Batavia latest unable
to slow St. Charles East
Top-ranked Fighting Saints stay impressive in 9th-straight win
By Jared Birchfield
ST. CHARLES – St. Charles East’s offense continued to hit on all cylinders and its defense remained tenacious Tuesday night as the Saints bested DuKane Conference rival Batavia 6-0 at Norris Stadium.
For the eighth time in nine matches East, now ranked number one in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, scored at least six goals. The shutout was also the eighth one of this campaign.
The Saints have scored a total of 53 goals this season while only allowing opponents one.
Six different Saints found the back of net in Thursday’s contest.
Junior Ashley Stellon starting the scoring, a 15-yard strike from the right side of the net in the fourth minute. It was the eighth goal of the season for the Illinois recruit.
Teammate Hannah Miller increased East’s lead to 2-0 at the 22:51 mark of the first half with her sixth goal of the campaign.
Frustrated by the Saints’ defense, Batavia was unable to mount much of an attack in the first half. Led by senior captains Megan Stout and Jessica Stepien, East’s backline harassed Batavia (2-6-0, 2-4-0) attackers, intercepted passes and started counter attacks with long passes.
Lead by junior back Mia Anzalone, the Bulldogs were able to contain the Saints for the rest of the half.
“We tried to meet their physicality and pace.” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “I thought first half we did OK. We had a couple of runouts at them that caused them a little bit of frustration.”
East coach Vince DiNuzzo felt his team dialed back its intensity after the second tally.
“I think we were a little bit flat in the first half. We scored early and after the second goal came, we were just kind of fine being up to 2-0 and that's just not the mentality that the girls have had this year,” DiNuzzo said. “I think we were a little bit down after we had prom and we beat St. Charles North. I think getting up for this game was a little bit tougher for us.”
East (9-0-0, 6-0-0) had a positive reaction to DiNuzzo’s halftime analysis by scoring three goals in the first seven minutes of the second half.
“I thought the girls after a halftime talk, responded and met the expectations that they have set for themselves. It was a good response,” the East coach said. “Once they stepped on the field in the second half, it was a different soccer game. We had the motivation to push and want more.”
Jenna Sitta led the revitalized attack with a goal in the 45th minute, her tenth of the season. Less than a minute later, McKenna Gahagan finished a Lindsey Rzeszutko corner kick by scoring her seventh goal of the year.
Megan Sreniawski ended the barrage in the 47th minute with a strike that increased her season total to 10 goals.
Gianfrancesco warned his Bulldogs about East regrouping for the second half.
“I told them it was coming. That (East) was going to be honest the first 5-10 minutes of the second half,” he said “Unfortunately, I was right.
“We have tendency to give up three goals pretty quick, and we are trying to work on that. We're trying to refocus and reset. Obviously that didn't work today against a good team and obviously they took advantage of our breakdowns and finished.”
Comfortably ahead, DiNuzzo sat his starters and gave minutes to backups, but he had to be careful with substitutions.
“I don't know if 6-0 is a proper reflection of the game,” said DiNuzzo. “In terms of the first half, I thought they played pretty competitively.
“They have a lot of kids that work hard, and they have some talent out there. It wasn't easy for us for us to get everybody in.
“We needed to give our starters a rest. We have another big conference game on Thursday against Wheaton North. The schedule is just a grind.”
Senior defender Sidney Smith’s off the bench play impressed the East coach.
“She has been outstanding. She's been our first outside back off the bench, and she has been very consistent,” said DiNuzzo. “She's executing; she’s retaining the ball. She's defending well. She creates, and she plays simple. She's doing everything we’ve asked. I'm really happy with her.”
Junior backup defender Libby Thomas also got high marks.
“She was keeping the ball and being dynamic and creating for us,” DiNuzzo said.
Thomas also earned an assist on Ella Stehlman’s goal with 3:30 left to play. The header, the final score of the contest, was the forward’s first strike of the season.
“It was so good to get that goal. I was so frustrated earlier that I haven't scored all season, and I finally have,” she said.
“It was such a great ball from Libby. She dribbled it up and crossed up the defender up. She then played the perfect ball. It was just my height too,” said the 5-foot-3 sophomore.
Ella’s sister, Grace, watched the play from East’s goal. Also a sophomore, Grace splits time in front of the net with junior Sofia Iori. The junior protects the net during the first half and Grace takes over for the second 40 minutes. The two have shared the goal for all but one of the Saints’ matches.
“They have split every game but one. We had one where Grace rolled her ankle so we sat her,” DiNuzzo said. “Both play exceptionally well, so we plan to continue it.”
Grace said watching the game before taking over in the net is beneficial.
“I think it's definitely an advantage. I like to watch the game to see how they play and how the shoot,” she said.
“Players do get tired in the second half so I have to watch my kicks to I see how far I can get them,” she noted.
Grace credits a good relationship with Iori and East coaches for the two splitting the keeper role.
“I would say a lot is the confidence from the coaches and Sofia, she definitely helps me out,” Grace said. “She's like one of the closest friends I have on the team.”
Hannah Miller’s goal, two assists and overall play earned her Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match honor.
“She scored the second goal and was all over the place on offense,” DiNuzzo said.
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK: Morgan Haug
D: Mia Anzalone
D: Caitlin Callahan
D: Carlin King
D: Alyssa Sarik
M: Ashley Whelpley
M: Riley DiBiase
M: Avery Solomon
F: Bella Lins
F: Johanna Shubert
F: Laila Figueras
St. Charles East
GK: Sofia Iori
D: Lindsey Rzeszutko
D: Anna Champine
D: Jessica Stepien
D: Megan Stout
M: McKenna Gahagan
M: Ashley Stellon
M: Yasnmin Martinez
F: Hannah Miller
F: Megan Sreniawski
F: Jenna Sitta
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Hannah Miller, sr., F, St. Charles East
Scoring summary
First half
SCE: Stellen (Sreniawski) 4 minutes
SCE: Miller (Sitta) 18 minutes
Second half
SCE: Sitta ((Rzeszutko) 45 minutes
SCE: Gahagan (Miller) 46 minutes
SCE: Sreniawski (Miller) 47 minutes
SCE: E. Stehman (Thomas) 77 minutes
to slow St. Charles East
Top-ranked Fighting Saints stay impressive in 9th-straight win
By Jared Birchfield
ST. CHARLES – St. Charles East’s offense continued to hit on all cylinders and its defense remained tenacious Tuesday night as the Saints bested DuKane Conference rival Batavia 6-0 at Norris Stadium.
For the eighth time in nine matches East, now ranked number one in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, scored at least six goals. The shutout was also the eighth one of this campaign.
The Saints have scored a total of 53 goals this season while only allowing opponents one.
Six different Saints found the back of net in Thursday’s contest.
Junior Ashley Stellon starting the scoring, a 15-yard strike from the right side of the net in the fourth minute. It was the eighth goal of the season for the Illinois recruit.
Teammate Hannah Miller increased East’s lead to 2-0 at the 22:51 mark of the first half with her sixth goal of the campaign.
Frustrated by the Saints’ defense, Batavia was unable to mount much of an attack in the first half. Led by senior captains Megan Stout and Jessica Stepien, East’s backline harassed Batavia (2-6-0, 2-4-0) attackers, intercepted passes and started counter attacks with long passes.
Lead by junior back Mia Anzalone, the Bulldogs were able to contain the Saints for the rest of the half.
“We tried to meet their physicality and pace.” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “I thought first half we did OK. We had a couple of runouts at them that caused them a little bit of frustration.”
East coach Vince DiNuzzo felt his team dialed back its intensity after the second tally.
“I think we were a little bit flat in the first half. We scored early and after the second goal came, we were just kind of fine being up to 2-0 and that's just not the mentality that the girls have had this year,” DiNuzzo said. “I think we were a little bit down after we had prom and we beat St. Charles North. I think getting up for this game was a little bit tougher for us.”
East (9-0-0, 6-0-0) had a positive reaction to DiNuzzo’s halftime analysis by scoring three goals in the first seven minutes of the second half.
“I thought the girls after a halftime talk, responded and met the expectations that they have set for themselves. It was a good response,” the East coach said. “Once they stepped on the field in the second half, it was a different soccer game. We had the motivation to push and want more.”
Jenna Sitta led the revitalized attack with a goal in the 45th minute, her tenth of the season. Less than a minute later, McKenna Gahagan finished a Lindsey Rzeszutko corner kick by scoring her seventh goal of the year.
Megan Sreniawski ended the barrage in the 47th minute with a strike that increased her season total to 10 goals.
Gianfrancesco warned his Bulldogs about East regrouping for the second half.
“I told them it was coming. That (East) was going to be honest the first 5-10 minutes of the second half,” he said “Unfortunately, I was right.
“We have tendency to give up three goals pretty quick, and we are trying to work on that. We're trying to refocus and reset. Obviously that didn't work today against a good team and obviously they took advantage of our breakdowns and finished.”
Comfortably ahead, DiNuzzo sat his starters and gave minutes to backups, but he had to be careful with substitutions.
“I don't know if 6-0 is a proper reflection of the game,” said DiNuzzo. “In terms of the first half, I thought they played pretty competitively.
“They have a lot of kids that work hard, and they have some talent out there. It wasn't easy for us for us to get everybody in.
“We needed to give our starters a rest. We have another big conference game on Thursday against Wheaton North. The schedule is just a grind.”
Senior defender Sidney Smith’s off the bench play impressed the East coach.
“She has been outstanding. She's been our first outside back off the bench, and she has been very consistent,” said DiNuzzo. “She's executing; she’s retaining the ball. She's defending well. She creates, and she plays simple. She's doing everything we’ve asked. I'm really happy with her.”
Junior backup defender Libby Thomas also got high marks.
“She was keeping the ball and being dynamic and creating for us,” DiNuzzo said.
Thomas also earned an assist on Ella Stehlman’s goal with 3:30 left to play. The header, the final score of the contest, was the forward’s first strike of the season.
“It was so good to get that goal. I was so frustrated earlier that I haven't scored all season, and I finally have,” she said.
“It was such a great ball from Libby. She dribbled it up and crossed up the defender up. She then played the perfect ball. It was just my height too,” said the 5-foot-3 sophomore.
Ella’s sister, Grace, watched the play from East’s goal. Also a sophomore, Grace splits time in front of the net with junior Sofia Iori. The junior protects the net during the first half and Grace takes over for the second 40 minutes. The two have shared the goal for all but one of the Saints’ matches.
“They have split every game but one. We had one where Grace rolled her ankle so we sat her,” DiNuzzo said. “Both play exceptionally well, so we plan to continue it.”
Grace said watching the game before taking over in the net is beneficial.
“I think it's definitely an advantage. I like to watch the game to see how they play and how the shoot,” she said.
“Players do get tired in the second half so I have to watch my kicks to I see how far I can get them,” she noted.
Grace credits a good relationship with Iori and East coaches for the two splitting the keeper role.
“I would say a lot is the confidence from the coaches and Sofia, she definitely helps me out,” Grace said. “She's like one of the closest friends I have on the team.”
Hannah Miller’s goal, two assists and overall play earned her Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match honor.
“She scored the second goal and was all over the place on offense,” DiNuzzo said.
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK: Morgan Haug
D: Mia Anzalone
D: Caitlin Callahan
D: Carlin King
D: Alyssa Sarik
M: Ashley Whelpley
M: Riley DiBiase
M: Avery Solomon
F: Bella Lins
F: Johanna Shubert
F: Laila Figueras
St. Charles East
GK: Sofia Iori
D: Lindsey Rzeszutko
D: Anna Champine
D: Jessica Stepien
D: Megan Stout
M: McKenna Gahagan
M: Ashley Stellon
M: Yasnmin Martinez
F: Hannah Miller
F: Megan Sreniawski
F: Jenna Sitta
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Hannah Miller, sr., F, St. Charles East
Scoring summary
First half
SCE: Stellen (Sreniawski) 4 minutes
SCE: Miller (Sitta) 18 minutes
Second half
SCE: Sitta ((Rzeszutko) 45 minutes
SCE: Gahagan (Miller) 46 minutes
SCE: Sreniawski (Miller) 47 minutes
SCE: E. Stehman (Thomas) 77 minutes