SCN finally solves Scara, ekes by Batavia
North Stars grab share of UEC title with 1-0 win
By Dave Owen
BATAVIA -- Senior goalkeeper Jenny Scara put on a goaltending clinic for Batavia on Tuesday that few players this side of the World Cup could beat.
But as the host Lady Bulldogs (12-3-2, 3-2-1) and 16 previous opponents now know, beating St. Charles North is not easy.
The North Stars (14-0-3, 5-0-1) endured the frustration of save after impossible save by Scara in the second game of the Tri-Cities Night doubleheader.
Finally, freshman Sami Rydberg’s extra effort with 31:19 left was a shard of kryptonite in the Batavia keeper’s superhuman effort. St. Charles North went on to a 1-0 win, clinching a share of the Upstate Eight Conference with Geneva.
Rydberg’s second goal of her prep career came after what was a typical start to a chance for the North Stars, who claimed their highest standing of the season in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 this week with the no. 2 rank . Rydberg tracked down Gia Wahlberg’s nicely touched high chip to the box, but had her initial open 10-yard shot blocked by Scara.
But as the ball spun free towards the left after that initial big save, Rydberg chased down the rebound for a putaway into the left corner of the net.
“It was definitely a great job by their keeper,” Rydberg said. “She had amazing saves, especially during the first half. We needed to find a way to come back and get one, and we did.”
Rydberg’s ability to finally solve the puzzle of scoring on Scara came from pure hustle.
“Just never stop,” she said. “In practice our coach always says keep working, persevere, and I just had to get it in.”
In what could have been a 5-0 game with average goaltending, St. Charles North coach Brian Harks was starting to wonder if a 0-0 tie was in the cards.
“Batavia has a really solid team and did a great job defending and working off each other,” Harks said. “And their keeper behind the backline was amazing -- she came up with some really nice saves.”
The Scara highlight film began to roll in the 12th minute, when the North Stars' Gia Wahlberg burst in alone left and unleashed a 10-yard drive. But Scara’s all-out dive deflected the rocket just wide.
Scara followed with a nice save at the far post on Madison Kaufmann in the 22nd minute, an improbable diving grab at the left post of a Sami Rydberg 15-yarder 16:05 before halftime, then thwarted a Hailey Rydberg low 15-yard shot with 13:30 until the break.
“Honestly, making saves – they just kind of happen, I don’t really think about them,” said Scara, whose routine impossible stops earned her Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match honors despite the loss for 11th-ranked Batavia.
“I just had a really good game, probably one of the best I’ve ever played. Also my college coach (from Illinois State) was here, so that kind of put a little bit of pressure on me to do well. I think that helped a lot.”
And Scara was just getting start to help her team.
Her third denial of what seemed a sure goal came 9:50 before halftime, with a little help from a teammate. Kaufmann burst in off a Hailey Rydberg pass, but was stopped by a diving Scara save. Batavia defender Amy TenHaken then cleared the loose rebound out of bounds.
A nice Claire Barresi pass 50 seconds later set up Wahlberg with another monster chance, but her 15-yarder again met resistance when Scara dove again to somehow deflect the shot wide.
“Definitely Gia, no. 15, gave us a run for our money – she is good,” Scara said. “She had a lot of good shots.”
Scara then batted the ensuing corner kick upfield, and fittingly closed the half with another diving stop on a Hailey Rydberg 15-yarder with 30 seconds left to dim yet another of the North Stars’ galaxy of chances.
“She played really well,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said of Scara. “She’s probably the top keeper in the area. She definitely kept us in the game.
“We knew obviously their top two players 15 (Wahlberg) and 2 (Hailey Rydberg) are outstanding players, and I felt we kind of controlled them and frustrated them a little more in the first half than the second. And even though Jenny made a lot of nice saves, we were all pretty composed and focused on what we needed to do.”
TenHaken chipped in with multiple nice clears, and Gracey DiBiase, Alex Piron, Abby Zipse and Jenna Nichols also did their part to complement Scara’s great effort.
“It was frustrating,” North defender Katy Kusswurm said of her team’s denied big-time chances, “but it was also ‘next play.’ We had to put past plays to the side, focus on the next play and work from there.”
Perhaps overshadowed but also impressive, St. Charles North’s defense faced fewer elite threats – but produced the sixth shutout in its last seven games.
“That back four plays really cohesive,” Harks said. “You have two center backs Katy Kusswurm and Adi Ames that really do a good job being vocal, and you have a vocal keeper (Samantha Sample) behind them directing them. And then from there it spreads out wide.
“I thought Claire Barresi coming off an ankle injury played the best game we’ve seen her play all season. This is probably the healthiest she’s been all season. And then a freshman (Alysssa Kraft) out on the right doesn’t have the mental approach of most freshmen. She was very nice and composed.”
Another cool and calm freshman Sami Rydberg did what no veteran strikers could on Tuesday – solve the Batavia defense.
“I was happy with the way our forwards responded,” Harks said. “They kept fighting trying to find the next one. It would be easy to get frustrated, but they stayed after it.
“We had a big player step up in the form of a freshman Sami Rydberg, who didn’t get the first shot – it was a really nice save. But she stayed with it, and she got the rebound, which was really nice to see.”
Said Rydberg: “It’s great to be able to help out and make a difference on the field, and be part of a team that’s like my family. It’s a great experience.”
And speaking of family, older sister Hailey’s strong play provides a great influence.
“Having my older sister (Hailey) here – she’s my role model,” Rydberg said. “So I get it all from her and see what to do.”
Finally up 1-0, the North Stars ran into more defensive resistance. Scara nicely grabbed a Hailey Rydberg 45-yard direct kick with 24:40 left, then a nice Gia Wahlberg cross with 21:30 to go was driven inches wide from 8 yards by Celeste Wahlberg. TenHaken then blocked a Sarah Andrey shot at 20:40 to continue to limit North.
While the North Stars seemed to swarm the net, Batavia had its own chances.
Mackenzie Foster was a physical factor in front, starting with a shot just wide off a DiBiase corner kick in just the seventh minute of play. Later in the half, a pair of Shelby Key crosses were broken up and cleared by Ams and Amanda Czerniak.
Kusswurm summed up the key to the North Stars’ senior-dominated defense.
“Definitely our composure and communication,” she said. “There’s never a second on the field where one of us is quiet. We’re always talking to each other, making sure that somebody’s there, and always seeing the what ifs – if this happens, are we where we’re supposed to be.”
The North Stars remained in the right spot as they held the 1-0 second half lead.
Batavia's Foster sent a 25-yard shot wide with 17:50 left, then her header try five minutes later was nicely cleared from in front by defender Ams.
After the St. Charles North offense added yet another great chance with 7:05 left (Kauffman’s shot that grazed the right post), the North Stars’ defense sealed the deal when Claudia Najera intercepted a pass 40 yards out with 10 seconds left and dribbled out the clock.
“We were all really excited for this game,” Scara said. “We wanted to come out with a win, but things happen. We got scored on, but we still played really well as a team. And we’re really excited and just feeding off each other and all the energy. I think that really played into how I played.
“We’ve never beaten them in all my times playing them, and that’s really frustrating. I really wanted to win this game. But I’m not upset that we lost, because we played so well as a team.”
While the Batavia defense produced a heroic effort from start to finish, the scarce second half offensive threats were frustrating.
“In the second half we struggled to connect passes,” Gianfrancesco said, “and that was them (SCN) amping it up and getting a little more intense and physical. So were struggled in the second, whereas the first we were connecting four or five passes. The second half it was a little harder to complete passes, and you saw some fitness come through with that as well.”
The Lady Bulldogs were without Cameron Hindel, who with Keegan Maris is one of the team’s top two scorers. The match marked the fourth in a row Batavia has been shut out in an 0-2-2 stretch.
“Cameron’s out until the playoffs,” Gianfrancesco said, “but we’re not going to make excuses. We have other people there.”
While the 1-0 loss added to Batavia’s offensive frustration, a stellar senior class have sparked a successful spring and bring hope for a big postseason.
“I’ve been on the team for four years now and we’ve never been the number three seed,” Scara said. “It feels pretty good.
“I think a lot of us are really excited about playoffs because we have a really good team this year, and we want to go downstate. That’s our ultimate goal, especially with all of us seniors graduating. There’s 10 of us who have been playing together literally since we were five years old, so we know each other really well.
“We want a regional – I’ve been here four years and we’ve never won a regional either,” Scara added. “But we’re going to take every game one step at a time.”
St. Charles North has taken the same approach, with a trio of ties the lone blemishes on an undefeated 2017. A 0-0 draw with Geneva May 1 set up the latest honor – a conference co-championship.
“It’s a share, but we set out little mini milestones for throughout the season and this was one of them,” Harks said. “So it feels good at the end of the day.”
Said Kusswurm: “To win conference is a good accomplishment, one of the goals we’ve had all season along with the PepsiCo and the Iowa tournament. It’s another step on the road, and we’re just looking to push further and hopefully go far in the postseason.”
That postseason road could include a sectional semifinal rematch with Batavia.
“I want to see them again,” Scara said. “For us, it’s just putting shots in the net. The past four games we haven’t scored – that has to be our main focus, just building our confidence on that and then seeing that happen in games.”
On what is always a special Tri-Cities Night along a three-town stretch of the Fox River, the mix of amazing goaltending and the high-powered North Stars provided another memorable chapter in the late-season series.
“It’s always good having the vision of seeing somebody before the playoffs that’s a good team,” Gianfrancesco said. “It kind of keeps everyone engaged.
“They have a good team. We’re fortunate to just give up one, but we’d like a little more on the offensive end.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK- Samantha Sample
D- Alyssa Kraft
D- Katy Kusswurm
D- Adisson Ams
D- Claire Barresi
M- Amanda Czerniak
M- Claudia Najera
M- Jordan Karom
M- Hailey Rydberg
F- Cassidy Joyce
F- Gia Wahlberg
Batavia
GK- Jenny Scara
D- Jenna Nichols
D- Gracey DiBiase
D- Alex Piron
D- Abby Zipse
M- Morgan Wahlen
M- Mackenzie Foster
M- Anna Rakos
M- Kelly Bleakley
F- Keegan Maris
F- Avery Davis
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jenny Scara, sr. GK, Batavia
North Stars grab share of UEC title with 1-0 win
By Dave Owen
BATAVIA -- Senior goalkeeper Jenny Scara put on a goaltending clinic for Batavia on Tuesday that few players this side of the World Cup could beat.
But as the host Lady Bulldogs (12-3-2, 3-2-1) and 16 previous opponents now know, beating St. Charles North is not easy.
The North Stars (14-0-3, 5-0-1) endured the frustration of save after impossible save by Scara in the second game of the Tri-Cities Night doubleheader.
Finally, freshman Sami Rydberg’s extra effort with 31:19 left was a shard of kryptonite in the Batavia keeper’s superhuman effort. St. Charles North went on to a 1-0 win, clinching a share of the Upstate Eight Conference with Geneva.
Rydberg’s second goal of her prep career came after what was a typical start to a chance for the North Stars, who claimed their highest standing of the season in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 this week with the no. 2 rank . Rydberg tracked down Gia Wahlberg’s nicely touched high chip to the box, but had her initial open 10-yard shot blocked by Scara.
But as the ball spun free towards the left after that initial big save, Rydberg chased down the rebound for a putaway into the left corner of the net.
“It was definitely a great job by their keeper,” Rydberg said. “She had amazing saves, especially during the first half. We needed to find a way to come back and get one, and we did.”
Rydberg’s ability to finally solve the puzzle of scoring on Scara came from pure hustle.
“Just never stop,” she said. “In practice our coach always says keep working, persevere, and I just had to get it in.”
In what could have been a 5-0 game with average goaltending, St. Charles North coach Brian Harks was starting to wonder if a 0-0 tie was in the cards.
“Batavia has a really solid team and did a great job defending and working off each other,” Harks said. “And their keeper behind the backline was amazing -- she came up with some really nice saves.”
The Scara highlight film began to roll in the 12th minute, when the North Stars' Gia Wahlberg burst in alone left and unleashed a 10-yard drive. But Scara’s all-out dive deflected the rocket just wide.
Scara followed with a nice save at the far post on Madison Kaufmann in the 22nd minute, an improbable diving grab at the left post of a Sami Rydberg 15-yarder 16:05 before halftime, then thwarted a Hailey Rydberg low 15-yard shot with 13:30 until the break.
“Honestly, making saves – they just kind of happen, I don’t really think about them,” said Scara, whose routine impossible stops earned her Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match honors despite the loss for 11th-ranked Batavia.
“I just had a really good game, probably one of the best I’ve ever played. Also my college coach (from Illinois State) was here, so that kind of put a little bit of pressure on me to do well. I think that helped a lot.”
And Scara was just getting start to help her team.
Her third denial of what seemed a sure goal came 9:50 before halftime, with a little help from a teammate. Kaufmann burst in off a Hailey Rydberg pass, but was stopped by a diving Scara save. Batavia defender Amy TenHaken then cleared the loose rebound out of bounds.
A nice Claire Barresi pass 50 seconds later set up Wahlberg with another monster chance, but her 15-yarder again met resistance when Scara dove again to somehow deflect the shot wide.
“Definitely Gia, no. 15, gave us a run for our money – she is good,” Scara said. “She had a lot of good shots.”
Scara then batted the ensuing corner kick upfield, and fittingly closed the half with another diving stop on a Hailey Rydberg 15-yarder with 30 seconds left to dim yet another of the North Stars’ galaxy of chances.
“She played really well,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said of Scara. “She’s probably the top keeper in the area. She definitely kept us in the game.
“We knew obviously their top two players 15 (Wahlberg) and 2 (Hailey Rydberg) are outstanding players, and I felt we kind of controlled them and frustrated them a little more in the first half than the second. And even though Jenny made a lot of nice saves, we were all pretty composed and focused on what we needed to do.”
TenHaken chipped in with multiple nice clears, and Gracey DiBiase, Alex Piron, Abby Zipse and Jenna Nichols also did their part to complement Scara’s great effort.
“It was frustrating,” North defender Katy Kusswurm said of her team’s denied big-time chances, “but it was also ‘next play.’ We had to put past plays to the side, focus on the next play and work from there.”
Perhaps overshadowed but also impressive, St. Charles North’s defense faced fewer elite threats – but produced the sixth shutout in its last seven games.
“That back four plays really cohesive,” Harks said. “You have two center backs Katy Kusswurm and Adi Ames that really do a good job being vocal, and you have a vocal keeper (Samantha Sample) behind them directing them. And then from there it spreads out wide.
“I thought Claire Barresi coming off an ankle injury played the best game we’ve seen her play all season. This is probably the healthiest she’s been all season. And then a freshman (Alysssa Kraft) out on the right doesn’t have the mental approach of most freshmen. She was very nice and composed.”
Another cool and calm freshman Sami Rydberg did what no veteran strikers could on Tuesday – solve the Batavia defense.
“I was happy with the way our forwards responded,” Harks said. “They kept fighting trying to find the next one. It would be easy to get frustrated, but they stayed after it.
“We had a big player step up in the form of a freshman Sami Rydberg, who didn’t get the first shot – it was a really nice save. But she stayed with it, and she got the rebound, which was really nice to see.”
Said Rydberg: “It’s great to be able to help out and make a difference on the field, and be part of a team that’s like my family. It’s a great experience.”
And speaking of family, older sister Hailey’s strong play provides a great influence.
“Having my older sister (Hailey) here – she’s my role model,” Rydberg said. “So I get it all from her and see what to do.”
Finally up 1-0, the North Stars ran into more defensive resistance. Scara nicely grabbed a Hailey Rydberg 45-yard direct kick with 24:40 left, then a nice Gia Wahlberg cross with 21:30 to go was driven inches wide from 8 yards by Celeste Wahlberg. TenHaken then blocked a Sarah Andrey shot at 20:40 to continue to limit North.
While the North Stars seemed to swarm the net, Batavia had its own chances.
Mackenzie Foster was a physical factor in front, starting with a shot just wide off a DiBiase corner kick in just the seventh minute of play. Later in the half, a pair of Shelby Key crosses were broken up and cleared by Ams and Amanda Czerniak.
Kusswurm summed up the key to the North Stars’ senior-dominated defense.
“Definitely our composure and communication,” she said. “There’s never a second on the field where one of us is quiet. We’re always talking to each other, making sure that somebody’s there, and always seeing the what ifs – if this happens, are we where we’re supposed to be.”
The North Stars remained in the right spot as they held the 1-0 second half lead.
Batavia's Foster sent a 25-yard shot wide with 17:50 left, then her header try five minutes later was nicely cleared from in front by defender Ams.
After the St. Charles North offense added yet another great chance with 7:05 left (Kauffman’s shot that grazed the right post), the North Stars’ defense sealed the deal when Claudia Najera intercepted a pass 40 yards out with 10 seconds left and dribbled out the clock.
“We were all really excited for this game,” Scara said. “We wanted to come out with a win, but things happen. We got scored on, but we still played really well as a team. And we’re really excited and just feeding off each other and all the energy. I think that really played into how I played.
“We’ve never beaten them in all my times playing them, and that’s really frustrating. I really wanted to win this game. But I’m not upset that we lost, because we played so well as a team.”
While the Batavia defense produced a heroic effort from start to finish, the scarce second half offensive threats were frustrating.
“In the second half we struggled to connect passes,” Gianfrancesco said, “and that was them (SCN) amping it up and getting a little more intense and physical. So were struggled in the second, whereas the first we were connecting four or five passes. The second half it was a little harder to complete passes, and you saw some fitness come through with that as well.”
The Lady Bulldogs were without Cameron Hindel, who with Keegan Maris is one of the team’s top two scorers. The match marked the fourth in a row Batavia has been shut out in an 0-2-2 stretch.
“Cameron’s out until the playoffs,” Gianfrancesco said, “but we’re not going to make excuses. We have other people there.”
While the 1-0 loss added to Batavia’s offensive frustration, a stellar senior class have sparked a successful spring and bring hope for a big postseason.
“I’ve been on the team for four years now and we’ve never been the number three seed,” Scara said. “It feels pretty good.
“I think a lot of us are really excited about playoffs because we have a really good team this year, and we want to go downstate. That’s our ultimate goal, especially with all of us seniors graduating. There’s 10 of us who have been playing together literally since we were five years old, so we know each other really well.
“We want a regional – I’ve been here four years and we’ve never won a regional either,” Scara added. “But we’re going to take every game one step at a time.”
St. Charles North has taken the same approach, with a trio of ties the lone blemishes on an undefeated 2017. A 0-0 draw with Geneva May 1 set up the latest honor – a conference co-championship.
“It’s a share, but we set out little mini milestones for throughout the season and this was one of them,” Harks said. “So it feels good at the end of the day.”
Said Kusswurm: “To win conference is a good accomplishment, one of the goals we’ve had all season along with the PepsiCo and the Iowa tournament. It’s another step on the road, and we’re just looking to push further and hopefully go far in the postseason.”
That postseason road could include a sectional semifinal rematch with Batavia.
“I want to see them again,” Scara said. “For us, it’s just putting shots in the net. The past four games we haven’t scored – that has to be our main focus, just building our confidence on that and then seeing that happen in games.”
On what is always a special Tri-Cities Night along a three-town stretch of the Fox River, the mix of amazing goaltending and the high-powered North Stars provided another memorable chapter in the late-season series.
“It’s always good having the vision of seeing somebody before the playoffs that’s a good team,” Gianfrancesco said. “It kind of keeps everyone engaged.
“They have a good team. We’re fortunate to just give up one, but we’d like a little more on the offensive end.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK- Samantha Sample
D- Alyssa Kraft
D- Katy Kusswurm
D- Adisson Ams
D- Claire Barresi
M- Amanda Czerniak
M- Claudia Najera
M- Jordan Karom
M- Hailey Rydberg
F- Cassidy Joyce
F- Gia Wahlberg
Batavia
GK- Jenny Scara
D- Jenna Nichols
D- Gracey DiBiase
D- Alex Piron
D- Abby Zipse
M- Morgan Wahlen
M- Mackenzie Foster
M- Anna Rakos
M- Kelly Bleakley
F- Keegan Maris
F- Avery Davis
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jenny Scara, sr. GK, Batavia