Boys soccer: St. Charles East dumps Larkin

The St. Charles East boys soccer team was back at Memorial Field in Elgin on Tuesday - the site of its only loss of the season.

However, unlike two weeks ago when the Saints were upset by Elgin High, they left on much better terms this visit after a 3-1 win over Larkin in Upstate Eight River action.

"That was definitely in the back of our minds," St. Charles East senior Zachary Nelson said. "We certainly didn't want the same outcome. This place left us with a bad negative feeling the last time we were here. But now we can associate it where we also won and not just our only loss."

The Saints (10-1-1, 2-1) grabbed the early lead with a pair of quick goals. Mitchell Lucatorto got East on the board with a goal off a scramble in front of the net 11:30 into the game. It was Lucatorto's second goal of the season.

'We had a little superstition about this place coming in," Lucatorto said. "But we settled down and played with a lot of confidence in that first half. Our mobility was very good. We played calm and collected and were able to move the ball."

Just under 2 minutes later the Saints went up 2-0 on a goal from Grayson Biddle off an assist from Riley Arnold.

"We came in a little nervous after what happened to us here last time," East coach Paul Jennison said. "But we had to challenge the boys to put those emotions aside and face this challenge. Larkin is a tough team that played us physical. I was just real happy with the way we found our rhythm early on. They made it tough on as the game went on, but we'll use that as a learning curve and take the positive of leaving here with a win."

The Saints dominated the first half with an 8-3 shot advantage.

"We were in control the first half," Nelson said. "A lot of one touch passes and we were building out of the back and through the middle."

Larkin (6-6-1, 0-1-1) wasn't about to go down without a fight and battled hard in the second half. The Royals had several scoring opportunities before finally breaking through when Eduardo Alvarado lofted a shot over a diving east goalie Kevin Cook with 7:35 left to play to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Royals had a 7-3 shot advantage in the second half.

"If we could play like we did in the second all the time I would be very happy," Larkin coach Ken Hall said. "We played hard and really put the pressure on. But we still have our ups and downs and in that first half we lacked a little focus and it cost us."

East answered right back after Larkin's goal to go up 3-1 when Nelson blasted a shot into the back of the net from 30 yards out with 5:16 to play to secure the win.

"I could probably never do that again," Nelson said. "I don't take a lot of shots. I'm certainly not the player you expect to bang one in from 30 yards away, but I'll take it.'