Youngsters help St. Charles East rally past Geneva

Playing without one of its senior leaders, St. Charles East's girls soccer team showed its mettle Tuesday night in Geneva.

With high-scoring forward Darcy Cunningham nursing an ankle injury suffered at last weekend's Naperville Invitational, the Saints (17-1, 6-0) turned to a pair of up-and-coming standouts during their 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the host Vikings (7-9-2, 2-3-2) on Tri-Cities Night at Burgess Field.

After the Vikings grabbed a 1-0 lead on Mary Landry's point-blank goal off a scramble in front of the net less than 4 minutes into the second half, the Saints still trailed by a goal nearly 18 minutes later before notching the equalizer.

Sophomore Kyla Augustine cashed in off a picture-perfect pass from classmate Kaitlyn Dziubinski to tie the match at 1-1 with 18:49 remaining.

Freshman Chantel Carranza began the rush with a through-ball to Dziubinski, who beat Vikings freshman keeper Carrie Ostergard.

"Chantel passed the ball through to Kaitlyn on our right side and Kaitlyn obviously made a great ball through," said Augustine. "Our team carries the ball so well through the middle that when we get opportunities like that we put them away."

There was no panic shown from the Saints despite falling behind.

"When we get down, we don't play like we're down," said Augustine, whose team suffered its first loss of the season to Barrington during last weekend's Naperville Invitational semifinals. "We just kept our heads looking forward."

Nearly 13 minutes later, Carranza recorded the game-winner on a penalty kick.

"I've done it four times this year so it's nothing new," said Carranza. "I just needed to put the ball in the back of the net."

Carranza utilized her speed to frustrate the Vikings' defense.

"She's at a different level," said Saints coach Paul Jennison. "When she's out there, teams don't know where to go. She makes everyone else better. She's definitely a very special player."

Geneva, which also dropped a 2-1 decision to the Saints last month at the St. Charles East Invitational, had a couple near-misses midway through the second half.

Landry's left-footed blast caromed off the post with 16:20 remaining and Saints keeper Alison Chesterfield turned away Allie Mikos' rebound attempt moments later.

"We had a little bit of bad luck with that post and PK call," said Vikings coach Megan Owens. "But you know what? The scoreboard doesn't always reflect how the game went.

"St. Charles East is having a phenomenal season. The fact that we hung with them - the fact that we had the lead 60 minutes into the game - we battled really well. Up until the final minute, it could have gone either way.

"It's unfortunate to lose on a PK with 5 (actually 6) minutes left," added Owens. "I don't think there could be a more disappointing way to lose in our minds but I'm happy with our effort. We hung in there for 80 minutes against one of the top teams in the state. We're building for the postseason. If we can hang with them, we can hang with anybody."

Jennison, who credited sophomore midfielder Hannah Kolb for her efforts, was much happier with his team's second-half play.

"I thought the second half was much better in terms of taking the game to them," said the coach.

The Saints host St. Charles North (14-2-1, 5-0) Saturday afternoon in a game that carries Upstate Eight Conference River Division title implications.