Season recap: St. Charles East
By Jared Birchfield
With their all-state goalkeeper and veteran backline players graduated in 2020, St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo decided to rely more on the offense for the shortened COVID campaign.
The strategy paid off. East ended the season with a 12-4-3 overall record which earned it ninth place in Chicagoland Soccer’s Final 50 state ranking and a second place finish in the DuKane Conference with a 9-2-3 mark.
“I think they are two different teams with two different strengths” DiNuzzo said comparing his 2019 squad to this season’s team. “I think our team last (school) year was probably more experienced defensively.
“(This year) I think we were much more dangerous in the attack. We scored a lot of goals against a lot of quality opponents. I don't know how many teams scored four goals on (conference winner) St. Charles North (none), and we put up a couple of six-spots.”
Junior forward Sebastian Carranza, one of the top DuKane Conference scorers, led the Saints’ attack with 20 goals and 13 assists.
“Sebastian ranks fourth in all-time Saints scoring with 45 goals, and he ranks among the top 10 in assists with 28,” said DiNuzzo. “I believe he's our first (single-season) multi-goal scorer and double-digit assist player in over 15 years.”
Carranza’s wingmen, seniors Same Wade and Jacob Maslowski also got in on the action.
“Sam Wade, who is a four-year player for us, finished this season with five goals and two assists while on the other side Jacob finished with seven goals and three assists,” noted the Saints coach.
He felt Wade’s and Maslowski’s presence on the pitch by itself was also a big plus.
“Their physicality, their maturity, the way they played the game and their experience just made everyone around them better,” DiNuzzo said.
“I would say overall we are pretty proud of how we played this year,” Wade said. "We had a couple of lapses early in the beginning of the season. I think that cost us in some of the rankings and the conference as well. A couple of early ties that I think could have been better.
“Our second game against North is really the one where we got it all together. We had been working on playing out of the back, that had been an early issue of ours and just finishing our chances. I think that (the second North match) was the point that we achieved that.”
A mid-season lineup change, inserting junior Josh Ruiz in the number 10 attack midfield role, also strengthened East’s offense according to DiNuzzo.
“Tucking him behind Sebastian and allowing them to play off each other just added a different dynamic for us going forward. Ruiz is a playmaker,” said the coach. “It allowed Sebastian to play underneath and create other movements and frustrate the opposing backline.”
DiNuzzo lauded the play of senior midfielder Alex Mancera.
“Alex, a three-year starter for us, was solid. He is very smooth on the ball and very good with distribution,” he said.
The Saints coach sees big things ahead for junior midfield Luca Avendano.
“Luca stands at 6-foot-3 and is getting stronger and getting more confident,” he said. “I think he's going to break out next year and have a huge season for us.”
DiNuzzo feels the midfield was one of the team’s strengths this year and will continue to be next season.
“It's a great group of kids we have we at midfield and with Ryan Vandeveer coming off the bench we have a lot of depth at that position,” DiNuzzo said “We really like what we have.”
Filling the hole left by 2019 graduate and keeper Jack Settle was one of the biggest challenges for the Saints.
Senior Jacob Boecher and freshmen Tyler Benhart and Jordan Rolon spent time this campaign patrolling the nets.
“I thought Jacob came up big a couple times,” DiNuzzo said. “So did Tyler and Jordan, they all did well. Tyler played about seven games and Jordan got in about three. They gained that experience which should help them going forward.”
Finding replacements for the backline was another major effort.
“We knew (defense) was going to be an issue. We knew going in, we had some question marks at center back. It took us awhile to get to the point where we needed to be defensively,” the Saints coach said. “I think it took the coaching staff a little bit of time and the team little bit of time to adjust and to acclimate to each other.”
Initially, the Saints had three sophomores on defense, then DiNuzzo made another midseason adjustment. He moved senior Ryan Champine from outside to center back and inserted classmate Carson Petrick at the right back slot.
The changes solidified the defense.
“We had some problems getting balls out of the air at the start of the year,” said Champine. “We found a new way.
“I moved to center back. I thought we were doing better with balls in the air and cut down the number of goals.”
DiNuzzo agreed the change paid dividends.
“I thought our backline improved drastically as the year went on,” he said. “The second time we played Wheaton North we limited their chances, and (the second) Saint Charles North (match) we held them to a goal.”
Petrick easily adjusted to the change.
“When we added him to the starting 11, I think he just grew into the role with confidence and played very well,” DiNuzzo said.
DiNuzzo and Champine agreed with Wade that the Saints second match with cross-town rival St. Charles North, a 4-1 Saints win, was a highlight of the year.
“Obviously the rivalry and all that plays into it, but after taking in the chin over there at St. Charles North (on March 23), to respond and play well for 80 minutes and score four on those guys, that was a highlight of the season for our kids,” said the East coach. “They'll remember it forever. It was a great night for us.”
Champine concurred.
“We knew the first time (we played North) wasn’t our best. We weren’t happy with the results,” the senior said. “The second time it showed. We played our style of soccer, and it was amazing.”
Like many coaches and players, DiNuzzo is disappointed with no postseason.
“I'm sure a lot of teams feel the same way. You're getting to a point where you feel good with each other, and the kids were getting in a groove. You get to this point and then you stop so not having the closure of a postseason is tough,” he said.
After ending last year’s tournament with a regional title loss to York on PKs, Wade was hoping for another tournament run but was accepting of the way the season ended.
“We were all looking forward to it. Last season, we had kind of an abrupt ending in the regionals. We were hoping for some sort of postseason,” he said. “But we are happy with where we are at and that we got to finish the season.”
By Jared Birchfield
With their all-state goalkeeper and veteran backline players graduated in 2020, St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo decided to rely more on the offense for the shortened COVID campaign.
The strategy paid off. East ended the season with a 12-4-3 overall record which earned it ninth place in Chicagoland Soccer’s Final 50 state ranking and a second place finish in the DuKane Conference with a 9-2-3 mark.
“I think they are two different teams with two different strengths” DiNuzzo said comparing his 2019 squad to this season’s team. “I think our team last (school) year was probably more experienced defensively.
“(This year) I think we were much more dangerous in the attack. We scored a lot of goals against a lot of quality opponents. I don't know how many teams scored four goals on (conference winner) St. Charles North (none), and we put up a couple of six-spots.”
Junior forward Sebastian Carranza, one of the top DuKane Conference scorers, led the Saints’ attack with 20 goals and 13 assists.
“Sebastian ranks fourth in all-time Saints scoring with 45 goals, and he ranks among the top 10 in assists with 28,” said DiNuzzo. “I believe he's our first (single-season) multi-goal scorer and double-digit assist player in over 15 years.”
Carranza’s wingmen, seniors Same Wade and Jacob Maslowski also got in on the action.
“Sam Wade, who is a four-year player for us, finished this season with five goals and two assists while on the other side Jacob finished with seven goals and three assists,” noted the Saints coach.
He felt Wade’s and Maslowski’s presence on the pitch by itself was also a big plus.
“Their physicality, their maturity, the way they played the game and their experience just made everyone around them better,” DiNuzzo said.
“I would say overall we are pretty proud of how we played this year,” Wade said. "We had a couple of lapses early in the beginning of the season. I think that cost us in some of the rankings and the conference as well. A couple of early ties that I think could have been better.
“Our second game against North is really the one where we got it all together. We had been working on playing out of the back, that had been an early issue of ours and just finishing our chances. I think that (the second North match) was the point that we achieved that.”
A mid-season lineup change, inserting junior Josh Ruiz in the number 10 attack midfield role, also strengthened East’s offense according to DiNuzzo.
“Tucking him behind Sebastian and allowing them to play off each other just added a different dynamic for us going forward. Ruiz is a playmaker,” said the coach. “It allowed Sebastian to play underneath and create other movements and frustrate the opposing backline.”
DiNuzzo lauded the play of senior midfielder Alex Mancera.
“Alex, a three-year starter for us, was solid. He is very smooth on the ball and very good with distribution,” he said.
The Saints coach sees big things ahead for junior midfield Luca Avendano.
“Luca stands at 6-foot-3 and is getting stronger and getting more confident,” he said. “I think he's going to break out next year and have a huge season for us.”
DiNuzzo feels the midfield was one of the team’s strengths this year and will continue to be next season.
“It's a great group of kids we have we at midfield and with Ryan Vandeveer coming off the bench we have a lot of depth at that position,” DiNuzzo said “We really like what we have.”
Filling the hole left by 2019 graduate and keeper Jack Settle was one of the biggest challenges for the Saints.
Senior Jacob Boecher and freshmen Tyler Benhart and Jordan Rolon spent time this campaign patrolling the nets.
“I thought Jacob came up big a couple times,” DiNuzzo said. “So did Tyler and Jordan, they all did well. Tyler played about seven games and Jordan got in about three. They gained that experience which should help them going forward.”
Finding replacements for the backline was another major effort.
“We knew (defense) was going to be an issue. We knew going in, we had some question marks at center back. It took us awhile to get to the point where we needed to be defensively,” the Saints coach said. “I think it took the coaching staff a little bit of time and the team little bit of time to adjust and to acclimate to each other.”
Initially, the Saints had three sophomores on defense, then DiNuzzo made another midseason adjustment. He moved senior Ryan Champine from outside to center back and inserted classmate Carson Petrick at the right back slot.
The changes solidified the defense.
“We had some problems getting balls out of the air at the start of the year,” said Champine. “We found a new way.
“I moved to center back. I thought we were doing better with balls in the air and cut down the number of goals.”
DiNuzzo agreed the change paid dividends.
“I thought our backline improved drastically as the year went on,” he said. “The second time we played Wheaton North we limited their chances, and (the second) Saint Charles North (match) we held them to a goal.”
Petrick easily adjusted to the change.
“When we added him to the starting 11, I think he just grew into the role with confidence and played very well,” DiNuzzo said.
DiNuzzo and Champine agreed with Wade that the Saints second match with cross-town rival St. Charles North, a 4-1 Saints win, was a highlight of the year.
“Obviously the rivalry and all that plays into it, but after taking in the chin over there at St. Charles North (on March 23), to respond and play well for 80 minutes and score four on those guys, that was a highlight of the season for our kids,” said the East coach. “They'll remember it forever. It was a great night for us.”
Champine concurred.
“We knew the first time (we played North) wasn’t our best. We weren’t happy with the results,” the senior said. “The second time it showed. We played our style of soccer, and it was amazing.”
Like many coaches and players, DiNuzzo is disappointed with no postseason.
“I'm sure a lot of teams feel the same way. You're getting to a point where you feel good with each other, and the kids were getting in a groove. You get to this point and then you stop so not having the closure of a postseason is tough,” he said.
After ending last year’s tournament with a regional title loss to York on PKs, Wade was hoping for another tournament run but was accepting of the way the season ended.
“We were all looking forward to it. Last season, we had kind of an abrupt ending in the regionals. We were hoping for some sort of postseason,” he said. “But we are happy with where we are at and that we got to finish the season.”