North Stars take on Neuqua in heated battle of UEC teams
By Eddie Burns

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It was much more than a simple regular-season match when Neuqua Valley and St. Charles North met in the Downers Grove South Invite.

The two Upstate Eight Conference foes won’t meet during conference action, so the Wildcats scored significant bragging rights thanks to their 3-1 win against the North Stars on Thursday afternoon in Downers Grove.

“It was definitely more intense than any game we’ve played thus far and it was more nerve-wrecking as well,” said Neuqua junior midfielder Brooke Ksiazek said.

The Wildcats (4-1) came out and played with a sense of purpose. Neuqua was the aggressor right from the start and it led to a quick goal less than 4 minutes into the match when Hope D’Addario lofted a perfect shot from close to 30 yards out. D’Addario’s shot went from left to right and sailed just beyond the reach of North Stars goalie Carly Dietrich.

It was D’Addario’s first match in six months because of injury, but it was short-lived as she came off the field shortly thereafter. D’Addario’s status for Neuqua’s match with Downers Grove South on Saturday is unknown.

The Wildcats added another highlight reel goal when Molly McInerney, Zoey Goralski and Gianna Dal Pazzo connected for Neuqua’s second goal. McInerney started the run as she played the ball to Goralski who dropped a pass to Dal Pazzo, who was trailing the play and she finished.

“It feels great to be part of a wonderful goal,” Goralski said. “Gia had a wonderful shot. Everything clicked on that sequence and it felt great. Scoring a goal like that certainly builds confidence.”

The North Stars (4-2) cut into Neuqua’s lead when junior Kelly Manski scored off a direct restart from 25 yards out. Manski successfully negotiated the wall and snuck the ball past goalie Courtney Keefer.

“I waited for the wall to get set up and then I picked my spot,” Manski said. “We’ve been practicing these types of shots in practice, so I just put (the ball) in the corner. It was exciting and it gave us some momentum.”

The North Stars did appear to have bit more in their step after Manski’s goal cut the Neuqua lead to 2-1, but it was short-lived. The Wildcats recaptured the momentum when Olivia Schmitt scored on a rebound after a successful run put together by Dal Pozzo, Goralski and Schmitt.

“We practice a lot of our runs, passing and connecting – today it really showed,” Goralski said.
 We are really still trying to get comfortable with everyone playing together. We don’t like to play long balls and we like to play a possession and passing style of soccer and we did that tonight. That was one of the best game’s we’re had.”

The Wildcats had several other scoring chances as they consistently generated quality runs.
“Neuqua really did a nice job passing and controlling possession,” Manski said.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats’ defense smothered the North Star’s attack.

Ksiazek along with freshmen Dannah Williams and Lauren Ciesla and a host of others limited St. Charles North to four shots on goal.

“We had to focus a lot more in the back because of the runs they like to make up top,” Ksiazek said. “We really had to be organized, otherwise, we would have been in trouble and we were.”
Manski credited the Wildcats’ defense, but said that St. Charles North has to become more consistent on offense.

“We just need to create more scoring chances,” Manski said. “We need to get the ball forward more and keep it up there. We didn’t do that enough.”