North Stars nearly complete a grand comeback
St. Charles North overcomes 2-goal deficit but loses on late strike by Libertyville

By Mike Garofola

With all due respect to the other quarterfinalist matches of the Pepsi Showdown tournament, this one easily had to be the best.

St. Charles North and Libertyville gave its fans the thrill of a lifetime with an 80-minute roller-coaster ride, and in the end the host Wildcats (10-0-0) emerged from it all with a 3-2 victory to book its place in the tourney’s semifinals on Saturday against Larkin.

"It was like a championship game out there tonight," said Libertyville head coach Andy Bitta, now in his 25th year.

"We knew coming in that St. Charles (North) would be a terrific opponent for us (tonight) - maybe the best we've seen so far, and they sure proved to be everything we expected and more."

Billed as a match between the unbeaten, these two sides entered the evening with a combined 19-0-2 record, and well-deserved recognition in state polls. Neither club would disappoint the big crowd on hand in the northern suburbs.

The North Stars (10-1-2) unfortunately did not respond well to some early pressure in their own end, and found themselves trailing at 3 minutes after they brought down Shane Reilly inside the box. Reilly had floated freely inside the 18 after collecting a ball from the right side by Miles McNeir.

"We got ourselves caught kind of looking at the start, and it cost us," North Stars head coach Eric Willson would say afterwards.

Marshall Hollingsworth would convert his spot kick when he drove his shot to the right of keeper Garrett Creasor, who guessed the other way. The home side had a quick lead and had the Wildcats’ faithful cheering for more.

"It's always great to be the first to score, but we knew that (St. Charles) would come after us hard all night," said Bitta.

While the hosts were unable to match that early energy boost from a terrific start, it was the North Stars backline of David Farr, Nick Lutsch and Brandon Stanke which would deserve some credit. North’s attack built behind the play of Noah Anthony in the middle, as well as front-runners Mike Winhoffer and Zack Matuszak.

"We didn't do well in defending in transition tonight, and that's how they were able to get those two goals on us, but all of us knew when we went down two goals that this match wasn't over,” Willson said.

“I’m very proud of how we fought back and nearly grabbed a victory out here tonight,” Winhoffer said.

The pace Winhoffer provided, along with a little extra from Matuszak and Hayden Hagemann, made the North Stars constant pests to the Wildcats in its own end up until intermission. If not for some stout defending from the home side, the North Stars might have cut into the lead before the break.

"We successfully took some of their momentum away halfway through the first half, but we gave it away for a short time when they scored that second goal. That kind of hurt us at the time," offered Winhoffer.

The North Stars' were their own worse enemy on Joey Ruppert's goal at 46 minutes, when they weren't clean enough deep in their own end. The opportunistic Libertyville junior collected a short ball and used a super-quick first touch to get himself free, and went in 1-vee-1 with Creasor, going under and past the big keeper.

"A two-goal lead is always big, but we all knew that St. Charles wouldn't go away, not with that much time left in regulation," suggested Bitta.

Bitta's oldest son Andrew is the 'Cats keeper, and he made a crucial save on a left-footed blast from Anthony at the near post just minutes after Ruppert doubled the lead. The 6-foot-3 senior then elevated just an inch more than the angular Jared Casey, pulling a well-aimed serve from Anthony away from Casey, who was looking to redirect a header into the back of the net.

"Once we began to find Noah more often, and create a few more free kick and dead-ball opportunities, you began to see the pendulum swing in our favor, and us becoming more dangerous in their end," said Willson.

Willson was right.

An Anthony corner, kept alive by Casey and others, led to a Joe Stone goal at 55 minutes when the senior showed good patience near the spot before cutting into the Libertyville lead.

With the North Stars sensing further goals, Anthony would spill a handful of serves deep into the area to continue to stretch the Wildcats overworked defense, until he looped another into the area, allowing Winhoffer to finish in close with a deadly touch after a deflected save by Bitta.

"At that point, I honestly thought we would get another goal and win the match," said Winhoffer.

The Stars' hopes to do so were dashed moments after Winhoffer drew his club even when Anthony was injured near the midline, and was forced to leave under his own power.

"My heart kind of stopped when I saw Noah go down and not get back up," admitted Willson, who would breathe a sigh of relief 10 minutes later when the senior came back on, albeit seconds after the Wildcats regained the lead for good when McNeir finished from just outside the box.

"If (McNeir) takes that shot 10 more times it doesn't go in, but this one somehow skidded through a bunch of guys and found its way into the back of the net," said a disappointed Winhoffer, who watched McNeir take an Austin Bitta corner and quickly turn and fire a low shot for a stunning ending to a marvelous match.

"It may have hit someone going through, but I don't think so, and frankly, I don't care what it did as long as it went into the net," McNeir said of his game-winner at 73 minutes.

The North Stars would throw everyone forward in their search to get even but  Libertyville held firm, and would live to play another match in the championship round.

"Yeah, it's a disappointing loss to be sure, but we played well, and there isn't anything we would have done differently," said Willson. "We play a very difficult schedule, including two great tournaments, and you cannot win every match.

Libertvyille is a very good team, but I am very proud of the effort, and the fact that we came from two-goals down, and still nearly came away with a victory."