First half strikes propel
St. Charles E. past Naperville C.
Saints win battle of unbeatens, in position for tournament title
By Derek Wolff
ST. CHARLES -- Naperville Central had scored 17 times in its first six games of the 2015 campaign. Then it ran into tournament host St. Charles East on Friday night in the second round of the Augsburg-Drach Invitational.
The meeting didn’t end well for the Redhawks (5-1-1), who found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 loss after spending a lot of time in their defensive third.
“Their plan is a good one,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “They don't have the ball at their feet very long, they're quick to drop from their forwards.
"Their forwards are not looking to turn you until they get the defense into dangerous positions. Their midfielders know the balls are coming and they have a plan where it's going to go next.”
Julia Peterson and Kelli Santo Paulo provided the offense for the Saints (7-0) with goals in the 34th and 38th minutes to send St. Charles East into the halftime intermission with a commanding lead.
But it was Naperville Central that started the game hungry and possessed the ball well. But the Redhawks were unable to generate any real scoring chances.
“To be honest, the first 10 minutes I thought Naperville Central was the better team,” said Saints coach Paul Jennison. “We were a little disjointed. I don't think we gave up any opportunities, but they definitely had the majority of the ball and were pressing far better than we were.
"After about 10 minutes or so we started to find our feet a little bit and were fortunate to start to connect the ball. I think after we relaxed into a bit of a rhythm, and we had maybe taken away a bit of their physicality, it started to become a game that we could find the front foot.”
East’s offense began to churn a little more than halfway through the first half when the Saints started consistently making attacking runs. That led to freshman forward Chantel Carranza's shot off the crossbar from inside the box in the 29th minute.
Peterson broke the deadlock in the 34th, floating the ball into the back of the net after senior forward Darcy Cunningham placed a perfect cross into the left half of the 18.
East’s pressure up top in the attacking third had ramped up and the Saints felt like it was just a matter of time after Carranza’s close chance.
“Darcy made a really nice pass, it was really a team effort,” Peterson said, who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. "We were working hard the whole first half, and Darcy just made a really good pass.”
East nearly doubled the lead a minute later when Cunningham took a ball over the top into the 18. Her initial shot was blocked and came right back to her, with her second shot stayed out only due to a phenomenal diving save from Redhawks goalkeeper Kinzly Dressler, who pushed the ball out of play.
Cunningham said East’s offense, which has scored 23 goals over its eight games, has benefitted from an almost effortless transition between the Saints units.
“As a forward, it's great to have my defense, I can trust them and go upfield,” Cunningham said. “When I'm on J.P.'s (Julia Peterson's) side I know she's going to make a run and I can go inside.
"When I'm on the outside I know she has my back on defense. That gives us a big advantage because our forwards can take a lot of gambles and go forward.”
Peterson’s tally kicked the offense into another gear. The Saints finished on their final goal of the evening four minutes later. Santo Paulo connected on a brilliant strike from 30 yards out that hit the netting inside the far post to double the lead.
“The (first) goal might have been a little bit fortunate but sometimes that really does swing the momentum, and it really did after that,” Jennison said. “I thought we dominated the next 20 minutes and obviously to put the second one away (was important).
"Going into halftime at 2-nil we were feeling pretty good and thought we could possess enough of the ball in the second half to counteract them.”
Naperville Central had a chance on the counterattack following Santo Paulo’s goal, but the East back line took the space away from Redhawks forward Meredith Hannan as she dribbled inside the 18, and forced an odd-angle shot that was an easy save for Saints goalkeeper Alison Chesterfield.
The Redhawks’ chances to get back into the game were few and far between in the second half. That came largely thanks to the experience of the St. Charles East back-four and Chesterfield, who’ve given up just one goal this season.
“It was a great result, a lot of respect and prayers for our defense,” Jennison said. “The way we've defended as a team, but especially those girls at the back four and in goal, the defensive mids.
"They haven't had many positive words said about them and we talked before the game and said, 'Look, you play in a position where you don't get much love, but we know the job you do.' We said, 'You just have to play the ball out, let the girls at the top do the magic,' and I'm very proud of them for the performance. (I) thought they were excellent.”
Having played together last season as East went on its run to a Class 3A state runner-up finish, the back line was able to force the Redhawks, like many other teams this season, to play into East’s strengths.
“I think our back line has really clicked because they're the same back line from last season,” Cunnigham said. “They were amazing last season and this year is just easy for them, I guess, since they've been together for so long.”
Both teams are back in tournament action tomorrow. While the turnaround will be quick, Watson said his players would benefit from the loss in the long run.
“It got their attention,” Watson said. “They know that's the type of team they're going to have to beat to have a successful season. We'll have an opportunity tomorrow to play at speed. That's the nice thing about a tournament, we don't have to wait real long to get back out and try it again.”
Center midfielder Isabel Reedy said the loss and the tournament in general prepares the Redhawks for the bigger games to be played later this year.
“From games like this, we can watch the film," Reedy said. "We can study the game and from that we can be better for the next game, especially playing against these better teams down the road at regionals and sectionals and all those important games for our team.”
Scheduling top competition was important to Jennison as well and the fact that East was able to use many substitutes goes a long way toward their ultimate goal.
“We're trying to play the team game, and again we got to rotate through a lot of the roster today,” Jennison said. “We've got a lot of girls game experience.
"Naperville Central is a great program; they're one of the top 10 teams in the state so that really gives some of these younger girls that postseason experience early, so to speak, of knowing the teams that you want to be playing against on a regular basis.”
St. Charles East plays Geneva at 4 p.m. A win will give the Saints the tournament title.
Naperville Central meets Schaumburg at 2 p.m.
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK Kinzly Dressler
D Amanda Murphy
D Kayla Rowan
D Taylor Stenmark
D Caitlin Reice
M Alison Kincaide
M Meredith Tunney
M Isabel Reedy
M Kirsten Dorgan
F Meredith Hannan
F Mackenzie Sisko
St. Charles East
GK Alison Chesterfield
D Julia Peterson
D Sara Buetow
D Shannon Gatehouse
D Sonia Ost
D Mallory Mollenhauer
M Kelli Santo Paulo
F Darcy Cunningham
F Claire Rasmussen
F Sophie Jendrzejcyk
F Chantel Carranza
Officials: David Holbrook; Gary Williams; Jennifer Wegner
MVP of the Match: Julia Peterson, D, St. Charles East
St. Charles E. past Naperville C.
Saints win battle of unbeatens, in position for tournament title
By Derek Wolff
ST. CHARLES -- Naperville Central had scored 17 times in its first six games of the 2015 campaign. Then it ran into tournament host St. Charles East on Friday night in the second round of the Augsburg-Drach Invitational.
The meeting didn’t end well for the Redhawks (5-1-1), who found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 loss after spending a lot of time in their defensive third.
“Their plan is a good one,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “They don't have the ball at their feet very long, they're quick to drop from their forwards.
"Their forwards are not looking to turn you until they get the defense into dangerous positions. Their midfielders know the balls are coming and they have a plan where it's going to go next.”
Julia Peterson and Kelli Santo Paulo provided the offense for the Saints (7-0) with goals in the 34th and 38th minutes to send St. Charles East into the halftime intermission with a commanding lead.
But it was Naperville Central that started the game hungry and possessed the ball well. But the Redhawks were unable to generate any real scoring chances.
“To be honest, the first 10 minutes I thought Naperville Central was the better team,” said Saints coach Paul Jennison. “We were a little disjointed. I don't think we gave up any opportunities, but they definitely had the majority of the ball and were pressing far better than we were.
"After about 10 minutes or so we started to find our feet a little bit and were fortunate to start to connect the ball. I think after we relaxed into a bit of a rhythm, and we had maybe taken away a bit of their physicality, it started to become a game that we could find the front foot.”
East’s offense began to churn a little more than halfway through the first half when the Saints started consistently making attacking runs. That led to freshman forward Chantel Carranza's shot off the crossbar from inside the box in the 29th minute.
Peterson broke the deadlock in the 34th, floating the ball into the back of the net after senior forward Darcy Cunningham placed a perfect cross into the left half of the 18.
East’s pressure up top in the attacking third had ramped up and the Saints felt like it was just a matter of time after Carranza’s close chance.
“Darcy made a really nice pass, it was really a team effort,” Peterson said, who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. "We were working hard the whole first half, and Darcy just made a really good pass.”
East nearly doubled the lead a minute later when Cunningham took a ball over the top into the 18. Her initial shot was blocked and came right back to her, with her second shot stayed out only due to a phenomenal diving save from Redhawks goalkeeper Kinzly Dressler, who pushed the ball out of play.
Cunningham said East’s offense, which has scored 23 goals over its eight games, has benefitted from an almost effortless transition between the Saints units.
“As a forward, it's great to have my defense, I can trust them and go upfield,” Cunningham said. “When I'm on J.P.'s (Julia Peterson's) side I know she's going to make a run and I can go inside.
"When I'm on the outside I know she has my back on defense. That gives us a big advantage because our forwards can take a lot of gambles and go forward.”
Peterson’s tally kicked the offense into another gear. The Saints finished on their final goal of the evening four minutes later. Santo Paulo connected on a brilliant strike from 30 yards out that hit the netting inside the far post to double the lead.
“The (first) goal might have been a little bit fortunate but sometimes that really does swing the momentum, and it really did after that,” Jennison said. “I thought we dominated the next 20 minutes and obviously to put the second one away (was important).
"Going into halftime at 2-nil we were feeling pretty good and thought we could possess enough of the ball in the second half to counteract them.”
Naperville Central had a chance on the counterattack following Santo Paulo’s goal, but the East back line took the space away from Redhawks forward Meredith Hannan as she dribbled inside the 18, and forced an odd-angle shot that was an easy save for Saints goalkeeper Alison Chesterfield.
The Redhawks’ chances to get back into the game were few and far between in the second half. That came largely thanks to the experience of the St. Charles East back-four and Chesterfield, who’ve given up just one goal this season.
“It was a great result, a lot of respect and prayers for our defense,” Jennison said. “The way we've defended as a team, but especially those girls at the back four and in goal, the defensive mids.
"They haven't had many positive words said about them and we talked before the game and said, 'Look, you play in a position where you don't get much love, but we know the job you do.' We said, 'You just have to play the ball out, let the girls at the top do the magic,' and I'm very proud of them for the performance. (I) thought they were excellent.”
Having played together last season as East went on its run to a Class 3A state runner-up finish, the back line was able to force the Redhawks, like many other teams this season, to play into East’s strengths.
“I think our back line has really clicked because they're the same back line from last season,” Cunnigham said. “They were amazing last season and this year is just easy for them, I guess, since they've been together for so long.”
Both teams are back in tournament action tomorrow. While the turnaround will be quick, Watson said his players would benefit from the loss in the long run.
“It got their attention,” Watson said. “They know that's the type of team they're going to have to beat to have a successful season. We'll have an opportunity tomorrow to play at speed. That's the nice thing about a tournament, we don't have to wait real long to get back out and try it again.”
Center midfielder Isabel Reedy said the loss and the tournament in general prepares the Redhawks for the bigger games to be played later this year.
“From games like this, we can watch the film," Reedy said. "We can study the game and from that we can be better for the next game, especially playing against these better teams down the road at regionals and sectionals and all those important games for our team.”
Scheduling top competition was important to Jennison as well and the fact that East was able to use many substitutes goes a long way toward their ultimate goal.
“We're trying to play the team game, and again we got to rotate through a lot of the roster today,” Jennison said. “We've got a lot of girls game experience.
"Naperville Central is a great program; they're one of the top 10 teams in the state so that really gives some of these younger girls that postseason experience early, so to speak, of knowing the teams that you want to be playing against on a regular basis.”
St. Charles East plays Geneva at 4 p.m. A win will give the Saints the tournament title.
Naperville Central meets Schaumburg at 2 p.m.
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK Kinzly Dressler
D Amanda Murphy
D Kayla Rowan
D Taylor Stenmark
D Caitlin Reice
M Alison Kincaide
M Meredith Tunney
M Isabel Reedy
M Kirsten Dorgan
F Meredith Hannan
F Mackenzie Sisko
St. Charles East
GK Alison Chesterfield
D Julia Peterson
D Sara Buetow
D Shannon Gatehouse
D Sonia Ost
D Mallory Mollenhauer
M Kelli Santo Paulo
F Darcy Cunningham
F Claire Rasmussen
F Sophie Jendrzejcyk
F Chantel Carranza
Officials: David Holbrook; Gary Williams; Jennifer Wegner
MVP of the Match: Julia Peterson, D, St. Charles East