North Stars frustrated after 1-1 tie with Marmion

By Gary Larsen

St. Charles North had the lion’s share of possession, the lion’s share of shots on and off net, and more corner kicks and restarts on Tuesday against Marmion, in an opening-round game of this year’s Barrington Classic.

But when you feel like you dominated play and had to settle for a 1-1 tie, it’s hard to feel good. “I’m definitely frustrated and I think the guys should be, too,” North Stars senior Noah Anthony said.

The source of Anthony’s frustration stemmed mainly from a tendency that the North Stars fought last year, and have suffered with to start this season.

“We played better in the second half but it’s the same old story for us,” North Stars coach Eric Willson said. “We’ve got to find a way to be better in the first half. I don’t know what it is. Certainly I have to point at my ability to prepare them in the first half, so we’ve got to find ways to get them ready.

 “I like the way we moved the ball in the second half. When we play the way we’re capable of, we can keep the ball on the ground and hit some one-two connections that really expose a defense. We just have to stay disciplined and stay committed to it.”

The North Stars trailed Waubonsie Valley by two goals before rallying to earn a tie in their home opener last Thursday, and they trailed Marmion 1-0 at halftime on Tuesday before fighting back again.

“Right now it’s something we can’t really get a hold of,” Anthony said. “It keeps happening. We’ve always been a second-half team and we can’t figure out what the problem is.”
 
Marmion grabbed the game’s lead before halftime when Brad White blistered a ball under the crossbar from 18 yards out. North Stars’ keeper Garrett Creasor made a pair of fine point-blank saves at the post on the play, before Marmion’s Mike Frasca slid a pass over to White, who teed off on it.

“We got beat not just on a first rebound, but a second rebound, and then a third rebound, and that’s just unacceptable,” Willson said. “They made us pay for it. I think the shots were 18 to 3 today and they might have had all three of their shots on that play.”

After watching his squad control most of the play in the first half only to trail at the break, Willson made sure his boys knew what needed to be done in the second half.

“It’s about staying disciplined the entire game,” Willson said. “Sometimes you get complacent when you feel like you’re having the majority of the play, and we got lackadaisical on a counterattack. We had to sort those first half mistakes out.”

The North Stars answered their coach’s call with more urgency in their step after halftime. Winhoffer elevated and buried a head shot from 8 yards out to tie the game early in the second half, on a nice cross off the foot of teammate David Farr.

“David Farr is a guy who was starting on the outside at midfield for us last year, and we’ve moved him back this year,” Willson said. “He likes being in the offensive mindset but the total team-guy that he is, he understands that he’s helping us best in the back right now. And he proved it today.”

Willson also liked what he saw from his reserve players on Tuesday.

“We had some guys come in off the bench that I thought did a really nice job,” Willson said. “We lost (Matt) Rasmussen to an injury in the first half, so Mitch Meiss and Nick Karayannis came in and filled in that mid spot and they both did a really good job.”

“Nick got his head on the end of a ball that (Marmion keeper Evan) Lefelstein made a great save on, and Kevin Young came in off the bench and did a nice job, too. Those guys certainly deserve recognition for the way they played today.”

Marmion is searching for goal scoring to start the 2010 season, but the North Stars (3-0-2) kept the Cadets (3-0-2) from finding dangerous space throughout the contest.

“A lot of that starts with the pressure we can put on up front, and our midfielders giving no outlet,” Willson said. “That makes it a little easier on our defense but I certainly don’t want to take anything away from them because our back three is strong and does a really nice job.”

Farr, Brandon Stanko, and Drew Smith have played well in back, and the defense figures to be even stronger once injured senior defender Nick Lutsch returns to the fold.

The North Stars earned corner kicks and sent serves towards the goalmouth throughout the second half, but couldn’t find a go-ahead goal. Anthony dribbled across the 18 and blasted a shot just wide in the second half, and Winhoffer sent a free kick just high of net late in the contest.

An outside midfielder by trade, Anthony slid to the center of the field for this year’s team. “A guy like him, we want him touching the ball as much as possible,” Willson said.

“I play on the outside in club but I played the middle a little bit two years ago,” Anthony said. “It’s a little bit of a change. You just don’t have as much time so you have to get it and get rid of it.

For the most part we played well in the second half today. But one sloppy play in the first half cost us.”