Boys Soccer: Manteno's Kash Goranson named Daily Journal Player of the Year

Kash Goranson’s high school soccer journey was not always the smoothest.

He burst onto the scene at Manteno High School in 2021 as a productive freshman, leading the Panthers with 12 assists and tying for fourth on the team with five goals. As a sophomore, nagging injuries hampered his production a bit. Still, he tied for third on the team in goals and second in assists.

Injuries persisted again heading into his junior year, ending his season before it could begin. But luckily for Goranson, and for the Panthers, he was able to return to the field as a senior in 2024.

Goranson led the team with 24 goals and tied for the team lead with 15 assists. In large part due to his senior presence, the Panthers went 18-4-2 and posted their most wins in a season since 2018. Following conference and regional championships, they also claimed their first sectional title since 2017 before their season came to an end in super-sectionals.

Goranson was named to the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association All-Sectional and Academic All-Sectional teams, the All-Illinois Central Eight Conference team and is now the 2024-25 Daily Journal Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

Following a season full of individual and team accolades, Goranson said it was nice to see the work he and the team have done turn into something positive.

“I really couldn’t believe we made it that far,” he said. “I also feel really good about myself. I put all the hard work in throughout the years and it really paid off.”

Long before his successful senior season, Goranson began playing recreation league soccer as a child. When he decided he wanted to try and take his soccer playing to the next level, his dad, Chuck, stepped in to help Kash climb the youth soccer ranks.

“My dad was there for me and helped me out and started a club called Legion FC,” Kash said. “That’s where I started, then I moved up to Chicago Fire Academy. I just kept playing, a lot of training, and it really showed through my results.”

He said he was grateful to his dad and mom Tracy for supporting him through his athletic career. Also, Kash said his siblings’ athletic endeavors have helped motivate him.

His older brother, Jacob Meents, was a member of the Bradley-Bourbonnais boys soccer team that made a run at state in 2016. His younger sister, Klarke Goranson, just wrapped up an historic season as a freshman on the Manteno girls cross country team and his younger brother, Jensyn Goranson, is following Kash’s footsteps through the youth soccer ranks.

“My sister works really hard at cross country and that motivates me to work hard too,” Kash said. “My little brother is on the Chicago Fire Academy, so he’s worked with me a lot in training. And my older brother got third place at state as a goalkeeper, so that motivated me to work hard and give it my best.”

Kash also thanked his coaches for the work they have done for him throughout his soccer career, including current Manteno head coach Oscar Farfan.

Farfan just finished his second season as head coach for the Panthers after one season as an assistant. He said that he was impressed by Kash’s perseverance through a tough sophomore season, and once Kash was back and healthy this season, he knew the team was getting back an important piece.

“He had a good year [as a sophomore], but he was a little banged up that season for us; but he never complained, fought through it and still performed well for us,” Farfan said. “We knew we had a player that was going to give their all.

“When he came back for his senior year after taking the year off, not only were we getting a quality player, we were getting a player who was going to work every game for us and leave it all on the field,” Farfan added.

Kash said that having to miss his junior season was challenging, but once he was able to start building back up, he was dedicated to returning for one last season.

“It was really hard when I got hurt,” he said. “I really wanted to play a lot, and over the summer I worked really hard to get back the strength I needed for my senior year.”

That senior season will be that last soccer season for Kash as a player, at least in the foreseeable future. He said that playing soccer is not in his future plans, but is looking forward to supporting Klarke and Jensyn as they continue their youth and high school sports careers.

“I’ll still be supporting my brother and sister through all this, but I have chosen not to continue my soccer path,” Kash said. “I’m going to trade school to be a sheet metal worker, but I’ll still have that love for the game, watching soccer and supporting my siblings.”

Farfan said that he believes Kash has shown he is capable of being successful no matter what he ends up doing in his life.

“Kash has always been a kid, since day one when I met him, that has worked hard,” Farfan said. “Having that mentality, having the mindset in any career he chooses, I know he’s going to do well in it because he has those traits.”

As Kash moves ahead through the final few months of his senior year and beyond, he said he will take the memories from this past season with him.

“I really enjoyed just hanging out with my team, at team dinners and all the different activities we did together,” he said. “We were conference champions, regional champions and sectional champions. We made it really far because we worked as a team. We worked hard together through practices and games, and it really showed.”

https://daily-journal.com/sports/boys-soccer-mantenos-kash-goranson-named-daily-journal-player-of-the-year/article_577b1fbc-b8c5-11ef-b6e3-2b9eb35b5e66.html