St. Charles North bolts past
Streamwood in lightning-shortened game
4 1st half goals propel the North Stars
By Derek Wolff
ST. CHARLES -- Like a snowball rolling down a mountainside, you could see St. Charles North’s attack building.
The avalanche began late in the first half -- the seventh-ranked North Stars (14-2-1, 6-0-0 Upstate Eight Conference) scored four times in the final 12 minutes en route to a 5-0 win over Streamwood on Thursday night in a lightning-shortened, 67-minute game.
North made a point of practicing set plays Wednesday in practice and their precision paid off on the opening goal.
Seniors Hanna Durocher and Lizzie Parrilli had earned half a dozen chances to score before hooking up on a corner kick for the 1-0 lead in the 28th minute.
Parrilli drilled a cross from the far side flag directly into the middle of the box, finding an unmarked Durocher wide open, who one-timed a perfect shot past Streamwood keeper Yasmine Resendiz.
Streamwood maintained a 5-4-1 formation throughout the game which gave North plenty of opportunities. St. Charles North changed their attack to funnel the ball out wide in the final third, with pressure on players concentrated within the box.
“I was happy we scored off a corner and started to get some of the balls from the outside to relieve some of that pressure,” said North coach Ruth Vostal. “The goals that we set they achieved in this game so that was important.”
Two minutes later, Durocher fed Katy Kusswurm a nice ball that the latter slotted in to double the lead.
Parrilli got back on the scoresheet in the 34th minute, knocking home a nice ball from freshman forward Gia Wahlberg.
Elli Wahlberg got the fourth goal for North in the 38th minute, giving helper Durocher, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, her third point of the half.
“Hitting my energy initially and just focusing before every game as we get towards the postseason,” Durocher said, when asked to reflect on the key to her scoring prowess this season and in tonight’s game.
With North playing its fifth game in seven days, the substitutes saw plenty of time in the second half, with the starters getting some much needed rest.
Durocher said it was the kind of game the North Stars had hoped to play.
“We got our legs moving, got out there against a good team and made sure that we were executing what we needed to execute,” she said.
North’s onslaught didn’t rest after the intermission, with Kusswurm netting her second goal of the night early in the second half.
Madison Kaufmann dribbled the ball into the 18 along the right side before playing a low cross towards the center, where Kusswurm couldn’t miss.
The sophomore midfielder said it was frustrating to not be able to put one away earlier in the half but was grateful once the scoring started and to factor into it.
“It definitely wasn’t our best technical game, but we had the effort and worked hard,” Kusswurm said. “Once we got the first few goals we really stepped it up a lot and came together as a team.”
Streamwood had its best chance to get on the board when Sabres leading goalscorer Tawny Carroll was fouled at the top of the 18, resulting in a free kick from the edge.
Kicking with the wind and looking for goal No. 20 on the season, Carroll’s ball plummeted into the far post and ricocheted harmlessly out of play for a goal kick.
It was a frustrating night offensively for Streamwood, whose 5-4-1 formation rarely enabled Carroll to get a touch before being swarmed by three North Star defenders.
“We talk about, sometime with games like this you have double the amount of space and half the players because you’re playing in that half,” Vostal said. “We’ve been working on being tough in the box, being composed in the box so if there’s four or five people around you, what can you do to get a shot off?”
Streamwood had to make a few changes, which further hurt its chances.
"I had to put a couple players in spots they weren't used to playing, and we really needed our midfield as strong as possible," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. "North is strong all over the field, but I felt their mids are their strongest players. Tawny didn't mind playing the lone striker. She knew what we were up against and said she will do whatever needed for the team.
"I didn't feel we were conservative it was really trying to get the right time to attack. If we ran around the field non-stop with a high caliber team, my team would have been exhausted by halftime."
Streamwood defeated Elgin 2-1 earlier in the week and will face the Maroons again in regionals.
The North Stars attention will turn to rivals St. Charles East now. Both teams will head into Saturday’s match with 6-0-0 conference records.
East’s depth has been well noted this season, so it was nice for the North Stars to extend some minutes for the substitutes on Thursday, Vostal said.
“I would say we’re really deep, we go deep pretty much every game,” Vostal said. “But it was good to have more players playing a significant amount of minutes, as opposed to five-or-10 here or there. It was nice to score goals. It’s nice to have them happy and upbeat, and it was nice to have a little bit lighter of a game. We had to play physically hard for those 60 minutes or whatever it is, but it was nice to be able to take it easy today and recover tomorrow to get ready for Saturday.”
Vostal said she expects an even, close game against the Saints where one play could determine the outcome and that being mentally focused will likely be the biggest key towards success.
“Hopefully we’ve been doing enough mental preparation and creating a practice environment that’s tough so that they’re used to that, they’re used to the pressure," Vostal said. "We played those three games in Iowa in 24 hours against good teams and were only winning by a goal, not by five. I tell them you only need to have one more than the other team.”
With the teams seemingly even on paper and through the eye test, Durocher said whoever wants to win more will get the result.
“It’s just who shows up that day,” Durocher said. “People know that in soccer the scores don’t really matter, what’s on paper (doesn’t matter). Whoever shows up for that game is going to win. It’s going to be a great game.”
Starting lineups
Streamwood
GK Yasmine Resendiz
D Stephanie Corona
D Esmeralda Navarro
D Alex Bonilla
D Rosa Miranda
M Alondra Blanco
M Cassie Adan
M Vanessa Campos
F Karina Nevarez
F Tawny Carroll
F Shonali Pierce-Vazquez
St. Charles North
GK Shelby Stitz
D Claire Barresi
D Lauren Neslund
D Lauren Willis
D Addy Ams
M Amanda Czerniak
M Morgan Rerko
M Lizzie Parrilli
M Hailey Rydberg
F Hanna Durocher
F Gia Wahlberg
MVP of the Match: Hanna Durocher, F, St. Charles North
Streamwood in lightning-shortened game
4 1st half goals propel the North Stars
By Derek Wolff
ST. CHARLES -- Like a snowball rolling down a mountainside, you could see St. Charles North’s attack building.
The avalanche began late in the first half -- the seventh-ranked North Stars (14-2-1, 6-0-0 Upstate Eight Conference) scored four times in the final 12 minutes en route to a 5-0 win over Streamwood on Thursday night in a lightning-shortened, 67-minute game.
North made a point of practicing set plays Wednesday in practice and their precision paid off on the opening goal.
Seniors Hanna Durocher and Lizzie Parrilli had earned half a dozen chances to score before hooking up on a corner kick for the 1-0 lead in the 28th minute.
Parrilli drilled a cross from the far side flag directly into the middle of the box, finding an unmarked Durocher wide open, who one-timed a perfect shot past Streamwood keeper Yasmine Resendiz.
Streamwood maintained a 5-4-1 formation throughout the game which gave North plenty of opportunities. St. Charles North changed their attack to funnel the ball out wide in the final third, with pressure on players concentrated within the box.
“I was happy we scored off a corner and started to get some of the balls from the outside to relieve some of that pressure,” said North coach Ruth Vostal. “The goals that we set they achieved in this game so that was important.”
Two minutes later, Durocher fed Katy Kusswurm a nice ball that the latter slotted in to double the lead.
Parrilli got back on the scoresheet in the 34th minute, knocking home a nice ball from freshman forward Gia Wahlberg.
Elli Wahlberg got the fourth goal for North in the 38th minute, giving helper Durocher, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, her third point of the half.
“Hitting my energy initially and just focusing before every game as we get towards the postseason,” Durocher said, when asked to reflect on the key to her scoring prowess this season and in tonight’s game.
With North playing its fifth game in seven days, the substitutes saw plenty of time in the second half, with the starters getting some much needed rest.
Durocher said it was the kind of game the North Stars had hoped to play.
“We got our legs moving, got out there against a good team and made sure that we were executing what we needed to execute,” she said.
North’s onslaught didn’t rest after the intermission, with Kusswurm netting her second goal of the night early in the second half.
Madison Kaufmann dribbled the ball into the 18 along the right side before playing a low cross towards the center, where Kusswurm couldn’t miss.
The sophomore midfielder said it was frustrating to not be able to put one away earlier in the half but was grateful once the scoring started and to factor into it.
“It definitely wasn’t our best technical game, but we had the effort and worked hard,” Kusswurm said. “Once we got the first few goals we really stepped it up a lot and came together as a team.”
Streamwood had its best chance to get on the board when Sabres leading goalscorer Tawny Carroll was fouled at the top of the 18, resulting in a free kick from the edge.
Kicking with the wind and looking for goal No. 20 on the season, Carroll’s ball plummeted into the far post and ricocheted harmlessly out of play for a goal kick.
It was a frustrating night offensively for Streamwood, whose 5-4-1 formation rarely enabled Carroll to get a touch before being swarmed by three North Star defenders.
“We talk about, sometime with games like this you have double the amount of space and half the players because you’re playing in that half,” Vostal said. “We’ve been working on being tough in the box, being composed in the box so if there’s four or five people around you, what can you do to get a shot off?”
Streamwood had to make a few changes, which further hurt its chances.
"I had to put a couple players in spots they weren't used to playing, and we really needed our midfield as strong as possible," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. "North is strong all over the field, but I felt their mids are their strongest players. Tawny didn't mind playing the lone striker. She knew what we were up against and said she will do whatever needed for the team.
"I didn't feel we were conservative it was really trying to get the right time to attack. If we ran around the field non-stop with a high caliber team, my team would have been exhausted by halftime."
Streamwood defeated Elgin 2-1 earlier in the week and will face the Maroons again in regionals.
The North Stars attention will turn to rivals St. Charles East now. Both teams will head into Saturday’s match with 6-0-0 conference records.
East’s depth has been well noted this season, so it was nice for the North Stars to extend some minutes for the substitutes on Thursday, Vostal said.
“I would say we’re really deep, we go deep pretty much every game,” Vostal said. “But it was good to have more players playing a significant amount of minutes, as opposed to five-or-10 here or there. It was nice to score goals. It’s nice to have them happy and upbeat, and it was nice to have a little bit lighter of a game. We had to play physically hard for those 60 minutes or whatever it is, but it was nice to be able to take it easy today and recover tomorrow to get ready for Saturday.”
Vostal said she expects an even, close game against the Saints where one play could determine the outcome and that being mentally focused will likely be the biggest key towards success.
“Hopefully we’ve been doing enough mental preparation and creating a practice environment that’s tough so that they’re used to that, they’re used to the pressure," Vostal said. "We played those three games in Iowa in 24 hours against good teams and were only winning by a goal, not by five. I tell them you only need to have one more than the other team.”
With the teams seemingly even on paper and through the eye test, Durocher said whoever wants to win more will get the result.
“It’s just who shows up that day,” Durocher said. “People know that in soccer the scores don’t really matter, what’s on paper (doesn’t matter). Whoever shows up for that game is going to win. It’s going to be a great game.”
Starting lineups
Streamwood
GK Yasmine Resendiz
D Stephanie Corona
D Esmeralda Navarro
D Alex Bonilla
D Rosa Miranda
M Alondra Blanco
M Cassie Adan
M Vanessa Campos
F Karina Nevarez
F Tawny Carroll
F Shonali Pierce-Vazquez
St. Charles North
GK Shelby Stitz
D Claire Barresi
D Lauren Neslund
D Lauren Willis
D Addy Ams
M Amanda Czerniak
M Morgan Rerko
M Lizzie Parrilli
M Hailey Rydberg
F Hanna Durocher
F Gia Wahlberg
MVP of the Match: Hanna Durocher, F, St. Charles North