St. Charles North strikes fast, beats Geneva
Geneva and St. Charles North just aren't meant to play girls soccer matches in March. This is a "May" rivalry, when matches matter, when teams are firmly settled into the season, perhaps even in the playoffs.
But this isn't a normal year for either the host Vikings or the North Stars, which met Wednesday in a match won 3-1 by the visitors. The match was Geneva's first of the season and the second of the campaign for St. Charles North (1-1, 1-0 Upstate Eight River.)
"We've talked about winning 50-50 balls, setting the pace early and the intensity," St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. "Fortunately, we have girls who are fighting all the time."
Both Geneva and St. Charles North have had large-scale changes in personnel in the off-season, especially on defense, where both teams have had to replace entire back lines.
One of the North Stars' most experienced players, senior Hanna Durocher, opened the scoring in the third minute of play with a shot from a tight angle to the right of the goal back toward the left post.
"As a leader, a senior and a captain, it's important that I bring that intensity to every game," Durocher said. "I was able to finish that chance, and it brought everyone's intensity up with it."
The North Stars gained momentum from Durocher's goal and doubled their lead in the 21st minute on a goal by Katy Kusswurm. Seven minutes before halftime, the lead grew to 3-0 when senior Lizzie Parrilli moved one-on-one into the penalty area and struck a shot off the left post and into the goal.
"As a team, I felt we worked really well together," Parrilli said. "Geneva's not a bad team at all, so this is definitely a good win for us. We have a large group of newcomers, but we work hard, come early to practices and stay late. We shouldn't have a problem with gelling."
After a tepid start, Geneva found its feet. For Vikings starting keeper Emma Harkleroad, the match turned with a pair of strong saves late in the first half and continued through an improved second half.
"It's to be expected that in the first game, everyone's nerves will get the best of them," Harkleroad said. "We were a little bit down on ourselves at halftime, but we picked ourselves up. We had a little pep talk and we played better."
Freshman Katelyn Keenehan got free in the penalty area 16 minutes into the second half and scored to break the shutout and give the Vikings hope. The match sparked briefly before settling back into a midfield struggle.
"I definitely think you could tell in the first half that it was our first game," Geneva coach Megan Owens said. "Obviously it's a daunting task to face St. Charles North and the strengths of their program in your first game. You could tell the nerves and we're very young. But the second half, I think we started clicking a little more."