St. Charles North comes back, beats Waubonsie V.

There's no such thing as "quit" in Waubonsie Valley's girls soccer team, so you knew they would keep pushing even after it took a 2-0 lead in Tuesday's Upstate Eight Conference title match with St. Charles North.

And the word "quit" doesn't enter St. Charles North's lexicon either, so there was no doubt the North Stars were going to mount a comeback - which ultimately netted a 2-2 tie and forced overtime and, ultimately, a penalty kick shootout.

That mutual "never say die" spirit led to an end-to end match which was evenly-contested through the penalty kick shootout, where Waubonsie Valley took a 2-0 lead and St. Charles North rallied for a 3-2 shootout win, giving the North Stars their first win in three tries in the UEC title match - all matches in which they faced the Warriors.

"I still don't think we've peaked," St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. "I told the team that, with each game, we're learning things that will make us stronger."

The UEC title match was scheduled for Wednesday. But with Tuesday's conference crossover already schedule - and with both teams playing on Thursday, it was decided Tuesday's match would count for the conference title.

"It's good to practice working under pressure and to get ready for the big games and see what we have to improve on," Waubonsie Valley junior Paige Filipek said. "I think we're learning lessons from these games, what we need to work on individually and as a team."

Waubonsie Valley (12-3-3) defeated Bartlett on Monday to earn its spot in Tuesday's contest and the Warriors pressed the North Stars, especially for the opening quarter of the match. The Warriors led almost from the opening kickoff, when Maggie Roe one-timed a Tori Christiansen corner kick into the net. That lead 78 seconds into the match doubled in the ninth minute when a Sarah Laws cross came to Sarah Griffith, who fed Filipek, who scored.

"We played yesterday, so our legs were a little heavy," Waubonsie Valley coach Julie Bergstrom said. "To come and play a game today was a little rough on them. But we came and moved the ball well. We let them back in - they brought the energy."

The North Stars (15-2-2) mounted a response and Hanna Durocher and Lizzie Parrilli each hit the crossbar and Parrilli forced Warriors keeper Emma Rigby to make a save late in the first half.

Four minutes into the second half, Parrilli missed a penalty kick after a Waubonsie Valley handball in the penalty area. In the ninth minute of the half, Parrilli shot, Rigby got a hand to the ball, but was unable to keep the ball from finding the net as the North Stars halved the Warriors' lead.

With the North Stars pressing, Waubonsie Valley nearly scored a critical third goal, but North Stars keeper Shelby Stitz saved a Filipek shot with 13 minutes to play.

"I think we did well playing our game tonight and it just didn't work out," Filipek said. "We didn't finish all our chances and we'll have to focus on that. We need to keep working on our finishing in practice."

In the minute following that save, the North Stars broke forward and Hanna Durocher fed Gia Wahlberg for a left-wing run and then a low shot that tied the match.

Both teams had chances to win the match. Morgan Rerko hit the crossbar for the North Stars and a multi-pass Waubonsie Valley move led to a Sam Stricker shot that went wide. The teams played scoreless overtime soccer, then headed to the shootout.

Waubonsie Valley took the lead through penalty kick goals by Morgan Kemerling and Filipek. The North Stars rallied with goals by Katy Kusswurm, Rerko and Amanda Czerniak.

"In practice, we're told to pick a way to shoot," Czerniak said. "Before I went up, I was just visualizing it in my head which way I was going to go. In the moment, you know you've practice it 1,000 times and you know you can do it."

Stitz saved the fifth Waubonsie Valley penalty kick and the North Stars raced to celebrate the victory with Stitz. Stitz got a hand to three of the Warriors' five kicks.

"I knew I had to come up with a big save," Stitz said. "Thankfully I did and I'm happy I did and then I saw the girls running at me and I had a huge smile on my face."