Godzilla vs. Kong?
In DuKane it's SCN vs. SCE
By Jared Birchfield
A lot more than just town bragging rights are on the line when heavyweights St. Charles North and St. Charles East face each other for a second time this season at 7 p.m. Thursday at Norris Stadium.
St. Charles East, second in the DuKane Conference, looks to gain ground on its rival, the league leader. The Saints are five points behind the North Stars. An East win would shave the advantage to only two points. Both teams will have two conference games left after Thursday.
The teams are also in competition for the Fox Traveling Trophy which is given to the best team among the four Kane County members of the DuKane Conference: East, North, Batavia and Geneva. At the end of the season, the squad with the best record against its county counter parts get the award.
“That’s fully up for grabs,” said North coach Eric Willson. “There are still games to be had with that competition.”
The game pits the two best scorers in the league: St. Charles North’s Luke Persenico, who leads the circuit with 20 goals; and Sebastian Carranza, who has found the net 16 times this season for the Saints. Both hope to win the conference’s Golden Boot Award for best scorer.
This is expected to be the last time the teams face each other twice in a conference season. In the first match on March 23, the North Stars won 4-2, the first time North (10-2-1, 9-1-1) beat East (10-2-2, 7-2-2) since 2016.
The Saints will have a different look from the first time the squads met. East coach Vince DiNuzzo changed his line-up to replace midfielder Gaetano D’Argento, who left to concentrate on his club team.
“We lost a player in the midfield which opened up an opportunity for one of our kids, Josh Ruiz who has stepped into the number 10 attack midfield role,” DiNuzzo said. “He has been doing well and has become a playmaker for us.”
The coach has also fine-tuned his backline.
“We added Carson Petrick, a senior, as our right back and moved Ryan Champine from outside back to center back,” DiNuzzo said. “We have a little bit more experience back there. We're still working on some stuff but hopefully we can take a positive step forward in the backline. These kids have high expectations for themselves.”
Both coaches expect a hard-fought battle and the rankings bear that out. St. Charles North is listed fifth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, and St. Charles East sits
“There are really not a lot of secrets; it's just that who's going to step up and play better,” DiNuzzo said.
“I expect to see St. Charles East at their best. They are playing great soccer right now. They are on fire, so we are going to have our hands full,” said Willson. “We’ve got a day to prepare for them so hopefully we get the boys nice and rested and ready to go, and we’ll see if we can give them a game.”
Capitalizing on errors may be the key to a victory.
“We go into these matches wanting to get all three points and will do the same Thursday and hope to capitalize on mistakes,” DiNuzzo said. “The last time we played, they capitalized on every mistake we made, and we came back just a little bit too late.”
In DuKane it's SCN vs. SCE
By Jared Birchfield
A lot more than just town bragging rights are on the line when heavyweights St. Charles North and St. Charles East face each other for a second time this season at 7 p.m. Thursday at Norris Stadium.
St. Charles East, second in the DuKane Conference, looks to gain ground on its rival, the league leader. The Saints are five points behind the North Stars. An East win would shave the advantage to only two points. Both teams will have two conference games left after Thursday.
The teams are also in competition for the Fox Traveling Trophy which is given to the best team among the four Kane County members of the DuKane Conference: East, North, Batavia and Geneva. At the end of the season, the squad with the best record against its county counter parts get the award.
“That’s fully up for grabs,” said North coach Eric Willson. “There are still games to be had with that competition.”
The game pits the two best scorers in the league: St. Charles North’s Luke Persenico, who leads the circuit with 20 goals; and Sebastian Carranza, who has found the net 16 times this season for the Saints. Both hope to win the conference’s Golden Boot Award for best scorer.
This is expected to be the last time the teams face each other twice in a conference season. In the first match on March 23, the North Stars won 4-2, the first time North (10-2-1, 9-1-1) beat East (10-2-2, 7-2-2) since 2016.
The Saints will have a different look from the first time the squads met. East coach Vince DiNuzzo changed his line-up to replace midfielder Gaetano D’Argento, who left to concentrate on his club team.
“We lost a player in the midfield which opened up an opportunity for one of our kids, Josh Ruiz who has stepped into the number 10 attack midfield role,” DiNuzzo said. “He has been doing well and has become a playmaker for us.”
The coach has also fine-tuned his backline.
“We added Carson Petrick, a senior, as our right back and moved Ryan Champine from outside back to center back,” DiNuzzo said. “We have a little bit more experience back there. We're still working on some stuff but hopefully we can take a positive step forward in the backline. These kids have high expectations for themselves.”
Both coaches expect a hard-fought battle and the rankings bear that out. St. Charles North is listed fifth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, and St. Charles East sits
“There are really not a lot of secrets; it's just that who's going to step up and play better,” DiNuzzo said.
“I expect to see St. Charles East at their best. They are playing great soccer right now. They are on fire, so we are going to have our hands full,” said Willson. “We’ve got a day to prepare for them so hopefully we get the boys nice and rested and ready to go, and we’ll see if we can give them a game.”
Capitalizing on errors may be the key to a victory.
“We go into these matches wanting to get all three points and will do the same Thursday and hope to capitalize on mistakes,” DiNuzzo said. “The last time we played, they capitalized on every mistake we made, and we came back just a little bit too late.”