St. Charles North, East fight to draw
Showdown leaves Stars, Saints as Upstate 8 River co-champs
By Ken Keenan
ST. CHARLES -- The only thing that changed after Saturday's showdown between Upstate Eight Conference River Division rivals St. Charles North and host St. Charles East was that members of both teams left the field with more bumps and bruises than they had when the match started.
With first place in the River Division on the line, a hard-fought, physical affair ended in a 1-1 tie. Both the North Stars and Fighting Saints departed with identical 6-0-1 marks in
division play. The tiebreaker -- goal differential -- remained the same as well, with North and East each counting 30.
That left the Stars (14-2-2 overall) and Saints (18-1-1) as 2015 River
Division co-champions.
"I'm not a big fan of ties," said St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal. "But the
girls from both teams put everything out there. It was a great test for us, and I was pleased with our effort. It was a great way to end the (River Division) season."
St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison, whose squad trailed 1-0 (on a penalty kick) at halftime before netting the equalizer (yes, on a penalty kick) midway through the second half, also took the tie in stride.
"They were the better team in the first half, and we were the better
team in the second half, so a draw is a fair result," Jennison said.
"It was two excellent schools with great history. They talk about big
games in sports, but you always want to mark your calendar for this
one. It all built up to this moment, and I have no complaints with
being co-champions."
North tallied the first goal of the match with 9:53 remaining in the first half. After
East was called for a handball in the box following a corner kick,
Stars senior forward Hanna Durocher delivered on the ensuing penalty
kick.
"I had to be confident," Durocher said. "Whenever I get a PK, I
visualize in my mind where I want to go."
St. Charles East's penalty kick was banged home by freshman forward Chantel
Carranza with 17:56 to go in the second session. The Saints earned the PK when Carranza was taken down in the box during a charge toward the net.
In between, a defensive struggle played out, featuring bodies flying
to the ground on both sides of the ball. Officials signaled for an
injury timeout in the 65th minute after East sophomore midfielder
Kaitlyn Dziubinski was flattened, and did so again following a major
collision between North senior goalkeeper Shelby Stitz and two Saints
-- Carranza and sophomore forward Kyla Augustine -- after all three
arrived in pursuit of a loose ball at the same time.
Stitz took the brunt of the hit, but shook it off and stayed in the game. That wasn't the first time the gritty keeper got her nose dirty. She was called upon to make several huge stops, especially in the second half with St. Charles East controlling most of the play.
With just under 30 seconds left in the match, Stitz -- Chicagoland
Soccer's MVP of the Match -- jumped high in a crowd to punch away a
35-yard free kick by Saints senior midfielder Kelli Santo Paulo. In
the 76th minute, Stitz headed out an equally distant free kick by
Santo Paulo; four minutes prior, Stitz dashed out to make a sliding
tackle.
Stitz also had the answer for a hard 15-yard boot by Santo Paulo in the 52nd minute, and was quick to handle a pair of tries by East sophomore middie Megan O'Neal in the 20th and 21st minutes.
"Shelby came up big," Vostal said. "She was tough as nails and
totally focused. It's hard when you have weather so much."
Stitz, caked in dirt and grass stains at match's end, said it was a
tough task to hold off the attacking Saints, especially in the final
40 minutes.
"I knew the second half would be 10 times more intense," Stitz said.
"We had to stay mentally in the game and stay united ... have each
other's backs. It was nerve-wracking back there, but a ton of action
does keep me mentally in the game."
The North Stars had their share of chances in the first half, but nothing too dangerous. A corner kick by St. Charles North junior mid Morgan Rerko was nabbed by Fighting Saints junior keeper Alison Chesterfield in the fifth minute, and Chesterfield stopped Durocher from in close with 30:55 to go in the opening stanza.
Chesterfield's best work came in the 14th minute, when she came out to
spoil a chance by North junior defender Lauren Willis and then
stopped a rebound attempt.
"The whole game, we were struggling to get our team offense together," Vostal said. "I thought in the first 40 minutes we created some offense, but we didn't have the runs in the box that we needed. The team defense was great overall."
Durocher said, "It's always very tough to get that extra inch against
East. Everyone's fighting for all 80 minutes."
Saints junior defender Julia Peterson was in the middle of the fight
much of the time, whether aiding Chesterfield in tight or attempting
to spring attacks from the body-bumping midfield.
"We were trying to take the emotion out of the game, but it was a
constant battle," Peterson said.
Dziubinski stated, "The energy of the match was real exciting overall."
Saints senior defender Sara Buetow added, "We tried to keep calm and not overstress. In the second half, we reminded ourselves to stay calm and composed."
Jennison indicated that his team followed that advice, as difficult as
that may have been, considering what was at stake.
"North was the more energetic team in the first half, but I thought we
picked it up int he second half and settled into our rhythm," he said.
"The whole match, it was just a tremendous atmosphere out there.
That's a big compliment to both teams. So congrats to the ladies of
North, and our girls as well. Co-champions -- you can't get much more
even than that."
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
G: Shelby Stitz
D: Addy Ams
D: Claire Barresi
D: Lauren Neslund
D: Lauren Willis
M: Amanda Czerniak
M: Morgan Rerko
M: Lizzie Parrilli
M: Hailey Rydberg
F: Hanna Durocherd
F: Gia Wahlberg
St. Charles East
G: Alison Chesterfield
D: Julia Peterson
D: Sara Buetow
D: Shannon Gatehouse
D: Sonia Ost
D: Maggie Smith
M: Hannah Kolb
M: Kelli Santo Paulo
M: Kaitlyn Dziubinski
F: Claire Rasmussen
F: Chantel Carranza
MVP of the Match: Shelby Stitz, GK, St. Charles North
Officials: Bret Richter, Jim Franklin, Manou Chahmirzadi
Showdown leaves Stars, Saints as Upstate 8 River co-champs
By Ken Keenan
ST. CHARLES -- The only thing that changed after Saturday's showdown between Upstate Eight Conference River Division rivals St. Charles North and host St. Charles East was that members of both teams left the field with more bumps and bruises than they had when the match started.
With first place in the River Division on the line, a hard-fought, physical affair ended in a 1-1 tie. Both the North Stars and Fighting Saints departed with identical 6-0-1 marks in
division play. The tiebreaker -- goal differential -- remained the same as well, with North and East each counting 30.
That left the Stars (14-2-2 overall) and Saints (18-1-1) as 2015 River
Division co-champions.
"I'm not a big fan of ties," said St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal. "But the
girls from both teams put everything out there. It was a great test for us, and I was pleased with our effort. It was a great way to end the (River Division) season."
St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison, whose squad trailed 1-0 (on a penalty kick) at halftime before netting the equalizer (yes, on a penalty kick) midway through the second half, also took the tie in stride.
"They were the better team in the first half, and we were the better
team in the second half, so a draw is a fair result," Jennison said.
"It was two excellent schools with great history. They talk about big
games in sports, but you always want to mark your calendar for this
one. It all built up to this moment, and I have no complaints with
being co-champions."
North tallied the first goal of the match with 9:53 remaining in the first half. After
East was called for a handball in the box following a corner kick,
Stars senior forward Hanna Durocher delivered on the ensuing penalty
kick.
"I had to be confident," Durocher said. "Whenever I get a PK, I
visualize in my mind where I want to go."
St. Charles East's penalty kick was banged home by freshman forward Chantel
Carranza with 17:56 to go in the second session. The Saints earned the PK when Carranza was taken down in the box during a charge toward the net.
In between, a defensive struggle played out, featuring bodies flying
to the ground on both sides of the ball. Officials signaled for an
injury timeout in the 65th minute after East sophomore midfielder
Kaitlyn Dziubinski was flattened, and did so again following a major
collision between North senior goalkeeper Shelby Stitz and two Saints
-- Carranza and sophomore forward Kyla Augustine -- after all three
arrived in pursuit of a loose ball at the same time.
Stitz took the brunt of the hit, but shook it off and stayed in the game. That wasn't the first time the gritty keeper got her nose dirty. She was called upon to make several huge stops, especially in the second half with St. Charles East controlling most of the play.
With just under 30 seconds left in the match, Stitz -- Chicagoland
Soccer's MVP of the Match -- jumped high in a crowd to punch away a
35-yard free kick by Saints senior midfielder Kelli Santo Paulo. In
the 76th minute, Stitz headed out an equally distant free kick by
Santo Paulo; four minutes prior, Stitz dashed out to make a sliding
tackle.
Stitz also had the answer for a hard 15-yard boot by Santo Paulo in the 52nd minute, and was quick to handle a pair of tries by East sophomore middie Megan O'Neal in the 20th and 21st minutes.
"Shelby came up big," Vostal said. "She was tough as nails and
totally focused. It's hard when you have weather so much."
Stitz, caked in dirt and grass stains at match's end, said it was a
tough task to hold off the attacking Saints, especially in the final
40 minutes.
"I knew the second half would be 10 times more intense," Stitz said.
"We had to stay mentally in the game and stay united ... have each
other's backs. It was nerve-wracking back there, but a ton of action
does keep me mentally in the game."
The North Stars had their share of chances in the first half, but nothing too dangerous. A corner kick by St. Charles North junior mid Morgan Rerko was nabbed by Fighting Saints junior keeper Alison Chesterfield in the fifth minute, and Chesterfield stopped Durocher from in close with 30:55 to go in the opening stanza.
Chesterfield's best work came in the 14th minute, when she came out to
spoil a chance by North junior defender Lauren Willis and then
stopped a rebound attempt.
"The whole game, we were struggling to get our team offense together," Vostal said. "I thought in the first 40 minutes we created some offense, but we didn't have the runs in the box that we needed. The team defense was great overall."
Durocher said, "It's always very tough to get that extra inch against
East. Everyone's fighting for all 80 minutes."
Saints junior defender Julia Peterson was in the middle of the fight
much of the time, whether aiding Chesterfield in tight or attempting
to spring attacks from the body-bumping midfield.
"We were trying to take the emotion out of the game, but it was a
constant battle," Peterson said.
Dziubinski stated, "The energy of the match was real exciting overall."
Saints senior defender Sara Buetow added, "We tried to keep calm and not overstress. In the second half, we reminded ourselves to stay calm and composed."
Jennison indicated that his team followed that advice, as difficult as
that may have been, considering what was at stake.
"North was the more energetic team in the first half, but I thought we
picked it up int he second half and settled into our rhythm," he said.
"The whole match, it was just a tremendous atmosphere out there.
That's a big compliment to both teams. So congrats to the ladies of
North, and our girls as well. Co-champions -- you can't get much more
even than that."
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
G: Shelby Stitz
D: Addy Ams
D: Claire Barresi
D: Lauren Neslund
D: Lauren Willis
M: Amanda Czerniak
M: Morgan Rerko
M: Lizzie Parrilli
M: Hailey Rydberg
F: Hanna Durocherd
F: Gia Wahlberg
St. Charles East
G: Alison Chesterfield
D: Julia Peterson
D: Sara Buetow
D: Shannon Gatehouse
D: Sonia Ost
D: Maggie Smith
M: Hannah Kolb
M: Kelli Santo Paulo
M: Kaitlyn Dziubinski
F: Claire Rasmussen
F: Chantel Carranza
MVP of the Match: Shelby Stitz, GK, St. Charles North
Officials: Bret Richter, Jim Franklin, Manou Chahmirzadi