North Stars-Vikings' heated rivalry game ends in draw

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By Chris Walker

Late in the second half of Tuesday's Upstate Eight Conference River match between Geneva and St. Charles North, the Vikings' Sean McGrath grimaced in pain after taking a blow in the chin and throat from St. Charles North's Alex Behm.

Now that's no way to treat a good friend now is it?

McGrath and Behm have been friends for a long time, and similar to players on both sides, friendships and longtime acquaintances add a little something extra when the two teams meet annually.

"Did you see that? I mean, we've been friends for the longest time," McGrath said. "It's one of those games where everyone knows everyone. And everyone sees this game coming on the schedule. It's a big game now, just like Batavia and East is up there now and that's a fun one."

If anything, both teams left the playing field exhausted and with a mutual respect for each other after neither team was able to find the back of the net.

"It's Geneva-North so we've got some pretty serious history together so it's going to be a hard fought game," St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said. "I don't necessarily think we played our best first half. I think our combination play was off trying to force some things, but all in all it's a credit to them. I think they played a good defensive game for sure."

St. Charles North (8-3-2, 0-1-1) started to really test Geneva keeper Steven Soderstrom and his defense in the final 10 minutes of the opening half. Connor Lefelstein, Justin Sanchez and Mike Winhoffer all had shots during the timeframe, but all three were off target. In the final 15 seconds of the first half, Justin Stanko had an opportunity off of a corner kick, but Soderstrom deflected the attempt.

"We weren't playing well in the first half," senior midfielder Behm said. "We had a good halftime speech and tried to come out harder, but we still couldn't finish. We tried to pick up the intensity as high as we could."

One of the biggest keys for Geneva was to make things difficult for North Stars standout Tyler Davis. The junior midfielder was returning from an ankle injury and entered the contest with 14 goals in 10 games.

"I thought (Kevin Higgins) had a fantastic game and did a really nice job of keeping in front of him," Willson said. "I think their defense did a real nice job of not letting him get behind them and doubled when they needed to and (Higgins) had a really good game against him."

Higgins, who is normally a forward for the Vikings, has taken on a defensive roll recently and it's been paying dividends.

"Kevin Higgins is a selfless kids who wants to attack and get goals for our team, but know we've played better since he's been in back," Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook said. "I think it's our third clean sheet in four games with him in back so I think that speaks volumes for the quality of play and leadership back there."

Often it takes a great player to stop a great player.

"Tyler's a great player and there were times where it looked like he might've got the best of us, but we didn't allow him to make the great plays tonight," Estabrook said. "We just pressured him enough."

In the 46th minute, Davis was given too much space and he would've put the North Stars ahead 1-0 if not for Soderstrom deflecting the shot attempt. In the 62nd minute, Davis used some nifty footwork to take possession near midfield, dribble down the sideline and send a cross to Winhoffer whose shot attempt was saved by a diving Soderstrom.

"We expect him to make plays like that," Estabrook said. "He's our only four-year varsity player and some might say we got lucky on those situations, but I know Steven makes those kinds of plays. It's nice to have an eraser like that in back."

After watching from the sidelines for two years, Soderstrom, who was playing with a torn pectoral muscle, has developed into a major asset for the Vikings.

"He was itching for an opportunity to show what he can do after watching exciting games for two years," Estabrook said. "Tonight he was a stud. There's no denying that. He cleaned up a couple of our mistakes and we can be confident going forward knowing that he'll be a big-time player for us."

Soderstrom's counterpart, Garrett Creasor, wasn't tested nearly as often, picking up his eighth shutout of the season. The Vikings only had seven overall shot attempts and just three on goal.

"We shut them down in the second half and they didn't have many opportunities," Behm said. "(Justin) Stanko did a good job of getting headers on every first ball he had. We just need to get passes together and not just rely on having one guy to finish but need opportunities with everyone."

The rivalry between the two schools remains a good one, despite the fact that Geneva cruised to a 5-2 victory last year and 3-1 in 2009. No one involved with either program will forget the 2008 Wheaton North sectional title game when the North Stars ended the Vikings season with a 3-1 victory.

That was also the last time the North Stars beat the Vikings.

A better showing against Tri-cities opponents Batavia and St. Charles East is something the North Stars hope to accomplish this fall.

"We talked about it a little bit before the game," Willson said. "I think it's taking pride in being the best team in the area. I certainly think the guys want to be like that. I think we played better than we had in the last Tri-cities. That said, we still don't have a win in a little over a year now.

"So we'll go back to the drawing board. The next game is St. Charles East so there's no resting for that one for sure."