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Girls soccer: St. Charles East deals Loyola 1st loss

Julia Peterson and Hannah Kolb helped put St. Charles East back on track Friday afternoon at Barrington Community Stadium with a well deserved 2-0 victory over Loyola in the Saints' (10-2-0) opener of the 19th annual Naperville Invite.

Coach Paul Jennison's club produced a stellar 80 minutes of soccer in a contest between two of the best in the state, outperforming the highly regarded Ramblers (13-1-2), who in suffering their first loss of the season, also conceded their first goals in their last eight matches.

"It was a lovely effort from the girls out there today after perhaps our two best training sessions of the season," said a proud Jennison afterward.

"We went out today and concerned ourselves with the game at hand and not who our opponent was, and with a lot of heart, energy and some terrific play on both sides of the ball, we beat a quality opponent."

"Everyone picked each other up, and really came out an played the way we all know we can after our back-to-back losses (Naperville North and St. Charles North), so today was really a big win for us," added Peterson, who gave her teammates reason to believe when she redirected her header into the back of the net in the 10th minute.

The eventual game-winner would put an exclamation point on a superb opening for the Saints, who flashed a game on this day based on movement, technical and tactical purpose and attacking soccer, which Loyola was unable to cope with the incredible pace in the first half of this match.

"It was clearly the best half of soccer we have played thus far," suggested Peterson.

The Saints' free-flowing start was fueled by several, especially Chantel Carranza up top, along with Claire Rasmussen and Shannon Gatehouse running out of the middle, and it was their sharp control and quick play which helped keep at bay the Ramblers' star striker, Devon Burns, who on the few occasions she was allowed an inch of space proved dangerous of striking at any moment.

Alison Chesterfield would turn around a Burns attempt just after the Peterson goal when she unlocked the Saints down the left side, but the St. Charles East keeper could only watch, then celebrate when Peterson cleanly tackled Burns, who beat a 1-on-3 situation at the end of the first period.

The Saints appeared to be in position to add to their advantage when Carranza was hauled down inside the box - but the center official waved off such a notion.

The Saints weathered a 10-minute storm during the early stages of the second half and after doing so, play would even out the rest of the way as East did well to manage its lead - which would go to 2-0 when a magnificent finish by Kolb from a Stackhouse helper in the 70th minute all but ended the hopes of Loyola.

The Saints meet Palatine Saturday as pool play continues, while Loyola, 1-1 in pool play, sits and awaits its next opponent later in the week.

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