Redhawks tie Schaumburg, win St. Charles East title

By Darryl Mellema

Two very tired teams met Saturday evening and there were times when the display put on by Naperville Central and Schaumburg showed evidence of that fatigue.

At other times, however, the two teams lifted themselves in their final match of the St. Charles East Invitational and produced some quality soccer.

Despite some superb, if limited, scoring chances by each team, neither one was able to score and Naperville Central claimed the tournament title on the basis of their 0-0 tie.

That win, combined with earlier victories over Geneva and St. Charles East left the Redhawks as the only team with two victories in the four-team round robin tournament.

"We all were just really tired," Naperville Central senior Hillary Scott said. "We tried possessing as best as we could.

"We finally kind of got it together in the second half, but it was really rocky for us. We need (Sunday) to rest."

Both Naperville Central and Schaumburg played their third matches in as many days on Saturday as each squad filled Friday with a contest not originally on their schedule.

The Redhawks (5-0-3) played Geneva to make up Wednesday's tournament contest that was not played because of poor weather.

Schaumburg (5-2-2) finished, and lost, its conference match with Conant which was suspended on Monday due to lightning.

"You play three teams of this caliber on consecutive days and it's going to take a toll," said Naperville Central coach Ed Watson, who collected his 300th win on Thursday.

"I think their bodies were unwilling to do what their minds were trying to get them to do."

Both teams had chances to score inside the opening 10 minutes. Taylor Heatherly shot wide for Naperville Central while Schaumburg's Becky Sneddon forced Redhawks goalie Jill D'Amico to make an early save.

Heatherly was particularly elusive to Schaumburg's defense when she moved forward into attack, largely because of the manner in which she was used.

"I started out in the midfield but going back, I didn't have a mark because forwards aren't exactly marking defenders," Heatherly said.

"That gives me the opportunity to come up the field and hopefully distribute. I wasn't doing my best today. Like (Hillary) said, we were just really tired."

Midway through the first half, Naperville Central's Julianna Nania headed wide from a good passing move.

The second half started with a similar burst of energy. Schaumburg's Kelsey Steenstrup hit the crossbar and then Heatherly forced a save from Saxons goalie Tressa Palcheck.

Steenstrup forced another save from D'Amico midway through the half and shortly after that, Nania shot wide.

That set the stage for perhaps Naperville Central's best chance of the game, when Gina Maddi was free inside the penalty area. The sophomore had time to turn on the ball but shot directly at Palcheck.

"If she gets that thing hooked far post, I don't think the keeper gets it," Watson said. "The keeper took care of the near post but I don't think she would have gotten to it at the far post.

"To (Maddi's) credit, she put it on frame and the keeper made a great save."

Scott came close to scoring one minute after Maddi's effort but saw Palcheck save her shot as well.

The ball went high into the air and came down directly on the crossbar, and then bounced out for a corner kick.

"I think their keeper made four great saves in the second half," Watson said. "Those were all big-time saves."

For a team with 21 goals in eight matches, scoring has clearly not been a major issue.

Still, Saturday marked the first time since the season opener the Redhawks failed to score and the feeling wasn't a pleasant one for those players trying to find the back of the net.

"I think we need to work on finishing more," Scott said.

"We have scored a lot of goals this season. But when we have games like this when we only have a few chances, we need to work on capitalizing on the important ones."

Naperville Central gets one day of rest before facing Wheaton Warrenville South on Monday in a key DuPage Valley Conference matchup.

"The one thing I like about this group is that they play hard for each other," Watson said. "They all kept working. They just couldn't get it to go today."

Heatherly said the game-game-game gauntlet through which the Redhawks have moved has helped them get into the rhythm of playing difficult matches again.

Following the Wheaton Warrenville South match, the Redhawks have matches next week with Glenbard East and Neuqua Valley – all heading to the annual crosstown battle with Naperville North on April 19.

"This is a good tournament because it's building our stamina after being off for Spring Break," Heatherly said.

"This builds our momentum. It wasn't the best game to end on, but it's good because it teaches us that we're tired, we can fix our mistakes and rest and then give it our all on Monday."