North takes East in battle of St. Charles
Najera goal, Sample shutout keep North unbeaten
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES -- Was it more important for St. Charles North to remain unbeaten or to defeat crosstown rival St. Charles East?
Listening to the responses of the North Stars after Tuesday’s 1-0 road victory, it’s easy to believe the correct answer is both.
“We really try to follow our approach which is to take each game as it comes and treat it like any other. That’s what has worked so far,” senior goalie Sami Sample said. “But being a rivalry game, maybe there is a little extra oomph. Of course wanting to stay unbeaten now provides a little more adrenaline each time out.”
Considering the competition so far, Sample’s first criteria of viewing foes equally makes sense since seven of the North Stars' 11 opponents can be found in the latest Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
St. Charles North (10-0-1, 3-0-0) -- currently ranked no. 4 -- participates in the upcoming Tournament of Champions this weekend in Iowa and will face highly regarded schools from Wisconsin and Missouri. Then come three top 25 teams within the last four regular season matches. So yes, it is pretty foolish to overlook anyone.
No. 12 St. Charles North (8-2-3, 3-1-0) saw its four-match victory streak snapped and was simply unable to produce an equalizer to Claudia Najera's goal with 25:41 left in regulation. If the Saints had managed a strike, it would have produced the fourth 1-1 deadlock in the last six regular-season meetings.
Which again spotlights the rivalry component which North’s Hailey Rydberg attested to.
“Maybe there was a little more anxiety coming into the game, because we know there will be more fans in the stands, and we have club friendships with some of them,” Rydberg noted.
Najera ultimately conceded to a little more satisfaction.
“Staying unbeaten, gaining an edge in conference, and the rival aspect all adds to enjoying this win,” she said.
However keeping everything in perspective was addressed by North coach Brian Harks. He downplayed any emotional high from having captured one of five bracket crowns in the PepsiCo Showdown two days before. The North Stars edged no. 10 Lake Forest thanks to a 5-4 shootout advantage after regulation ended in a 3-3 draw.
“That wasn’t entirely our best effort, so the fact we stayed so focused on playing 80 solid minutes today is most gratifying,” Harks explained. “Being North versus East may have been an added incentive, but if we didn’t treat it with the need to be better than the last time out, we wouldn’t have had this outcome.”
Further highlighting that strategy was Harks’ additional praise for his backline, and in particular, Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match K.B. Kusswurm.
‘”K.B., Adisson (Ams) and Alison (Wessel) don’t show up in traditional stat lines, but they’ve been integral to our success this year,” Harks said. “K.B. has especially been solid all season, but struggled and had an atypical showing against Lake Forest. Today she regrouped and came up really strong. That focus to raise her game back up was more important to her than who we were playing.”
From a more detailed statistical standpoint, the senior defender couldn’t be overlooked. First and foremost, Kusswurm was a consistent threat with her headers during the North’s dominant first half.
Winning the coin toss, the North Stars opted to go with a fairly steady 20 miles-per-hour wind at their back for the opening half. Granted St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison was quick to downplay the extent of that affect.
“The wind may have held up a few kicks, but you have to give North credit for taking it to us in the first half. They were clearly the better team,” Jennison said. “Quite honestly, we had to be the happier of the two teams in settling for a 0-0 tie at half.
“If anything, it should have given us some confidence. (Goalie) Grace (Griffin) did an outstanding job for us. I was proud of the first 40 minutes in terms of how we fought and fought in a big game,” Jennison added. “Unfortunately we were too eager, rushed the ball and never settled in offensively. It could’ve been far worse if not for Grace.”
Just over eight minutes into the match, Griffin had to tip a laser shot over the goal for her initial save. At the other end, Sample had to gather in a Madison Cady shot two minutes later. However, the vast majority of the opening half saw East under duress with North posting a 15-4 edge in overall attempts and a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Griffin lost credit for another tip save when the North Stars were whistled offside for a third time in the opening 10 minutes. A Rydberg header was wide-left off of one-of-seven corner kicks taken by North. Midway through the first half a shot ricocheted off Saints defenders and a follow-up putback try was again punched away by Griffin. On a few occasions, the East sophomore keeper rushed off her line as North attackers raced for a touch.
In a rare counter attack, Saints standout Chantel Carranza cracked a 19-yarder that rose just over the goal and caromed off the field goal crossbar.
With 10:28 left before intermission, Rydberg put a blast off the left post. Then came yet another Griffin tip save with the ensuing corner kick resulting in a Kusswurm header that was high. The onslaught continued when Celeste “C.C.” Wahlberg bombed a one-hopper from 41 yards away that Griffin caught just three minutes ahead of halftime. Consecutive corner kicks for North just above and below the two-minute time point culminated the North Star’s aggressive effort.
“I thought our defense did a good job in the first half in terms of perseverance,” Griffin stated. “North did a good job of putting up shot after shot, but we stuck to it in order to stay scoreless. In the second half, we had more offense but not the outcome we wanted. Despite that, it was definitely fun in regard to expecting North vs. East to be a good game.”
The Saints actually had a 5-4 advantage for overall shots in the second half with both teams putting four on frame. Unfortunately for East, Sample stopped the Saints four in order to register a fifth clean sheet for the North Stars. Coupled with last year’s 2-0 North victory, Sample has shut out East for 160 minutes.
The Saints’ Kaitlyn Dziubinski began the second half testing Sample, but was denied as were Rose Stackhouse, Carranza, and Hannah Kolb.
At the 54:19 time point, Najera notched her eighth goal of the season and team-best fourth game-winner thanks to Rydberg’s seventh assist.
“In every instance if I’m attacking wide, I know she’ll go middle, and I just have to feed the ball to center,” Rydberg explained.
“We try to play off each other as much as possible,” Najera added. “Seeing her go wide I knew she’d get the cross off, and it came right to my feet. I turned my hips to be able to put it in the upper corner knowing it would be harder for the goalie to get it.”
“We were really searching for a way to find the back of the net,” Harks admitted. “Despite having a difficult angle, Claudia really came through on that play.”
North has continually received invitations to visit Burlington, Ia., for the Tournament of Champions which draws conference winners from Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin. On Thursday, Divine Savior Holy Angels (Milwaukee) hopes to avenge a 6-2 loss to the North Stars in 2016. Friday's morning match will take place in either the champion or consolation bracket versus the winner or loser of a contest between Missouri standouts Lee’s Summit or Visitation Academy (St. Louis). The final round is Saturday. The North Stars won their bracket in 2015 and finished 1-1-1 last year.
“We’ll take the same fight into that tournament that we take into every match,” Rydberg vowed. “We’re 22 deep on and off the field. We all know we have each other’s back.”
High-level tournament competition awaits East as well with the Saints essentially going from the frying pan to the fire. On Thursday East has a 7 p.m. meeting against Chicagoland Soccer’s top-rated Naperville North in the quarterfinals of the Naperville Invitational. The host Huskies will be the fifth CS-ranked foe for Jennison’s crew this season. The game winner remains in contention for the Saturday championship of the tourney which began with 24 schools in eight groups.
“By the end of this week, I think we’ll be extremely prepared for the playoffs. We’ve also got a tough conference schedule, so we’re excited for the challenge,” Jennison said.
That was a reference to the Saints remaining UEC River Division matches with longtime foes Batavia and Geneva.
North has the same two opponents on the docket in a division face that is far from over. Geneva (2-0-0) and Batavia (3-1-0) are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, in the current Chicagoland Soccer rankings.
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK Sami Sample
D Alison Wessel
D Adisson Ams
D KB Kusswurm
D Claire Barresi
M Hailey Rydberg
M Cassidy Joyce
M Claudia Najera
M Jordan Karom
F Amanda Czerniak
F Gia Wahlberg
St. Charles East
GK Grace Griffin
D Victoria Schumann
D Hayley Popiel
D Claire Rasmussen
D Alondra Carranza
D Allison Strauss
M Kaitlyn Dziubinski
M Megan O’Neal
M Madison Cady
M Hannah Kolb
F Chantel Carranza
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: K.B. Kusswurm, sr., D, St. Charles North
Officials: Keith Angel, Steve Jablow, Raul Farfan
Game summary
St. Charles North 1, St. Charles East 0
1st 2nd --- F Records
St. Charles North 0 1 --- 1 3-0-0
St. Charles East 0 0 --- 0 3-1-0
Scoring
SCN --- Najera 11-yarder from middle into upper corner off cross (H. Rydberg assist), 54:19 gone
Shots
Overall
SCN 15 – 4 --- 19
SCE 5 – 5 --- 10
On Goal
SCN 9 – 4 --- 13
SCE 2 – 4 --- 6
Saves (goalie)
SCN (Sample) 2 – 4 --- 6
SCE (Griffin, 7/defenders, 2) 9 – 3 --- 12
Najera goal, Sample shutout keep North unbeaten
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES -- Was it more important for St. Charles North to remain unbeaten or to defeat crosstown rival St. Charles East?
Listening to the responses of the North Stars after Tuesday’s 1-0 road victory, it’s easy to believe the correct answer is both.
“We really try to follow our approach which is to take each game as it comes and treat it like any other. That’s what has worked so far,” senior goalie Sami Sample said. “But being a rivalry game, maybe there is a little extra oomph. Of course wanting to stay unbeaten now provides a little more adrenaline each time out.”
Considering the competition so far, Sample’s first criteria of viewing foes equally makes sense since seven of the North Stars' 11 opponents can be found in the latest Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
St. Charles North (10-0-1, 3-0-0) -- currently ranked no. 4 -- participates in the upcoming Tournament of Champions this weekend in Iowa and will face highly regarded schools from Wisconsin and Missouri. Then come three top 25 teams within the last four regular season matches. So yes, it is pretty foolish to overlook anyone.
No. 12 St. Charles North (8-2-3, 3-1-0) saw its four-match victory streak snapped and was simply unable to produce an equalizer to Claudia Najera's goal with 25:41 left in regulation. If the Saints had managed a strike, it would have produced the fourth 1-1 deadlock in the last six regular-season meetings.
Which again spotlights the rivalry component which North’s Hailey Rydberg attested to.
“Maybe there was a little more anxiety coming into the game, because we know there will be more fans in the stands, and we have club friendships with some of them,” Rydberg noted.
Najera ultimately conceded to a little more satisfaction.
“Staying unbeaten, gaining an edge in conference, and the rival aspect all adds to enjoying this win,” she said.
However keeping everything in perspective was addressed by North coach Brian Harks. He downplayed any emotional high from having captured one of five bracket crowns in the PepsiCo Showdown two days before. The North Stars edged no. 10 Lake Forest thanks to a 5-4 shootout advantage after regulation ended in a 3-3 draw.
“That wasn’t entirely our best effort, so the fact we stayed so focused on playing 80 solid minutes today is most gratifying,” Harks explained. “Being North versus East may have been an added incentive, but if we didn’t treat it with the need to be better than the last time out, we wouldn’t have had this outcome.”
Further highlighting that strategy was Harks’ additional praise for his backline, and in particular, Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match K.B. Kusswurm.
‘”K.B., Adisson (Ams) and Alison (Wessel) don’t show up in traditional stat lines, but they’ve been integral to our success this year,” Harks said. “K.B. has especially been solid all season, but struggled and had an atypical showing against Lake Forest. Today she regrouped and came up really strong. That focus to raise her game back up was more important to her than who we were playing.”
From a more detailed statistical standpoint, the senior defender couldn’t be overlooked. First and foremost, Kusswurm was a consistent threat with her headers during the North’s dominant first half.
Winning the coin toss, the North Stars opted to go with a fairly steady 20 miles-per-hour wind at their back for the opening half. Granted St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison was quick to downplay the extent of that affect.
“The wind may have held up a few kicks, but you have to give North credit for taking it to us in the first half. They were clearly the better team,” Jennison said. “Quite honestly, we had to be the happier of the two teams in settling for a 0-0 tie at half.
“If anything, it should have given us some confidence. (Goalie) Grace (Griffin) did an outstanding job for us. I was proud of the first 40 minutes in terms of how we fought and fought in a big game,” Jennison added. “Unfortunately we were too eager, rushed the ball and never settled in offensively. It could’ve been far worse if not for Grace.”
Just over eight minutes into the match, Griffin had to tip a laser shot over the goal for her initial save. At the other end, Sample had to gather in a Madison Cady shot two minutes later. However, the vast majority of the opening half saw East under duress with North posting a 15-4 edge in overall attempts and a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Griffin lost credit for another tip save when the North Stars were whistled offside for a third time in the opening 10 minutes. A Rydberg header was wide-left off of one-of-seven corner kicks taken by North. Midway through the first half a shot ricocheted off Saints defenders and a follow-up putback try was again punched away by Griffin. On a few occasions, the East sophomore keeper rushed off her line as North attackers raced for a touch.
In a rare counter attack, Saints standout Chantel Carranza cracked a 19-yarder that rose just over the goal and caromed off the field goal crossbar.
With 10:28 left before intermission, Rydberg put a blast off the left post. Then came yet another Griffin tip save with the ensuing corner kick resulting in a Kusswurm header that was high. The onslaught continued when Celeste “C.C.” Wahlberg bombed a one-hopper from 41 yards away that Griffin caught just three minutes ahead of halftime. Consecutive corner kicks for North just above and below the two-minute time point culminated the North Star’s aggressive effort.
“I thought our defense did a good job in the first half in terms of perseverance,” Griffin stated. “North did a good job of putting up shot after shot, but we stuck to it in order to stay scoreless. In the second half, we had more offense but not the outcome we wanted. Despite that, it was definitely fun in regard to expecting North vs. East to be a good game.”
The Saints actually had a 5-4 advantage for overall shots in the second half with both teams putting four on frame. Unfortunately for East, Sample stopped the Saints four in order to register a fifth clean sheet for the North Stars. Coupled with last year’s 2-0 North victory, Sample has shut out East for 160 minutes.
The Saints’ Kaitlyn Dziubinski began the second half testing Sample, but was denied as were Rose Stackhouse, Carranza, and Hannah Kolb.
At the 54:19 time point, Najera notched her eighth goal of the season and team-best fourth game-winner thanks to Rydberg’s seventh assist.
“In every instance if I’m attacking wide, I know she’ll go middle, and I just have to feed the ball to center,” Rydberg explained.
“We try to play off each other as much as possible,” Najera added. “Seeing her go wide I knew she’d get the cross off, and it came right to my feet. I turned my hips to be able to put it in the upper corner knowing it would be harder for the goalie to get it.”
“We were really searching for a way to find the back of the net,” Harks admitted. “Despite having a difficult angle, Claudia really came through on that play.”
North has continually received invitations to visit Burlington, Ia., for the Tournament of Champions which draws conference winners from Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin. On Thursday, Divine Savior Holy Angels (Milwaukee) hopes to avenge a 6-2 loss to the North Stars in 2016. Friday's morning match will take place in either the champion or consolation bracket versus the winner or loser of a contest between Missouri standouts Lee’s Summit or Visitation Academy (St. Louis). The final round is Saturday. The North Stars won their bracket in 2015 and finished 1-1-1 last year.
“We’ll take the same fight into that tournament that we take into every match,” Rydberg vowed. “We’re 22 deep on and off the field. We all know we have each other’s back.”
High-level tournament competition awaits East as well with the Saints essentially going from the frying pan to the fire. On Thursday East has a 7 p.m. meeting against Chicagoland Soccer’s top-rated Naperville North in the quarterfinals of the Naperville Invitational. The host Huskies will be the fifth CS-ranked foe for Jennison’s crew this season. The game winner remains in contention for the Saturday championship of the tourney which began with 24 schools in eight groups.
“By the end of this week, I think we’ll be extremely prepared for the playoffs. We’ve also got a tough conference schedule, so we’re excited for the challenge,” Jennison said.
That was a reference to the Saints remaining UEC River Division matches with longtime foes Batavia and Geneva.
North has the same two opponents on the docket in a division face that is far from over. Geneva (2-0-0) and Batavia (3-1-0) are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, in the current Chicagoland Soccer rankings.
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK Sami Sample
D Alison Wessel
D Adisson Ams
D KB Kusswurm
D Claire Barresi
M Hailey Rydberg
M Cassidy Joyce
M Claudia Najera
M Jordan Karom
F Amanda Czerniak
F Gia Wahlberg
St. Charles East
GK Grace Griffin
D Victoria Schumann
D Hayley Popiel
D Claire Rasmussen
D Alondra Carranza
D Allison Strauss
M Kaitlyn Dziubinski
M Megan O’Neal
M Madison Cady
M Hannah Kolb
F Chantel Carranza
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: K.B. Kusswurm, sr., D, St. Charles North
Officials: Keith Angel, Steve Jablow, Raul Farfan
Game summary
St. Charles North 1, St. Charles East 0
1st 2nd --- F Records
St. Charles North 0 1 --- 1 3-0-0
St. Charles East 0 0 --- 0 3-1-0
Scoring
SCN --- Najera 11-yarder from middle into upper corner off cross (H. Rydberg assist), 54:19 gone
Shots
Overall
SCN 15 – 4 --- 19
SCE 5 – 5 --- 10
On Goal
SCN 9 – 4 --- 13
SCE 2 – 4 --- 6
Saves (goalie)
SCN (Sample) 2 – 4 --- 6
SCE (Griffin, 7/defenders, 2) 9 – 3 --- 12