Girls soccer: Schaumburg rallies to tie St. Charles East

Some ties are better than others.

Schaumburg's girls soccer team experienced one on the positive side of the spectrum during its 2-2 deadlock with St. Charles East in Thursday night's opening round of the Saints' Augsburg-Drach Tournament.

After spotting the Saints (4-0-2) a 2-0 halftime advantage, the Saxons (1-3-1) scored a pair of goals within a 10-minute stretch during the latter portion of the second half.

First, junior forward Dana Kiszkowski received a picture-perfect pass from midfielder Emma Aguilar and delivered a blast to pull the Saxons within a goal at 2-1 with 16:50 remaining.

Nearly 10 minutes later, Schaumburg pulled even as Aguilar pounced on a rebound and sent a right-footed shot into the upper left-hand corner moments after Saints senior keeper Tiegan Hartley made a pair of point-blank saves.

"We fought really hard today," said Saxons coach Greg Charvat. "Obviously, St. Charles East is a great team. They're extremely talented but I thought today we fought so hard to keep ourselves in this game. When you get down 2-0 against a team like St. Charles East, I think mentally it takes a little while to recover. At halftime, we got them refocused and ready to play the second half."

"The main thing we said at halftime was that we had to have some heart," said senior Gina D'Orazio. "St. Charles East is a state-ranked team but we went out there and put two (goals) up on the board. It ended up on a very positive note for us."

St. Charles East controlled play throughout much of the first half, grabbing a 1-0 lead on a free kick by senior Claire Rasmussen.

Midway through the half, junior forward Chantel Carranza connected to give the Saints a 2-goal cushion.

"The first half was fantastic - they moved the ball well," said Saints coach Paul Jennison. "The reality in the second half was that we didn't set the standard like we did in the first (half). Unfortunately, it was a little bit too much of cruise control."

Jennison gave high praise to the sticktoitiveness of the Saxons.

"Schaumburg was absolutely fantastic with its energy," said Jennison. "They didn't think the game was over."

Jennison looked on the bright side as his team prepares for Friday night's game against Naperville Central (3-3-1).

"It's a great learning experience for these girls," said Jennison, who utilized his bench throughout the second half. "It shouldn't matter who we had on the field at any point. We showed in the first half that we were quite capable of controlling the game.

"The only thing that really changed was our attitude and level of intensity - and that opened the door for them (the Saxons). We're committed to rotating our roster. We're committed to playing these girls in games. Sometimes it's going to be positive. Other times it's not going to work out the way you want but they're all getting better from this."

Due to soggy conditions, Thursday's action was held at Geneva's Burgess Field.

"Big thanks to Geneva for hosting tonight," said Jennison. "It certainly saved our field for Friday and Saturday."

Earlier in the evening, Geneva ran its record to 5-0 with a 1-0 victory over Naperville Central behind senior keeper Emma Harkleroad.

The Vikings face Schaumburg in Friday's second-round action at Norris Stadium.