Rose blooms in sectional win vs. Conant
By Darryl Mellema

In a sense, it was too bad that Tuesday’s St. Charles North-Conant match at the IHSA Class 3A Hoffman Estates Sectional was played on a perfect artificial surface.

The grittiness showed by both teams through 100 minutes of game play deserved to have some players walking off with dirty socks, shorts and shirts – maybe some smudges on cheeks and foreheads too.

And certainly the match-winning goal showed as much guts as it did guile, proved that perseverance is every bit as important as proper positioning.

Kenzie Rose got that match-winner with 5:45 left in the second overtime. A central defender, Rose moved forward on n Alyssa Brandt corner kick. While that part was tactical, the execution was instinctual – Rose threw herself toward the ball, got one shot blocked and then collected the rebound and scored from 4 yards.

“I realized that were five minutes left and I didn't want my season to end,” Rose said. “I went up there and it's my job to get on the end of that, and today I got that done. I was so happy to get that.”

As the ball hit the back of the net, top-seeded St. Charles North released some of the tension that had built through 95 minutes of scoreless soccer against an organized opponent that wasn’t going to surrender anything easily.

“It felt amazing,” Rose said of her goal. “I've been working so hard for that. Just to have my team running at me and everyone's screaming – it's just an amazing feeling. I am so happy that we finally got that.”

The IHSA changed its soccer postseason overtime setup for this school year – eliminating the previous four 5-minute sudden death periods and in lieu of two 10 minute periods of extra time which are played in their entirety. So when Rose scored, the North Stars had work to do because Conant still had a chance to tie or win the match or force a penalty kick shootout.

The North Stars (18-3-1) safely navigated those final minutes and advanced to Friday’s sectional title match against Geneva.

“We talk about how in the postseason, you don't have to be perfect,” St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. “You have to fight harder and one person has to find a way. And fortunately we did tonight.”

The North Stars defense was also strong, back to the form that saw the team allow only one goal in its first 13 matches this season. St. Charles North recorded its first shutout in five matches and its 13th overall clean sheet of the season with Tuesday’s win.

“I think we're very strong in the back and we always give 110 percent, no matter what,” Rose said.
Offensively, the North Stars had surges where they put strong pressure on the Cougars goal. But there were also gaps between those surges.

“I don't think we played our style for 80 minutes,” Vostal said. “We had moments where we had it going.”

The North Stars got their passing game going after 15 minutes of the first half and surged again in the final minutes of the half. The key moments came late in the second half when Kelly Manski hit the post with a volley from the right wing. Shortly after, Alyssa Brandt had a shot cleared and then Brandt shot over the crossbar.

“There were times where we had eight people on the same page and times where we had five people on the same page,” Vostal said. “So for us to all get on the same page and fight for it, it was great to see them fight through it.”

Of those battlers, one was Ashlyn Walter, whose linking play kept the North Stars moving forward for most of the match.

“On the sideline, you could sort of get a sense of who was in the match,” Vostal said. “Hanna Durocher wanted to be in it. You could just see it in them: ‘get me out there.’ (Walter), who’s not a phenomenal person in the air, cleared the ball off the front post, and everyone was like ‘this is awesome.’ She was also the one, talking to them in overtime, she was totally motivated to win tonight.”

In a wider role, Jenny Barr was another North Stars player who showed the toughness that eventually forged the victory.

“I think she defended well and I think she got forward well,” Vostal said. “She created some great opportunities and she’s been consistent all year.”

And while she scored the match-winning goal, Rose had much to do with keeping Conant from scoring. Her play was mentioned by both coaches after the match.

“She played awesome for 100 minutes defensively,” Vostal said. “She anchored us at the back, created and facilitated, that kind of thing. She stopped two great offensively players that they have and then she’s able to step up.”

Conant (12-5-5) played its part in a blue collar contest, putting in a full shift working hard to contain St. Charles North’s talented attack-minded players.

“As a coach on the losing end of it, that's all you can hope for,” Franco said. “They battled until the very end. I think we played a very good team and we played them pretty much toe to toe.”

A lack of goalscoring chances usually is a combination of one team’s offensive struggles and the other team’s defensive mastery. If the North Stars were having difficulty finding openings from which to score, some of the credit for that situation has to go to Conant’s defense.

“We game planned to stop their target forward,” Franco said. “But you’ve got to be aware of their wings and be aware of their center mid. We did a nice job of containing. You didn’t see that kind of free flowing soccer that they usually have.”

The effort through regulation time and then into extra time took a toll on the Cougars, who took their lumps in the match.

“It wasn't like they were peppering our goal,” Franco said. “And we had some girls playing with some ankle stuff. Our goalie (Haley Anderson) broke a finger and she kept playing. It was a gutty, gritty effort. I thought we had a chance to win if it went to penalties.”

Conant had limited chances to score. A Drew Wentzel free kick in the first half whistled just wide of the goal while Leah Celarek was often dangerous moving forward. The Cougars even had a marginal penalty kick claim in the match, though the referee waved for play to continue.

“(Wentzel), she had some pretty close-range free kicks in the first half and she usually puts those on-frame,” Franco said. “That’s how we scored against South Elgin in the last game. That’s what you’re hoping for but we didn’t finish on any of them.”

Franco admitted his team was struggling to in the final minutes of overtime – but also mentioned his team’s performance through the entire match among other players who were dangerous for the Cougars were Sidney O’Keefe and midfielder Courtney O’Keefe.

“I still thought we had a couple of chances at the end of the second half where we started to pass the ball around a little bit,” Franco said. “If we were a little more creative, maybe we’d have found something at the edge of the box. But it just wasn’t meant to be.”

This was supposed to be a transitional year for Conant. Yet after a 2-2-1 opening, the team caught fire. In the regular season, the Cougars had undefeated runs of four matches and five matches. But the best came at the end – a six-match unbeaten run that included a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten Buffalo Grove.

“We kind of grew as a team,” Franco said. “I’ve got three seniors that play (Alyssa Altosino, Courtney O’Keefe and Kayla Severinsen) and all of them were leaders for us. We gave up very few goals throughout the season. It was one of those years where we found ways to win games. Like I said to them before the game, ‘I’m going to be proud no matter what happens.’ It’s been great year, and hopefully they’ll feel that – after they get over the sting of this.”