North Stars fall victim to Bulldogs' rally
Batavia score 3 in second half to beat St. Charles North

 

By Darryl Mellema

Take a look at St. Charles North’s record this fall, and it’s clear that the North Stars have done many things right. They are, after all, 15-5-3 and still have one game left before heading into IHSA tournament play.

Recent results have been more than favorable too. Entering Wednesday’s contest at Batavia, the North Stars were 4-0-1 since snapping a 3-game losing skid.

But Wednesday brought some worrying signs to Coach Eric Willson and his team.

Batavia scored three goals in the second half and rallied to defeat St. Charles North 4-3. Those four goals allowed marked the second-most allowed by Willson’s team this year.

“You lose and you’re not happy,” Willson said. “It’s tri cities and it’s a rivalry and it seems as though any time we have to stand up and face an emotional, hard-fought blue-collar type of game, we don’t seem to be able to handle that type of game. That’s eye-opening and disappointing.”

All seemed well at halftime, when the North Stars led 2-1. They scored from their first attack, 3 minutes into the game, when Zack Matuszak’s throw in went directly into the goal.

Cody Balogh tied the match after 16 minutes as the Bulldogs took advantage of lost possession by the North Stars in their defensive third of the field. Cody Witkowski provided the pass to Balogh as St. Charles North scrambled to recover.

Matuszak put his team back in the lead with 4 minutes left in the first half after taking a Hayden Hagemann pass.

Batavia’s second-half comeback came on the kind of goals St. Charles North makes a living from not allowing. Balogh tied the match when he put in a rebound of a Witkowski shot.

Witkowski finished a quick Batavia break to give his team its first lead of the match at almost the midpoint of the second half.

St. Charles North rallied to tie the match with 10 minutes to play after Hagemann had a shot saved and the rebound worked its way to Connor Lefelstein.

Then Eduardo Cuautle sent the ball forward to Witkowski with under 3 minutes to play, and Witkowski chipped the ball into the net on yet another quick-breaking Batavia attack.

“The back line was all over the place,” Willson said. “We gave up three goals in the second half. That’s not what North Stars defense is supposed to be all about. Guys are supposed to take pride in the way they defend. Guys are supposed to take pride in keeping the ball out of our net. It didn’t seem to be the case tonight. Hats off to Batavia. They deserved it. They outworked us tonight.”

Witkowski’s match-winner came as St. Charles North players scrambled to get back into position after trying to lay siege to Batavia’s goal. The shift from end to end came in a matter of seconds.

“We’re pushing forward, trying to get a goal,” Willson said. “And as we’re on our transition defense, we’re just not fast enough. They’ve got some speed up there, and we had some more indecisiveness in the back. That happened all the way down to our last line of defense. You do that with a couple of the guys that they’ve got on their team and that’s it.”

St. Charles North has a chance to move away from Wednesday’s result before it heads to the postseason. The North Stars finish their regular season with a Thursday match at East Aurora, a game that should be a good test for the team’s resilience.

“They’re an excellent team,” Willson said. “East Aurora at East Aurora will be a real tough opponent. We’ll have to find a way to rebound from tonight.”

Willson said that recent results left him in a better mood than Wednesday’s scoreline.

“Tonight, we took a huge step back,” he said. “We know what we’re capable of doing. It’s been an issue all season, consistency. I’ve got a problem with that. I guess that certainly points to my inability to get us consistent. That’s frustrating. I know where our talent is and I know what we’re capable of doing. We’re just not always that team.”