North Stars claim first win over Warriors in eight years

 

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By Darryl Mellema

St. Charles North and Waubonsie Valley are two of the elite programs in one of the state's toughest conferences.

And when the teams meet, their encounters invariably resemble a pair of terriers fighting: tough, scrappy affairs.

Wednesday's latest renewal of the rivalry was just that sort of match with neither backing off anywhere on the field.

While there was a high skill level shown by players of both teams, the 80 minutes in St. Charles carried the bite that only the matches between the best teams provide.

The match's only goal was indicative of that sort of match, too, a left wing cross by North's Alex Gage was met by Lisa Manski, who rose and beat her defender, with the ball looping into the left side netting from 10 yards.

"Allie kicked it and I saw it and I just ran as fast as I could and put everything I had into it," Manski said. "It was pretty much off my face and it went into the back corner."

Manski's goal came in the 19th minute of the second half, and the question then became whether or not North could hold out. The North Stars ended up winning 1-0 thanks to that headed-goal, the first time in eight years North had defeated Waubonsie.

"Waubonsie, ever since I've come to St. Charles North, I've heard that this is our biggest competition," North senior KK Barr said. "I knew this year, we wanted to change something. We wanted that win."

At times in the past, Waubonsie has been clearly the stronger team while at other times, the two teams seemed much more evenly-matched. A year ago, the North Stars led 1-0 but lost 2-1. This year, they held onto that lead.

"We've had great teams and they've had great teams," North coach Ruth Vostal said. "Even though it's different players, they know what it means to play Waubonsie and they're always a great team."

The pedigree of the two programs is undeniable. Waubonsie (3-3) is the defending state champion and has won the state title in three of the last four years while North (5-2) finished third in the state last year.

"We know they're the state champs and we felt like should have been in that final game," Barr said. "We always thought it was going to be us and Waubonsie last year. So it was good to come out strong and to win this."

Former North Stars such as Leah DeMoss and Alyssa Peterson had been in contact with the current squad, lending their support.

"They were wishing us so much luck and wanting it almost as badly as we did," Barr said.

The win stops a two-game skid for North, which does not play again until Tuesday, when it faces Geneva.

"We wanted to win this game so badly," Manski said. "Waubonsie is everything we work for the whole season."

With the lead, North's reshaped defense became a focus point. Barr plays right back in a three-player back line that includes sophomores Jorie Clawson at left back and Kenzie Rose as a central defender.

Sophomore Gage plays in a screening role just in front of that trio and the entire defensive unit operates in front of senior Kendall Karr.

Barr and Gage are varsity veterans but the other three players are playing their first significant varsity minutes this year.

"We started out with more of a U-shape," Barr said. "Now we stuck (Gage) in front because she's great in the air and she's great in the middle and she can do everything with it.

"So that leaves me and the two sophomores in the back and we have never played together before this. We have to make sure that we're organizing. I think communication is a big part of it."

That defense was severely tested as Waubonsie poured forward in the final quarter of the match. There were chances before, but now the Warriors came at the North Stars in a never-ending series of attacks.

"We knew that they were going to come hard," Barr said. "They pushed a lot of people forward. They took a defender and put her up. We had to constantly keep changing our marks. I think, for the most part, our defense was great at recovering."

The North Stars have tweaked the other areas of their lineup as well. Senior Lauren Koehl and freshman Sophie Pohl played in a forward partnership with senior Sammy Gage moving into a 'box-to-box' midfield role.

One minute, Sammy Gage was standing along her sister Alex in defense and the next minute she was supporting the forward line in their creative efforts.

"We've been having a hard time finding the net when we've played good teams," Vostal said. "I think we're creating good chances, but we're not necessarily finding the net."

That middle area of the field was where the match was at its most competitive. Waubonsie's midfield line of Shannon Donelson, Jenna Romano, Emi Yamamoto and Mackenzie Fuller was supported by Megan Green, who played as either a withdrawn forward or as an attacking midfielder, depending how far forward she went.

"We moved the ball," Waubonsie coach Julie Bergstrom said. "We've just got to make something happen."

And Green had an abundance of chances given freedom of movement. In the final 15 minutes alone, she hit the post and the crossbar and saw a free kick from a dangerous sail over the crossbar.

"We hit every post that's available and they got a foot save," Bergstrom said. "Things didn't roll our way."

Other Warriors had chances, too. In the first half, Romano hit a sharp long-range shot that was saved. Two minutes into the second half, forward Kendall Wilde had a breakaway shot saved by Karr with her feet.

"I think we came out with a lot of heart in the second half," Green said. "We just didn't put it away like we should have. I think every single one of us put effort into it. But we were really unlucky."

And certainly the Warriors found a higher gear after Manski scored. In the final quarter-hour of play, the ball was constantly in North's defensive half of play.

"We definitely picked up our intensity," Green said. "But we should have played like that the entire game. Now we know how hard we can play and now we have to play like that in every game."

But those chances, as strong as they were, never found the back of the net, and the Warriors were clearly disappointed at the end of the match.

Playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, the Warriors are 3-3 entering Friday's game with DuPage Valley powerhouse Naperville North.

"There's always something to be learned," Bergstrom said. "Hopefully we're better tomorrow than we were today."