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St. Charles East takes, and keeps, the lead

St. Charles East overcame the weather and Glenbard North on the road Monday evening.

Behind a pair of first-half goals, one in the first two minutes and the other in the 40th minute, the Saints hung on the rest of the way during a 3-0 shutout of the Panthers in a nonconference showdown.

With a forecast of snow, the start time was moved up to 4:30 p.m., but Mother Nature intervened midway through the game as the playing surface was completely covered by the end.

"You have to give credit to both teams for coming out and playing in this weather," St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. "It started off cold and then got quite horrendous with the snow. I'm sure this will be one of those games we'll remember for a long time."

The Saints got on the scoreboard early when Mallory Mollenhauer scored off an assist by Darcy Cunningham.

"It's always nice to score a goal in the first minute," Jennison said. "It was a nice ball across the box. Mallory got in on the weak side and tapped it in. That was a nice team goal."

Cunningham helped put some distance between her team and Glenbard North right before halftime on a free kick that sailed into the goal after touching midfielder Amanda Hilton.

"We shot ourselves in the foot with the start, giving up a goal within the first two minutes," Glenbard North coach David Stanfield said. "It's tough against a really good team like that, but I said to the girls at halftime, that we needed to get tighter defensively. We've been very good defensively all season. That's the most goals we've given up in one game."

Cunningham assisted on the third goal in the 57th minute when she sent a corner kick to the front of the net.

Hilton took the pass and her shot attempt appeared to have been stopped by Glenbard North defender Marissa Ferreri, but the referee called Ferreri over the goal line, giving the Saints a 3-0 lead.

St. Charles East midfielder Sara Buetow preserved the shutout in the 20th minute when she scrambled toward the goal and kicked the ball to the sidelines just before it went into the net.

Glenbard North's last scoring chance came when Ashley Pogue's shot hit the cross bar in the 68th minute.

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