North Stars win 4-2 over Divine Savior
By Matt Le Cren

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After St. Charles North was shut out in three of its previous four matches, there was some concern as to whether the North Stars would be ready to navigate what figures to be another tough playoff road.

Not to worry.

The North Stars closed the regular season in fine fashion Saturday, playing some of their best soccer of the year in scoring four goals in the first half en route to a 4-2 victory over visiting Divine Savior, a traditional Wisconsin power.

St. Charles North (13-5-2) jumped on the Milwaukee side with a deadly display of finishing, scoring four times on just nine shots in the first half to take a 4-0 lead. All four goals were first-rate plays.

“We’ve been working a ton on combinations in our offensive third, getting more people involved, so I’d like to say that what we’ve been working on in practice has been translating,” St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. “But I also think a lot of it was just the energy, the intensity. I felt like we had more people on the field that first half because of movement.”

Sophomore midfielder Alyssa Brandt got the scoring started when she deposited an 18-yard strike from the left side of the box inside the far post with 26:43 to go in the first half.

The goals kept getting more spectacular from there. Junior Natalie Winkates made it 2-0 at the 14:30 mark when she took a pass from Kelly Manski with her back to the goal and won a challenge in the middle of the box before dribbling several yards to her left. That created a sliver of an opening for her to turn and fire a quick right-footed blast from a tough angle over the head of Divine Savior goalie Audrey Ackley.

That score was the first of three the North Stars would score in a 10-minute span. Senior Lauren Koehl extended the lead to 3-0 by blasting a 20-yard shot on the run past Ackley with 8:33 to play and then Winkates tallied again four minutes later, rolling in a short volley on the right post off a perfect cross from senior Carleigh Dusek. Dusek had gotten the ball in the left corner thanks to a long lead pass from sophomore defender Megan O’Leary.

“We were just connecting on crosses and moving the ball around well, I thought, to create chances,” said Winkates, who notched her second two-goal game of the season.

The lead would have been even greater if not for the play of Ackley, who made all four of her saves in the first half, including a diving effort to deflect a shot by Dusek around the left post.

“It was pretty awesome,” Koehl said of the offensive fireworks. “We had the drive and the intensity and we just really came out strong and it showed.”

That was important to Vostal, who wants her squad to be sharp for the Class 3A playoffs, which begin Wednesday.

“We’ve been talking about, not necessarily that we had to win, [but that] we just wanted to get people healthy, get a lineup that we were comfortable with,” Vostal said. “There were certain goals that we had set for ourselves and part of it was playing consistent for 80 minutes and I think we fought for 80 which was good.”

The second half was not as good for the North Stars, but that’s because the Dashers (9-4-2) stepped up their game, outshooting the hosts 11-4 after intermission.

But St. Charles North goalie Carly Dietrich made five of her six saves in the period and was able to get her hands on both of the shots that went in. She got one hand on Ingrid Mortonson’s high-arcing 15-yard shot that went in just under the crossbar and broke the shutout bid with 25:28 remaining. Divine Savior’s second goal was a bullet of free kick from 27 yards out by Brianna LaBarbera with 1:53 left that went through Dietrich’s hands and barely trickled over the goal line before Dietrich could fall on it.

So are the North Stars, who are seeking their 10th consecutive regional title, ready for the postseason?

“I think we are,” Vostal said. “A couple days of rest and a couple days of practice and we’ll see Wednesday.”

The North Stars are the No. 4 seed at the Schaumburg Sectional. They host their own regional, with the first opponent being No. 14 Streamwood, which they beat 3-0 on May 1. Crosstown rival St. Charles East, which scored in the closing seconds to secure a 1-1 tie with North on April 24, likely awaits in the regional final on Saturday.

“I’ve been in [the tournament] before and with all the teams it’s been a struggle,” said Koehl, one of four players left from the North Stars’ squad that finished fourth at the 2010 state tournament. “But with this team I definitely feel confident that we’ll be able to come out strong.”

Beating Divine Savior handily is one reason why.

“I just think [winning] this game boosted our confidence and just like got us ready,” Winkates said. “We know how we can play.”