Contrary to the scoreline and the number of shots on goal each team managed on Saturday, there really was a lot of offensive firepower on the field when Geneva met Naperville Central in the finale for both teams at the St. Charles East Invitational.

But the teams negated each other through the midfield and on very rare occasions did either get a shot on goal – when that did happen, Geneva's Marissa Schroyer and Central's Jill D'Amico were there to keep things scoreless – and as a result, the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

“I thought we had moments in this game where we took it to them, but they were short-lived,” Central coach Ed Watson said. “We talked about coming out in the second half and trying to keep the ball in their end. I thought we did that for the first six-seven minutes of the second half.”

The nature of the contest meant each team was able to point to a variety of things done well by its players – though neither was ultimately able to score a goal.

“I thought we played well,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “I thought we controlled play, especially in the first half. Naperville Central is a phenomenal team and they have a phenomenal goalie. We played a very solid game.”

Watson said it wasn't a lack of wanting to attack that hurt his team's chances – but the manner in which those attacks took place made life easier for Geneva's defense.

“Teams are putting the ball behind our defenders more than we're putting it behind theirs,” Watson said. “I don't know if the girls are confused in terms of what I am asking them to do in our system or if they're just stubborn.

"But right now, we are not making defenders on other teams turn and have to defend a ball behind them. We don't challenge the backsides nearly enough.”

Owens used the tournament to shift things for her team.

“We tried a different formation,” Owens said. “We looked at different goalkeepers. Our goal is to use it to build and make sure we're ready for the next three weeks, where we have some really tough competition. I think we learned a lot from it.”

The tournament is named in honor of Rose Augsburg Drach, who was the wife of St. Charles East football coach Buck Drach when she contracted cancer.

Twice, Augsburg Drach battled the cancer into remission, and in that time, the girls soccer program became a supporter in her fight against the disease, a bond that was further strengthened while Saints soccer player Meghan Ryan battled Hodgkins disease in 1995.

At the time, Rose Drach worked at St. Charles East, though she eventually moved to Naperville Central, where she was employed when the cancer returned. Rose Augsburg Drach died in 1999 and the St. Charles soccer invitational was renamed in her memory.

“We'll always look forward to this tournament for what it stands for, for Rose and the time she spent with us at Central” Watson said. “As long as this tournament exists, we will always honor her by coming to play.”

The tournament's talent level has risen and fallen with the fortunes of the teams involved. Schaumburg won this year's tournament after defeating Naperville Central (7-1-1) and Geneva (6-2-2) and tying St. Charles East 0-0 in the final match of the tournament.

Central defeated St. Charles East to go with its loss to Schaumburg and Saturday's tie. The Redhawks finished second with Geneva and St. Charles East tying for third place.

“It's four really good programs,” Watson said. “There are good teams at each school and each has great traditions as well. Schaumburg is a good team that makes you work and St. Charles East made us work and Geneva was obviously very competitive.”

Watson said the experiece of the three matches at the invitational will be helpful in coming weeks. The Redhawks have a packed week that includes DuPage Valley Conference matches with West Aurora and Wheaton Warrenville South before a Saturday nonconference tilt with Neuqua Valley. Next week marks the start of the Naperville Invitational.

“I think I have a better definition of where our girls need to play,” Watson said. “I have a better feel for the roster. Some of the girls come away with a better feel for where they are fitting in, in the coach's minds. Those first five games we have before Spring Break are usually matches played in cold, ugly weather and we try to get everybody in and try to find out what we have.”

Watson said junior midfielder Autumn Muckenhirn was one of the players who showed her effectiveness through the invitational matches.

“She scored the winner against Glenbard East in the conference for us in overtime and then she had a really nice game against St. Charles East,” Watson said. “I think Autumn's starting to feel comfortable with her teammates. She was away from us as a sophomore and she's back with us as a junior. She's starting to fit in and catch up with what the other girls have developed as far as chemistry. She's emerged this week as a potent player for us.”

Central senior Katherine Short said her team is working to get through a difficult period offensively. In four matches, the Redhawks have scored three goals.

“Like Coach Watson is always saying, we need that one goalscorer who is able to put the ball in the net, and we're still looking for that person,” Short said. “We just kind of all have to pull together and do our best to get a goal. Sometimes it's difficult but at times, we're able to get one as a team.”

Short was positive about the tournament and what it will do for the team as it moves forward.

“I feel like we learned a lot from this week,” Short said. “We do realize that we really need to figure how to score goals. We found out a lot this week what runs work for us and what runs don't. We can learn from our mistakes, get our passes down and start working around our opponents.”

Geneva went into Saturday's match knowing it had no chance of winning the tournament. Owens said she was pleased with the way her team attacked the Redhawks.

“They played strong,” Owens said. “I'm very happy with how we attacked Naperville Central and played today.”

As Owens said, “you've got to play the best and beat the best to be the best” – and that philosophy clearly rubbed off on her players.

“We know coming into this tournament that it's really a hard tournament against some really good teams,” Geneva senior midfielder Catherine Allon said. “We just try to hold our own against them and try to get the ball in the back of the net if we can. Unfortunately we could not do that much.”

Schaumburg was the only team that scored a number of goals in the invitational. Geneva managed two goals in three matches.

“We all try to work our hardest to win the ball and I think both teams won about the same number of 50-50 balls,” Allon said.

If Geneva's offense struggled at times, the defense was always solid. An area of the team that was a bit of a question mark in 2011 had become one of its strengths this year, thanks in no small measure to the fact that the starting quartet – senior Caitrin Griffin and sophomores Tory Herbst, Annie Waldoch and Molly Stanfa – have been together for the last two years.

“As a whole, our defense, we wanted to get the ball out before we could have any mistakes happen,” Waldoch said.

Each team the Vikings faced in the tournament brought a different style of attack, forcing Waldoch and her teammates to adjust their style of play to remain effective.

“I thought it was really good for us,” Waldoch said. “Not every team is going to be the same, obviously it helps us figure out who's good where and against what type of players.”

Like Central, Geneva has a strong upcoming schedule, the Vikings host St. Charles East on Tuesday in their Upstate Eight Conference River Division match. Then Geneva plays Neuqua Valley and finishes with Rosary, which has one loss so far this season. Then after a conference tilt with St. Charles North, the Vikings head into the Naperville Invitational.

“I think this week gets us ready for our upcoming schedule,” Allon said. “We play some of the top teams in the area in the next few weeks. I think this tournament gets us ready for that.”

Waldoch echoed that positive feeling.

“I think we got better as the week went on,” Waldoch said. “I think we became stronger as a team and we were connecting more. I think we came out stronger, yeah.”

Owens said she was pleased with the play of Schroyer in goal, amongst others, for the Vikings.

“I felt she really stepped up for us in goal,” Owens said. “I think Annie Waldoch had an awesome tournament. Catherine Allon is always phenomenal for us out there. I saw a lot of good things from the players coming off the bench. Our defense made some mistakes against Schaumburg but they solved all that today and they were rock solid. We learned a lot.”