St. Charles North wins bragging
rights, more vs. St. Charles East
North Stars edge Saints for upper hand in UEC River
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES -- When push comes to shove in soccer, that intensity is sometimes viewed differently by a middle official as well as the linesmen.
More specifically, one sideline generally agrees with the ruling, while the coach and players from the opposite bench insist otherwise.
Tuesday’s crosstown rivalry between St. Charles East and host St. Charles North was a classic example of a hard-fought contest that featured contrasting interpretations on what became a 2-1 victory for the North Stars.
“There were moments when guys believed things got chippy, but it was nothing personal. It was simply two teams fighting hard in a rivalry, but there was no ill will,” St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said in a diplomatic assessment after his squad raised its season record to 8-3-2, 2-0-0.
The pivotal play came with 3:54 remaining in regulation when St. Charles North’s Peter Willis got tangled with an East defender and a whistle produced a penalty kick.
Alex Amro converted the PK for his seventh goal of the season and a North Stars triumph that ended a streak of five-consecutive victories for East between the two programs, counting regular season and playoff meetings. Based on several other stellar free kicks and shots requiring saves plus the deciding goal, Amro earned Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match accolade.
Of more importance to Amro and his teammates, the win gives North an undefeated ledger in the Upstate Eight Conference’s River Division standings and increased the momentum of a string that includes only one loss in the last seven games.
Conversely, the setback ended a three-game win streak for the Saints, now 4-4-1 overall and 2-1-0 n the UEC River play.
“It’s all about winning, and we strive to win every game we play,” Amro said, putting more emphasis on adding to the North Stars’ success than beating East. “We work our butts off to win games. But this was really important in that it puts us in the lead in the (River) division.”
St. Charles North goalie Zack Norton expressed satisfaction in both regards.
“It’s definitely a big win, first as part of the rivalry because one of our goals is to ‘paint the Fox,’ and when it comes to the division, both teams have plenty of games to play, but we’ll have an edge in terms of head-to-head.”
The “paint the Fox” reference alludes to the annual meetings between the Tri-Cities schools of Batavia, Geneva and the two St. Charles programs. The traveling trophy of a Fox gets painted annually with the school colors of the program or programs that have the best record among the four. North has Batavia and Geneva among its four remaining River Division games. East beat Batavia, but Geneva is one of the Saints’ three loop foes.
Both sides had a player issued a yellow card in the scoreless opening half. Saints goalie Steven Owens made notable saves on blasts from Ryan Olson and Amro, while Norton punched out a few potentially dangerous balls in front of his net and stopped a solid Mitchell Lucatorto header.
Just 5:59 into the second half, North staged a counterattack on which the linesman clearly raised his flag as if to indicate offsides but dropped it, and a textbook cross from Jonathan Acevedo set up Dylan Mientus for a 10-yard header from the middle.
“It’s a lot of practice on balls from the outside,” Mientus said on his fourth goal of the year. “We were beating them down the line, so I just had to get in the box and put it in.”
Did the junior anticipate the physical nature of the game?
“Absolutely. I expected more. We work a lot on keeping our head in the game. The (recent) wins we’ve had, we just want to keep it going,” Mientus said.
Despite vocal objections on that play as well as the decision leading to the decisive penalty kick opportunity, East coach Paul Jennison also showed diplomacy after the game.
“I’m not going to blame the officials. At the end of the day we have to take care of our job and not put those guys in the middle in a position where decisions (like those) can have a bigger (role in the) outcome than they really should,” Jennison said. “I’m proud of the lads for their effort. I said going in the team that took emotion out of their game would have an edge.
“We didn’t always connect passes and got caught in transition at times because emotions got in the way. It’s on me to put them in better positions on the field and keep their focus. We need to impose our will on the game instead of the opposite.”
Jennison noted that his objections during the game were a result of “purely trying to defend them because they give their heart and soul.”
The Saints produced an answer to North’s goal with 27:51 left in regulation. A strong Brandon DiOrio throw-in led to Mitch Dorsey's fifth goal.
“The throw bounced over one of their defenders, and I got a touch and luckily it went in,” Dorsey said. “We expected it to be physical because we all know each other, but at times it took me out of my game.
“I’m definitely proud we came back (with an equalizer), but we needed to try to score more and be more aggressive like they were.”
Statistically the Saints had a slight edge, as indicated by a 15-13 tally for overall shots and an 8-7 advantage for shots on goal. The North Stars were ahead in corner kicks 7-3.
Additional yellow cards were given to both sides during the second half, and both goalies were called upon to go airborne to snag several threats from distance or sent in from the sides. Despite the intensity, Amro’s ability to focus on the task of a PK became the difference.
“The most important thing is to keep calm,” Amro explained. “Goalkeepers try to get in the shooter’s head, so my approach is to just keep cool and place the ball where I believe it has the best chance of going in.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles East
G Steven Owens
D John Kempf
D Tyler Champine
D Brandon DiOrio
D Kevin Davis
M Mitchell Dorsey
M Michael Lucatorto
M Evan DiLeonardi
M Chris Edgerton
F Peter Clancy
F Justin Stepien
St. Charles North
G Zack Norton
D Garrett Morgando
D Brandon Stricker
D Carter Held
D Hanson Hagemann
M Ryan Olson
M Luke Denson
M Alex Amro
M Jonathan Acevedo
F Peter Willis
F Dylan Mientus
Man of the Match: Alex Amro, MF, St. Charles North
Officials: Cesar Alfaro (center), Dylan Kramer, Aaron Wolfhope
rights, more vs. St. Charles East
North Stars edge Saints for upper hand in UEC River
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES -- When push comes to shove in soccer, that intensity is sometimes viewed differently by a middle official as well as the linesmen.
More specifically, one sideline generally agrees with the ruling, while the coach and players from the opposite bench insist otherwise.
Tuesday’s crosstown rivalry between St. Charles East and host St. Charles North was a classic example of a hard-fought contest that featured contrasting interpretations on what became a 2-1 victory for the North Stars.
“There were moments when guys believed things got chippy, but it was nothing personal. It was simply two teams fighting hard in a rivalry, but there was no ill will,” St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said in a diplomatic assessment after his squad raised its season record to 8-3-2, 2-0-0.
The pivotal play came with 3:54 remaining in regulation when St. Charles North’s Peter Willis got tangled with an East defender and a whistle produced a penalty kick.
Alex Amro converted the PK for his seventh goal of the season and a North Stars triumph that ended a streak of five-consecutive victories for East between the two programs, counting regular season and playoff meetings. Based on several other stellar free kicks and shots requiring saves plus the deciding goal, Amro earned Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match accolade.
Of more importance to Amro and his teammates, the win gives North an undefeated ledger in the Upstate Eight Conference’s River Division standings and increased the momentum of a string that includes only one loss in the last seven games.
Conversely, the setback ended a three-game win streak for the Saints, now 4-4-1 overall and 2-1-0 n the UEC River play.
“It’s all about winning, and we strive to win every game we play,” Amro said, putting more emphasis on adding to the North Stars’ success than beating East. “We work our butts off to win games. But this was really important in that it puts us in the lead in the (River) division.”
St. Charles North goalie Zack Norton expressed satisfaction in both regards.
“It’s definitely a big win, first as part of the rivalry because one of our goals is to ‘paint the Fox,’ and when it comes to the division, both teams have plenty of games to play, but we’ll have an edge in terms of head-to-head.”
The “paint the Fox” reference alludes to the annual meetings between the Tri-Cities schools of Batavia, Geneva and the two St. Charles programs. The traveling trophy of a Fox gets painted annually with the school colors of the program or programs that have the best record among the four. North has Batavia and Geneva among its four remaining River Division games. East beat Batavia, but Geneva is one of the Saints’ three loop foes.
Both sides had a player issued a yellow card in the scoreless opening half. Saints goalie Steven Owens made notable saves on blasts from Ryan Olson and Amro, while Norton punched out a few potentially dangerous balls in front of his net and stopped a solid Mitchell Lucatorto header.
Just 5:59 into the second half, North staged a counterattack on which the linesman clearly raised his flag as if to indicate offsides but dropped it, and a textbook cross from Jonathan Acevedo set up Dylan Mientus for a 10-yard header from the middle.
“It’s a lot of practice on balls from the outside,” Mientus said on his fourth goal of the year. “We were beating them down the line, so I just had to get in the box and put it in.”
Did the junior anticipate the physical nature of the game?
“Absolutely. I expected more. We work a lot on keeping our head in the game. The (recent) wins we’ve had, we just want to keep it going,” Mientus said.
Despite vocal objections on that play as well as the decision leading to the decisive penalty kick opportunity, East coach Paul Jennison also showed diplomacy after the game.
“I’m not going to blame the officials. At the end of the day we have to take care of our job and not put those guys in the middle in a position where decisions (like those) can have a bigger (role in the) outcome than they really should,” Jennison said. “I’m proud of the lads for their effort. I said going in the team that took emotion out of their game would have an edge.
“We didn’t always connect passes and got caught in transition at times because emotions got in the way. It’s on me to put them in better positions on the field and keep their focus. We need to impose our will on the game instead of the opposite.”
Jennison noted that his objections during the game were a result of “purely trying to defend them because they give their heart and soul.”
The Saints produced an answer to North’s goal with 27:51 left in regulation. A strong Brandon DiOrio throw-in led to Mitch Dorsey's fifth goal.
“The throw bounced over one of their defenders, and I got a touch and luckily it went in,” Dorsey said. “We expected it to be physical because we all know each other, but at times it took me out of my game.
“I’m definitely proud we came back (with an equalizer), but we needed to try to score more and be more aggressive like they were.”
Statistically the Saints had a slight edge, as indicated by a 15-13 tally for overall shots and an 8-7 advantage for shots on goal. The North Stars were ahead in corner kicks 7-3.
Additional yellow cards were given to both sides during the second half, and both goalies were called upon to go airborne to snag several threats from distance or sent in from the sides. Despite the intensity, Amro’s ability to focus on the task of a PK became the difference.
“The most important thing is to keep calm,” Amro explained. “Goalkeepers try to get in the shooter’s head, so my approach is to just keep cool and place the ball where I believe it has the best chance of going in.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles East
G Steven Owens
D John Kempf
D Tyler Champine
D Brandon DiOrio
D Kevin Davis
M Mitchell Dorsey
M Michael Lucatorto
M Evan DiLeonardi
M Chris Edgerton
F Peter Clancy
F Justin Stepien
St. Charles North
G Zack Norton
D Garrett Morgando
D Brandon Stricker
D Carter Held
D Hanson Hagemann
M Ryan Olson
M Luke Denson
M Alex Amro
M Jonathan Acevedo
F Peter Willis
F Dylan Mientus
Man of the Match: Alex Amro, MF, St. Charles North
Officials: Cesar Alfaro (center), Dylan Kramer, Aaron Wolfhope