out to do,” said Gust, whose unselfish play also led to 19 assists. “It was something that was in the back of my head at the beginning of the season. and it was something I knew that I could do, but I was still [surprised] when it happened.”

Gust’s evolution impressed coach Mike Golda. Golda brought Gust up to varsity during his freshman season for the first tournament of the year and had a sneak peek at what he could expect from Gust in the years to come.

“He had that natural instinct up top and just a savvy way about him,” Golda said. “He knew Marian’s program ... and he knew he wanted to be able to make contributions. To see his game evolve the way it has has been something special.”

Gust scored 10 goals and added six assists as a sophomore. When he extended his output last year during his junior season, Golda noticed Gust getting “hungrier” for more success.

Still, Gust was willing to play where Golda needed him. Knowing defense was one of the Hurricanes’ weaker spots this year, Golda often needed Gust to drop back to center midfield.

“He opened up our offense a lot by making big runs,” Golda said. “We would often tell [goalkeeper] Andrew Hull to just punt the ball down the field knowing that Kyle could outrun almost anyone else. He was a huge weapon for us like that.”

A lot of the work that paid off this year came in the offseason, Gust said. He would spend time playing with McHenry’s Jake Bukiri and Jacobs’ Taylor Pignataro to sharpen his skills.

His Marian teammates helped him immensely, too, Gust said.

“We had such good players in the midfield with Tyler [Lundquist] and Ben [Platta],” Gust said. “They made it so that I could do my job.”

Gust is receiving interest from Division I schools Southern Florida, Marquette, Xavier (Ohio) and Central Florida and Division II University of Tampa.

Comments