North Stars fall after Vikings' two late goals

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By Darryl Mellema
Photos courtesy of St. Charles North

There was a moment late in the first half of Thursday's Geneva-St. Charles North match when the host Vikings looked as if they had collectively run out of gas.

Geneva had, after all, played less than 24 hours before in a Naperville Invitational match that had gone literally as long as possible – 80 minutes of regulation play plus 20 minutes of overtime and finally to penalty kicks.

Their 2-1 loss to Lake Zurich added disappointment to exhaustion, and the Vikings got off their bus at school at 11:15 p.m.

Then they had to lift themselves to face North, one of the stronger teams in the area and the leader in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division.

And just as the Vikings seemed to be slowing, North scored on a Melissa Bronke header with 1:25 left in that opening half of play.

What happened next was nothing less than stirring. The Vikings regrouped at halftime, had the edge in chances in the second half and scored twice in the final 10 minutes to emerge as 2-1 victors.

"We just played with tremendous heart and effort," Geneva coach Megan Owens said. "Everybody, everywhere on the field – you know, they left it all on the field. They gave 110 percent."

Picking keys to victory is difficult. Geneva (6-3-4) has struggled to score at times and yet the Vikings created strong chances. North's midfield is one of its strengths, yet the teams played in that area of the pitch evenly.

And Geneva's defense, which is young and reshaped this year, limited the North Stars' chances to a precious few in the second half.

"It was a matter of staying positive and not letting that goal get to us," Annie Waldoch said. "We make mistakes and our goal is to step it back up and get the ball up the field and get it to our midfielders and forwards."

Waldoch said that having senior Demi Miller in central defense helps calm the entire unit when things get frantic. Freshmen Molly Stanfa and junior Caitrin Griffin were the other defenders in Thursday's match.

"Demi keeps us positive and together," Waldoch said.

But as the Vikings needed goals in order to win, the first order of business is to recognize goal scorers Catherine Allon and Amanda Lulek.

Allon's goal came with 7:41 to play. Lulek had just forced a strong save from North Stars goalie Kendall Karr, who was superb in the second half in blunting Geneva's attacks.

But from the rebound following Karr's save, Geneva won a corner kick. Griffin took that left-sided kick and Allon headed from distance in the penalty area. That sharp header powered into the net to tie the match.

"It was great to see us respond to being down one," Owens said. "It would have been easy for them to check out with getting back late and being down 1-0 and letting them score at the end of the half. And they just responded. That's just an awesome thing to see out of this group as the season progresses."

North (7-3) rallied with a long-range Lauren Koehl shot, but Geneva responded when Michaela Loebel got inside her defender to reach a Lulek left wing cross and struck the ball with the outside of her foot, with the ball spinning just wide of Karr's left post.

Just one minute later, right back Waldoch sent a leading pass into the right channel of the penalty area and Lulek ran onto the ball and scored.

"We finally gained respect tonight," Lulek said. "I was so pumped after scoring that goal. Our whole team was like a team. We worked hard the whole half. We came back from losing and we got the goal and that's all that matters."

Lulek is a sophomore and Waldoch is a freshman – just two of many youthful players on Geneva's roster. Lulek raved about the pass which Waldoch sent her.

"She's so good at playing those balls down," Lulek said. "Either she plays me into a corner and we run or she does what she did today and she plays it across the center. She just knows where I am and she finds me right away."

Lulek felt a sense of redemption in scoring after missing a golden opportunity to connect just before Allon got the Vikings on the scoreboard.

"I was angry with myself after that," Lulek said. "I was pumped and I knew I had to come back, get it out of the way and get another goal and gain back what I lost there."

Waldoch said, "I knew Amanda would get there, so I hit it up there and hoped she'd get to it."

Owens felt the goal was reward for strong tactical positioning by her players but also a benefit thanks to Lulek's natural talents.

"(Lulek), we just told her to stay high," Owens said. "She was standing by one of their defenders and we just poked the ball through and she was able to run on to it. She's our speedster. She finally got one. She's been working hard. It's tougher for her this year because she's been double-teamed."

North was strong throughout the match, though the North Stars' best chances fell in the first half, culminating in Bronke's goal just before halftime.

In the second half, the best opportunity came when Sammy Gage rounded the Vikings defense on the left wing and her cross was volleyed over the goal.

The North Stars used different pairings in their forward line. At one point, Bronke and Lisa Manski were partnered up top and at other times, the forward partnership was Koehl and Sophie Pohl.

"We had a great goal tonight from Bronke," North coach Ruth Vostal said. "She's just pulled up from the JV and she's playing great. The goal was scored on something we talked about, which was getting overlaps out of the back. I thought the second half was better, but I told them we have to work on being more mentally tough."

North showed very little rust despite not having played for over a week. But while they never looked disjointed, the North Stars also did not look like the team that defeated Waubonsie Valley 2-1 in their last match.

"We didn't play well the whole game," Vostal said. "I felt we dominated, but I don't think we really possessed. The only frustrating thing is that (Karr) made those two great saves and you know that every team is going to get a momentum swing. Theirs' came under the last 10 minutes and our girls on the field needed to recognize that and pick it up, and that didn't happen."

The North Stars coach said the match and the result give the North Stars something to learn from as they prepare for the rest of their season.

"It tells us that we need to work on that aspect of our game – who's going to be our leader, who's going to be the vocal leader," Vostal said. "I'd rather have it happen now than in a few weeks."

Vostal said the forward rotation will continue for the time being. Bronke and Manski played together last year at the freshman level and struck a strong partnership.

Koehl and Pohl have worked well together this year and Sammy Gage has moved in and out of the front line.

"We're trying to figure out a good combination up top," she said. "They have different strengths and weaknesses. We're going to find a natural goalscorer.

"I figured 'why not give them a run?' You're not going to find anybody who works harder than (Manski.) And Bronke seemed to be on. I thought they did well."

Thursday's match was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was canceled due to the rains that have plagued northern Illinois this spring. North was to have played Bartlett on Wednesday in a game added to both team's schedules, but that was canceled, as well.

The North Stars have another mini-break in their schedule, playing their next match on Tuesday against crosstown rival St. Charles East.

"Our schedule has been a little bit lighter," Vostal said. "But we've been playing about two games a week, which has been nice. We can actually practice and get things better. But we've been indoors for the last three days, playing in the hallway in the 'pod', which isn't the best situation.

"I think other schools have an opportunity to get better because they have an indoor facility. But we've been doing that for 11 years. So it's nothing different."

North and Geneva have played a series of competitive matches in recent years. Although the squads hadn't played recently in the regular season, they keep finding each other in the IHSA playoffs.

North ended Geneva's season with a 2-1 sectional semifinal in 2010 while in 2009, Geneva ousted the North Stars in the sectional semifinals.

"It's always a really good rivalry and always a really good game," Owens said. "I think both teams get pumped up for it. You can kind of throw the records out the window and let them battle for it. I can't speak highly enough of (St. Charles) North. They're strong across the field and it's a good test for (Geneva.)"

Vostal said she was aware that the match would be heated, though she attempted to downplay the rivalry.

"The girls know each other and they all get into this rivalry," Vostal said. "I just think it's another game."