Numbers favor Geneva in tie vs. SCN
Vikings use man-advantage to score late, damper North Stars' Senior Night
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES -- Senior Night festivities generally put memories in the spotlight.
For St. Charles North, Thursday’s game was more about erasing the memory from two nights before.
That’s when the North Stars, ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, were left with the bitter taste of an upset shutout loss to rival St. Charles East.
Of course visiting Geneva was equally determined to put a disappointment in the past, so the Vikings ultimately capitalized on a man-advantage to pull off a 1-1 stalemate.
Now both sides can only focus on simply building momentum for the postseason because neither can make it to the top of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division.
The tie leaves North (9-2-4 overall) at 1-1-2 with five points and two games left, unable to catch Elgin (4-1-0, 12 points) and at a decided disadvantage against Streamwood (3-0-1, 10).
Geneva (7-4-2 overall) moves to 1-2-1 in the loop buoyed only by having dethroned North. The draw provided some consolation immediately after sandwiching losses to Elgin (4-1) and Streamwood (2-0) around a nonconference win over DeKalb (6-0).
It took just 3:58 against Geneva for North to give joy to its 11 senior starters.
With the honorees from the pre-game festivities on the field for the opening whistle, one duo got the home fans roaring. However, one was an unlikely hero.
Known for his speed, Bernard Elegbede made a run to the right side that drew multiple defenders before his cross was blasted home by Jameson D’Amico past Geneva goalie Jeff Bode.
The 12-yard laser was the first goal of the year for D’Amico and fueled a performance that earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match status. His younger brother Gabe has two goals, including the decisive conversion last Sunday when North claimed one of the four PepsiCo Showdown bracket titles in a 5-4 shootout win over then no. 5 Waukegan.
“Jameson is better known for doing a lot of the little things that never show up in a box score,” North coach Eric Willson noted. “His speed is in how he plays, one- or two-touch soccer, but today he certainly put himself in the right place.”
D’Amico relished scoring not so much as a highlight, but more for the necessity for St. Charles North.
“Obviously we were a little down after East and our coaches pushed us in practice to work harder,” D’Amico said. “When the ball came in from Bernie off a defender, I was anticipating the opportunity and aimed for the right corner. It felt great.”
North Stars goalie Piercarlo Ricossa made the one-goal lead stand despite a Geneva penalty kick at 17:54. Vikings scoring leader Eric Anderson appeared to get less force behind his attempt and Ricossa dove to his right to bat the ball clear.
A couple minutes later, Geneva’s Jack Cottrell ripped a try from the top of the box and Ricossa popped it up and then caught it for another save.
With 23 minutes elapsed, North’s Jake Persenico gambled from 47 yards out and nailed the left post. Then it was the Viking fans' chance to groan when Anderson nailed a well-placed free kick that just missed a teammate’s head. With 8:13 left before halftime, North Stars reserve Mitch Bricker rocketed a shot that just missed becoming an upper-90 success.
At 8:27 into the second half, Anderson took aim from the right wing and Ricossa tipped the ball over the crossbar. Both teams were trading chances when North’s Kyle Kolodziej was issued a second yellow. That meant the North Stars were short-handed for the remaining 24:57 of regulation.
“While we got off to the exact kind of start we were looking for, I thought the second yellow was unfortunate,” Willson said. “From that point on we continued to do a nice job until that last minute and a half. We had a lot of good possessions, and our combination play was good.
“We were trying to take some time off the clock but the odds caught up to us,” Willson added. “At the end of the day, I’m still pleased with our overall effort.”
On the restart after the expulsion, Geneva’s Anderson put a cannon volley on frame, but Ricossa dove for another save, jumped up and blocked a follow-up attempt.
“It certainly helped us when they went down a man, but the boys took advantage of that,” Geneva coach Jason Bhatta said. “Even then, they’re a hard team to break down, plus they were still dangerous on the counter.”
There was only 1:34 remaining in regulation when a pair of Geneva seniors made their mark. Anderson played a ball forward and reserve Nico Ignacio boomed an eight-yarder past Ricossa.
“I found a gap and was screaming for Eric, and he gave me a perfect ball, something I could finish easily,” Ignacio said of his second goal of the season. “It feels so good because North is a fantastic team, and yes it was Senior Night. We’ve been on a little low, so hopefully the comeback for a tie can get us turned around as we head to the playoffs.”
It was Anderson’s team-best sixth assist and the payoff to an evening’s work that soaked every thread on his uniform.
“Gaining a tie against a great team is hopefully an indication that we can once again start playing at our best level,” Anderson said. “With time running down, it was more instinct to keep pushing forward. I wanted to get enough on it to get it past their backline, and Ignacio came through.”
The Vikings have a Saturday home date with Huntley and visit Batavia on Tuesday for the next two of their remaining five regular season matches. Geneva will return to St. Charles North's new turf field on Oct. 10 to face St. Charles East as part of the annual Tri-Cities Night.
The North Stars visit Larkin on Tuesday and then complete UEC River Division play the following Tuesday when Batavia is their foe for the Tri-Cities Night event.
“As coach reminds us, all the games are a build-up to the playoffs,” St.Charles North senior Connor Bettini said. “Yesterday at practice we emphasized moving forward, so scoring so quickly was definitely a huge lift for us. We add the experiences from every game in order to get better.”
D’Amico essentially echoed the lesson-learned viewpoint of a disappointing start to Week 6 of the regular season.
“After winning the PepsiCo, maybe it’s better to get these kind of games out of the way. We had to keep pushing no matter the score versus East. Today we had to keep pushing being down a man,” D’Amico added. “Hopefully we learned not to be in these spots again.”
Starting lineups
Geneva
GK Jeff Bode
D Ivan Vilcha
D Jason Belloli
D Ryleigh Strubler
D Josh Hartsock
M Sean Geismann
M Jack Cottrell
M Jack Belloli
F Colin Fromm
F Eric Anderson
F Ethan Norman
St. Charles North
GK Piercarlo Ricossa
D Connor Bettini
D Peter Willis
D Paul Hostachy
D Kyle Kolodziej
D Alex Somera
M Noah Linn
M Michael Karalekas
M Jameson D’Amico
M Bernard Elegbede
F Jake Persenico
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jameson D’Amico, sr., MF, St. Charles North
Officials: Jeff Ryder (center), Vinh Trinh, Chuck Raksinh
Game summary
St. Charles North 1, Geneva 1
Geneva 0 1 -- 1 7-5-2 (UECR: 1-2-1)
St. Charles North 1 0 -- 9-2-4 (UECR: 1-1-2)
Scoring
SCN – J. D’Amico 12-yard rocket from middle (Elegbede assist), 3:58 gone
G – Ignacio eight-yarder from right of center off cross (Anderson assist), 78:26 gone
Shots
G 5 – 11 -- 16
SCN 6 – 4 -- 10
Shots on goal
G 3 – 5 -- 8
SCN 4 – 2 -- 2
Saves (goalie)
G 5 (Bode 3/2)
SCN 7 (Ricossa 3/4)
Corner kicks
G 2 – 1 -- 3
SCN 0 – 1 -- 1
Offsides
G 0 - 0 -- 0
SCN 0 – 1 -- 1
Vikings use man-advantage to score late, damper North Stars' Senior Night
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES -- Senior Night festivities generally put memories in the spotlight.
For St. Charles North, Thursday’s game was more about erasing the memory from two nights before.
That’s when the North Stars, ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, were left with the bitter taste of an upset shutout loss to rival St. Charles East.
Of course visiting Geneva was equally determined to put a disappointment in the past, so the Vikings ultimately capitalized on a man-advantage to pull off a 1-1 stalemate.
Now both sides can only focus on simply building momentum for the postseason because neither can make it to the top of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division.
The tie leaves North (9-2-4 overall) at 1-1-2 with five points and two games left, unable to catch Elgin (4-1-0, 12 points) and at a decided disadvantage against Streamwood (3-0-1, 10).
Geneva (7-4-2 overall) moves to 1-2-1 in the loop buoyed only by having dethroned North. The draw provided some consolation immediately after sandwiching losses to Elgin (4-1) and Streamwood (2-0) around a nonconference win over DeKalb (6-0).
It took just 3:58 against Geneva for North to give joy to its 11 senior starters.
With the honorees from the pre-game festivities on the field for the opening whistle, one duo got the home fans roaring. However, one was an unlikely hero.
Known for his speed, Bernard Elegbede made a run to the right side that drew multiple defenders before his cross was blasted home by Jameson D’Amico past Geneva goalie Jeff Bode.
The 12-yard laser was the first goal of the year for D’Amico and fueled a performance that earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match status. His younger brother Gabe has two goals, including the decisive conversion last Sunday when North claimed one of the four PepsiCo Showdown bracket titles in a 5-4 shootout win over then no. 5 Waukegan.
“Jameson is better known for doing a lot of the little things that never show up in a box score,” North coach Eric Willson noted. “His speed is in how he plays, one- or two-touch soccer, but today he certainly put himself in the right place.”
D’Amico relished scoring not so much as a highlight, but more for the necessity for St. Charles North.
“Obviously we were a little down after East and our coaches pushed us in practice to work harder,” D’Amico said. “When the ball came in from Bernie off a defender, I was anticipating the opportunity and aimed for the right corner. It felt great.”
North Stars goalie Piercarlo Ricossa made the one-goal lead stand despite a Geneva penalty kick at 17:54. Vikings scoring leader Eric Anderson appeared to get less force behind his attempt and Ricossa dove to his right to bat the ball clear.
A couple minutes later, Geneva’s Jack Cottrell ripped a try from the top of the box and Ricossa popped it up and then caught it for another save.
With 23 minutes elapsed, North’s Jake Persenico gambled from 47 yards out and nailed the left post. Then it was the Viking fans' chance to groan when Anderson nailed a well-placed free kick that just missed a teammate’s head. With 8:13 left before halftime, North Stars reserve Mitch Bricker rocketed a shot that just missed becoming an upper-90 success.
At 8:27 into the second half, Anderson took aim from the right wing and Ricossa tipped the ball over the crossbar. Both teams were trading chances when North’s Kyle Kolodziej was issued a second yellow. That meant the North Stars were short-handed for the remaining 24:57 of regulation.
“While we got off to the exact kind of start we were looking for, I thought the second yellow was unfortunate,” Willson said. “From that point on we continued to do a nice job until that last minute and a half. We had a lot of good possessions, and our combination play was good.
“We were trying to take some time off the clock but the odds caught up to us,” Willson added. “At the end of the day, I’m still pleased with our overall effort.”
On the restart after the expulsion, Geneva’s Anderson put a cannon volley on frame, but Ricossa dove for another save, jumped up and blocked a follow-up attempt.
“It certainly helped us when they went down a man, but the boys took advantage of that,” Geneva coach Jason Bhatta said. “Even then, they’re a hard team to break down, plus they were still dangerous on the counter.”
There was only 1:34 remaining in regulation when a pair of Geneva seniors made their mark. Anderson played a ball forward and reserve Nico Ignacio boomed an eight-yarder past Ricossa.
“I found a gap and was screaming for Eric, and he gave me a perfect ball, something I could finish easily,” Ignacio said of his second goal of the season. “It feels so good because North is a fantastic team, and yes it was Senior Night. We’ve been on a little low, so hopefully the comeback for a tie can get us turned around as we head to the playoffs.”
It was Anderson’s team-best sixth assist and the payoff to an evening’s work that soaked every thread on his uniform.
“Gaining a tie against a great team is hopefully an indication that we can once again start playing at our best level,” Anderson said. “With time running down, it was more instinct to keep pushing forward. I wanted to get enough on it to get it past their backline, and Ignacio came through.”
The Vikings have a Saturday home date with Huntley and visit Batavia on Tuesday for the next two of their remaining five regular season matches. Geneva will return to St. Charles North's new turf field on Oct. 10 to face St. Charles East as part of the annual Tri-Cities Night.
The North Stars visit Larkin on Tuesday and then complete UEC River Division play the following Tuesday when Batavia is their foe for the Tri-Cities Night event.
“As coach reminds us, all the games are a build-up to the playoffs,” St.Charles North senior Connor Bettini said. “Yesterday at practice we emphasized moving forward, so scoring so quickly was definitely a huge lift for us. We add the experiences from every game in order to get better.”
D’Amico essentially echoed the lesson-learned viewpoint of a disappointing start to Week 6 of the regular season.
“After winning the PepsiCo, maybe it’s better to get these kind of games out of the way. We had to keep pushing no matter the score versus East. Today we had to keep pushing being down a man,” D’Amico added. “Hopefully we learned not to be in these spots again.”
Starting lineups
Geneva
GK Jeff Bode
D Ivan Vilcha
D Jason Belloli
D Ryleigh Strubler
D Josh Hartsock
M Sean Geismann
M Jack Cottrell
M Jack Belloli
F Colin Fromm
F Eric Anderson
F Ethan Norman
St. Charles North
GK Piercarlo Ricossa
D Connor Bettini
D Peter Willis
D Paul Hostachy
D Kyle Kolodziej
D Alex Somera
M Noah Linn
M Michael Karalekas
M Jameson D’Amico
M Bernard Elegbede
F Jake Persenico
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jameson D’Amico, sr., MF, St. Charles North
Officials: Jeff Ryder (center), Vinh Trinh, Chuck Raksinh
Game summary
St. Charles North 1, Geneva 1
Geneva 0 1 -- 1 7-5-2 (UECR: 1-2-1)
St. Charles North 1 0 -- 9-2-4 (UECR: 1-1-2)
Scoring
SCN – J. D’Amico 12-yard rocket from middle (Elegbede assist), 3:58 gone
G – Ignacio eight-yarder from right of center off cross (Anderson assist), 78:26 gone
Shots
G 5 – 11 -- 16
SCN 6 – 4 -- 10
Shots on goal
G 3 – 5 -- 8
SCN 4 – 2 -- 2
Saves (goalie)
G 5 (Bode 3/2)
SCN 7 (Ricossa 3/4)
Corner kicks
G 2 – 1 -- 3
SCN 0 – 1 -- 1
Offsides
G 0 - 0 -- 0
SCN 0 – 1 -- 1