Boys soccer: South Elgin dumps St. Charles East

South Elgin's boys soccer team received a welcome sight Saturday morning.

Actually, a pair of them.

After being held without a goal for 3 consecutive games spanning 280-plus minutes, the Storm (2-5-1) finally broke their scoring drought when senior A.J. Kirkby converted on a penalty kick in the first 2 minutes of the second half against St. Charles East (2-5-3).

It wound up being the game's only goal as South Elgin snapped a 3-game losing streak with its 1-0 Upstate Eight Conference crossover victory over the host Saints at Norris Stadium in St. Charles.

"We've lost the last three (games)," said Storm coach Simon Brinklow. "The last two games, we really weren't good enough. We got battered (5-0) by Geneva Thursday.

"We just talked about trying to come out and put some things together right and get going again. I thought we played really well today."

Kirkby's first goal of the season came after teammate Nick Flores was hit in the back while leaping for a 50-50 ball in the box.

"I give all my credit to Nick (Flores)," said Kirkby. "He earned that penalty kick for us. Unfortunately he couldn't take it because he had to be subbed out because of an injury."

South Elgin had several additional scoring chances in the first half, including four corner kicks and a pair of free kicks during the opening 10 minutes of play.

"We created chances," said Brinklow. "We've struggled in our last few games to get a shot off in the final third (of the field). We probably had more shots today than in any other game we've played this season."

South Elgin also received strong contributions from senior keepers Brian Dykstra (8 saves) and Fernando Rivera (4 saves).

Dykstra made a 1-handed diving stop of a blast by the Saints' Truitt Battin late in the first half before thwarting another Battin attempt with a sprawling save early in the second half.

Rivera, inserted for the final 25 minutes, saved the game for the Storm with a pair of quality stops.

"At any point of the game, I feel comfortable switching them out which we ended up doing today," said Brinklow. "We're lucky to have two strong goalkeepers. They're both seniors that push each other."

"To be fair to them, their keeper (Dykstra) stood on his head in the first half," admitted Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo. "He made some worldly saves and we didn't get it done."

Inconsistency continues to haunt the Saints.

"You go out and beat the number four team in the state - Naperville Central - and then you come out and tie a team that has two wins," said DiNuzzo. "That's us right now. We have two wins.

"In terms of quality opportunities on net, I felt we had the majority of them but we didn't finish and they did. That's the story of our season so far."

Senior keeper Zach Kennedy recorded 9 saves for the Saints.