The night before soccer tryouts, senior Timmy Iscra told senior Jackson Grabill he was not going to try out for the team.

     After playing for club teams instead of Glenbrook North the last three years, Iscra verbally committed to playing Division I soccer at DePaul University over the summer.

     Grabill said he had been “grilling” Iscra all summer to play soccer for GBN because Grabill knew the team was going to be really good this year, and Iscra’s college plans were set.

     “The night before [tryouts], I’m like, ‘So, it seems you’re not coming back,’ and he was just like, ‘Yeah, no, I’m not coming back,’” said Grabill. “And I got really bummed out that night. But, I went to tryouts the next morning at like 6 [a.m.], and I’m there and talking with all the guys, and Timmy shows up like five minutes after me. And I was just like, ‘You have to be kidding me.’”

     Iscra said he decided to play for GBN this year because he knew the team had potential and had the mentality, “you know, senior year.”

     “[Playing for GBN] had always been something I’d wanted to do, but I didn’t really get the opportunity until I committed,” Iscra said.

     Paul Vignocchi, boys soccer head coach, said he was excited when he found out Iscra was going to try out.

     “I knew … adding Timmy to the mix was going to make us a better team,” said Vignocchi. “… He’s about [6-foot-2] and built like a house. In high school soccer, you don’t see too many of those players, and we’re not the biggest team to begin with, so adding him to our team makes us more of a physical team.”

     Senior Seth Grossman also said that one of Iscra’s greatest strengths on the field is his height, which gives him a great ability to head the ball.

     “[His header is] a very powerful shot,” said Grossman. “He scored maybe half his goals on headers this year, so I think his height is his biggest contribution to success.”

     According to Grossman, Iscra’s offensive skills have helped take some pressure off the defenders.

     “My first three years on this team, … the defense was relied heavily upon to keep us in games because there were a lot of 1-0, 0-0, 2-0 games, a lot of close games,” said Grossman. “This year, he’s kind of blown [the] offense wide open, and the defense has been able to take a deep breath. There haven’t been a lot of close games because he’s helped a lot on offense with scoring and assisting.”

     Two weeks into the season, Iscra, Grossman and Grabill were voted team captains.

     “Before our first game, we had the team vote for captains, and Timmy was one of the leaders in those two weeks,” said Vignocchi. “He’s one of the vocal guys that really expects more from his teammates. He’s very demanding and pushes his teammates during practices to make them better.”

     Iscra said he was not expecting to be a captain and was surprised when he found out his teammates had voted for him.

     “It’s kind of, like, reassuring to know that you’ve got a team backing you, even just coming in,” Iscra said.

     Grossman said there was no negative energy surrounding Iscra being a captain his first year on the team.

     “People knew that Timmy was just doing what was best for him, for his college interests, the past three years,” said Grossman. “Everyone respects him as a player and as a person.”

     Iscra said he has been working up to playing in college, which is why he only played for club teams.

     “I don’t think that I would be playing in college if I had played in high school all my years,” said Iscra. “I have no regrets on my path.”