Second half boost powers
St. Charles E. over St. Charles N.
Saints march in with 5-1 win as sub Sheehan steps up
By Derek Wolff
ST. CHARLES — With a rivalry game late in the season between two talented teams, it wasn’t surprising that St. Charles East went into halftime Saturday with a precarious 2-1 lead over St. Charles North.
What was surprising was the outburst the Saints had in the second half, scoring early and often to defeat the North Stars by a final of 5-1.
Substitute Colin Sheehan, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, scored twice for St. Charles East in the second half in back-to-back minutes, tallying in the 47th and 48th minutes.
“We just had to get back to the way we play,” Sheehan said. “When we play our way, we’re a very good team, so we just had to get back to our routine. That’s what we did today.”
Sheehan’s double widened the lead that Tyler Robbins had built for the Saints behind two goals of his own in the first half.
Robbins got the scoring started in the fifth minute after burying a pass from midfielder Jared Brown past St. Charles North goalkeeper Kevin Sabres.
The goal opened the door for a relentless counterattack from the visitors, with the North Stars taking over possession and creating a number of chances before finally getting the equalizer.
Senior forward Christopher Watson scored on a flick from 15 yards out to even the game in the 17th minute, temporarily settling the score.
“As soon as it went to Zach Morgando, I knew he was going to play me in, so as soon as I saw him I just made my run and he did it perfectly,” Watson said.
East in turn went back on the attack, with Taylor Ortiz and Sheehan executing a give-and-go that resulted in Ortiz ringing the ball off the crossbar in the 21st minute.
Robbins got the Saints back to one-up on a pass from Zachary Newman, finding the bouncing ball in a crowd and heading it over a diving Sabre.
Both Robbins and Sheehan received more chances because forward Zach Manibog was scratched for an ailing hamstring. Saints coach Paul Jennison was pleased with his offense stepping up on Robbins’ goals and throughout the afternoon.
“That’s what we’re all about,” Jennison said. “We’re about creating opportunities, getting the ball out wide and swinging it in. That’s two guys not giving up. Zach Newman in the corner doesn’t give that ball up when he’s the only one in against two defenders. He gets in a great ball and Tyler’s the one attacking at the back stick.”
“We’ve been preaching to these guys all season about coming off the line and attacking balls in the box and that’s the attitude you’ve got to have throughout the team.”
With substitutes Sheehan and midfielder Jack Petras, who scored East’s fifth goal in the 67th minute, producing in big-time moments, defender and captain Ryan Stackhouse said the Saints’ bench depth was the biggest difference in pulling away in the second half.
“I think it’s the depth of our bench,” Stackhouse said. “It’s something you can’t really strategize against when you’ve got guys coming off the bench that are just as fresh and just as skilled as the guys that are out their starting. That’s hard to defend against and I think that was a big difference in the second half.”
The Saints were coming off a hard fought but difficult to take 3-2 loss against Wheaton Academy earlier in the week, so Jennison was understandably proud with his side’s resolve after the North Starts tied the game in a first half that he felt the opposition was the better team.
“Good honest play from those lads not giving up, especially in a 1-1 game where to be fair to St. Charles North, they were the best team for the 15, 20 minutes after we scored,” Jennison said. “Obviously that second goal really did take it away from them and I thought that turned the tide in our favor.”
“I was very impressed with that, the way we managed to weather the storm so to speak and keep our heads above water when they were putting a little bit of pressure on us.”
Conversely, North coach Eric Willson was frustrated with his side’s second half performance as it wasn’t indicative of the effort put in to begin the game.
“I thought (East) played the same way that they always do,” Willson said. “I thought we made some pretty significant errors defensively that led to their goals. The energy level went down once they went up 3-1, as if the game was kind of over at that point. That was pretty disappointing to see in our guys. I would have liked to see us fight back a little more, even if we were down two goals. It’s not a good feeling.”
Sheehan’s quick pair drained the life from the North Stars and earned him high praise from Jennison.
“Collin’s an honest kid; he’s an honest player,” Jennison said. “We talk all the time about honesty and being truthful with what you’ve done for your teammates, and he personifies the word. He works hard and never asks anything for it. He’s always in the right place.
“We know the quality he’s got, and there’s no concern playing him in any game against any team. He’s an excellent player. He put two great goals away again, and really that was a big difference.”
North will have a few days to recover before taking on another top team in Batavia on Tuesday, but Watson was confident his side could grow from the defeat as it ramps up against tougher opponents before the postseason.
“We’ve lost to (East) in the past, and it just makes us better. We can always learn from it and recover.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK-Kevin Sabres
D-Brandon Stricker
D-Garrett Morgando
D-Nicholas Graham
M-Alex Amro
M-Hanson Hagemann
M-Ryan Olson
M-Luke Denson
M-Zack Morgando
F-Lorenzo Estrada
F-Christopher Watson
St. Charles East
GK-Steven Owens
D-Kyle McLean
D-Mitchell Dorsey
D-Ryan Stackhouse
D-Robert Wolak
M-Jared Brown
M-Taylor Ortiz
M-Jordan Moore
M-Evan DiLeonardi
M-Christian Memije
F-Tyler Robbins
Officials: Miguel Chavez, Victor Herrera, Kevin Callaghan
Man of the Match: Collin Sheehan, St. Charles East
St. Charles E. over St. Charles N.
Saints march in with 5-1 win as sub Sheehan steps up
By Derek Wolff
ST. CHARLES — With a rivalry game late in the season between two talented teams, it wasn’t surprising that St. Charles East went into halftime Saturday with a precarious 2-1 lead over St. Charles North.
What was surprising was the outburst the Saints had in the second half, scoring early and often to defeat the North Stars by a final of 5-1.
Substitute Colin Sheehan, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, scored twice for St. Charles East in the second half in back-to-back minutes, tallying in the 47th and 48th minutes.
“We just had to get back to the way we play,” Sheehan said. “When we play our way, we’re a very good team, so we just had to get back to our routine. That’s what we did today.”
Sheehan’s double widened the lead that Tyler Robbins had built for the Saints behind two goals of his own in the first half.
Robbins got the scoring started in the fifth minute after burying a pass from midfielder Jared Brown past St. Charles North goalkeeper Kevin Sabres.
The goal opened the door for a relentless counterattack from the visitors, with the North Stars taking over possession and creating a number of chances before finally getting the equalizer.
Senior forward Christopher Watson scored on a flick from 15 yards out to even the game in the 17th minute, temporarily settling the score.
“As soon as it went to Zach Morgando, I knew he was going to play me in, so as soon as I saw him I just made my run and he did it perfectly,” Watson said.
East in turn went back on the attack, with Taylor Ortiz and Sheehan executing a give-and-go that resulted in Ortiz ringing the ball off the crossbar in the 21st minute.
Robbins got the Saints back to one-up on a pass from Zachary Newman, finding the bouncing ball in a crowd and heading it over a diving Sabre.
Both Robbins and Sheehan received more chances because forward Zach Manibog was scratched for an ailing hamstring. Saints coach Paul Jennison was pleased with his offense stepping up on Robbins’ goals and throughout the afternoon.
“That’s what we’re all about,” Jennison said. “We’re about creating opportunities, getting the ball out wide and swinging it in. That’s two guys not giving up. Zach Newman in the corner doesn’t give that ball up when he’s the only one in against two defenders. He gets in a great ball and Tyler’s the one attacking at the back stick.”
“We’ve been preaching to these guys all season about coming off the line and attacking balls in the box and that’s the attitude you’ve got to have throughout the team.”
With substitutes Sheehan and midfielder Jack Petras, who scored East’s fifth goal in the 67th minute, producing in big-time moments, defender and captain Ryan Stackhouse said the Saints’ bench depth was the biggest difference in pulling away in the second half.
“I think it’s the depth of our bench,” Stackhouse said. “It’s something you can’t really strategize against when you’ve got guys coming off the bench that are just as fresh and just as skilled as the guys that are out their starting. That’s hard to defend against and I think that was a big difference in the second half.”
The Saints were coming off a hard fought but difficult to take 3-2 loss against Wheaton Academy earlier in the week, so Jennison was understandably proud with his side’s resolve after the North Starts tied the game in a first half that he felt the opposition was the better team.
“Good honest play from those lads not giving up, especially in a 1-1 game where to be fair to St. Charles North, they were the best team for the 15, 20 minutes after we scored,” Jennison said. “Obviously that second goal really did take it away from them and I thought that turned the tide in our favor.”
“I was very impressed with that, the way we managed to weather the storm so to speak and keep our heads above water when they were putting a little bit of pressure on us.”
Conversely, North coach Eric Willson was frustrated with his side’s second half performance as it wasn’t indicative of the effort put in to begin the game.
“I thought (East) played the same way that they always do,” Willson said. “I thought we made some pretty significant errors defensively that led to their goals. The energy level went down once they went up 3-1, as if the game was kind of over at that point. That was pretty disappointing to see in our guys. I would have liked to see us fight back a little more, even if we were down two goals. It’s not a good feeling.”
Sheehan’s quick pair drained the life from the North Stars and earned him high praise from Jennison.
“Collin’s an honest kid; he’s an honest player,” Jennison said. “We talk all the time about honesty and being truthful with what you’ve done for your teammates, and he personifies the word. He works hard and never asks anything for it. He’s always in the right place.
“We know the quality he’s got, and there’s no concern playing him in any game against any team. He’s an excellent player. He put two great goals away again, and really that was a big difference.”
North will have a few days to recover before taking on another top team in Batavia on Tuesday, but Watson was confident his side could grow from the defeat as it ramps up against tougher opponents before the postseason.
“We’ve lost to (East) in the past, and it just makes us better. We can always learn from it and recover.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK-Kevin Sabres
D-Brandon Stricker
D-Garrett Morgando
D-Nicholas Graham
M-Alex Amro
M-Hanson Hagemann
M-Ryan Olson
M-Luke Denson
M-Zack Morgando
F-Lorenzo Estrada
F-Christopher Watson
St. Charles East
GK-Steven Owens
D-Kyle McLean
D-Mitchell Dorsey
D-Ryan Stackhouse
D-Robert Wolak
M-Jared Brown
M-Taylor Ortiz
M-Jordan Moore
M-Evan DiLeonardi
M-Christian Memije
F-Tyler Robbins
Officials: Miguel Chavez, Victor Herrera, Kevin Callaghan
Man of the Match: Collin Sheehan, St. Charles East