“You guys still don’t like Naperville North, right? Right.”

Eliciting a rumbling laugh from varsity athletes seated around Naperville Central’s auditorium on Jan. 22, Central Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Anne Mucci (Class of 1995) begins to explain the best part about playing soccer at Central at the inductees’ question and answer assembly.

“My favorite part about playing soccer was beating [North] three years in a row to knock them out of the state tournament, especially when they were supposed to beat us every time. You gotta like beating the Huskies.”

Mucci was a varsity soccer athlete for her sophomore and junior year, finishing second place at State both years. Contributing to her athletic  record, was being a two-time all-conference basketball players and being voted the Chicago Tribune Player of the Year in 1995.

Beginning soccer in first grade, Mucci experimented with soccer, basketball and volleyball before deciding to pursue soccer as her main sport.

“[I chose soccer because] you had to be tall to play the other [sports],” Mucci said with a laugh. “No, but I just always enjoyed soccer, it came the most naturally to me.”

After high school, Mucci attended Northern Illinois University and played soccer.

During the question and answer assembly in which varsity athletes from all sports were invited, Mucci also had a chance to share about her most memorable game at Central against Glenbard North her junior year.

“We were tied, and we should not have been tied with them,” Mucci said. “I went up for a header and got hit in the stomach and I went down and my shoulder was aching and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. So I said, “No, no. I’m going back in, I’m going back in.’ We went into overtime and I scored a goal and we won. [Athletic Trainer] Mr. [Bill] Hughes told me, ‘You need to go to the emergency room.’

Mucci wasn’t sure why she needed to go to the hospital, but she took Hughes advice.

“[Hughes] somehow knew, because he’s Mr. Hughes that aching in my shoulder was an injury with my spleen and he was right,” Mucci said. “I went in and I had mono, I didn’t know I had mono. I had to spend the night in the hospital and go to prom the [next] night after spending the night in the hospital.”

According to Mucci, the worst part about the diagnosis was missing soccer. However, she was cleared to play by the time the team had made it to Sectionals. With her back on the field, the team beat Naperville North in the Sectional Championship and made a run for the playoffs.

With exciting events like these shaping her lucrative career at Central, Mucci ended the assembly with some advice for her 17-year-old self.

“Take advantage of the opportunities you have,” Mucci said. “Just slow down and appreciate them.”

Mucci, along with the other inductees, was officially inducted between the sophomore and varsity boys’ basketball games on Jan. 22.