Warriors' Wright breaks deadlock
The unpredictability of boys golf in the Upstate Eight Conference reached new heights Thursday afternoon in St. Charles.
With neither an iota of collective knowledge regarding the layout at St. Charles Country Club nor one of the three co-medalists, Waubonsie Valley still found a way turn back the two St. Charles programs.
The Warriors' Patrick Wright proved to be the difference; the senior posted a 43 to break a 163-163 deadlock with St. Charles East.
St. Charles North missed out on the tiebreaking procedure by 2 strokes.
"(Wednesday in a 154-155 loss to Neuqua Valley) we learned that every stroke counts," said Waubonsie Valley coach Dave Owles. "This is my eighth year (coaching golf at Waubonsie). I can't remember beating both (St. Charles high schools) in the same year. You have to be happy with that."
The Warriors improved to 3-1 overall and in the league; St. Charles East is 5-2, 3-1, and the host North Stars fell to 2-2, 2-2.
The Saints held the early advantage when their top two players -- senior Chris Niemiec and sophomore Wes Apple -- posted matching 38s, which the North Stars' Matt Sprengel later duplicated for the low rounds of the afternoon.
But Waubonsie Valley responded with consistency, using a 40 from freshman Josh Stefanski and 41 by Chris Gregg.
Paul Asheim sustained the Warriors' momentum with a 42, and fifth-man Matt Nied closed strong with a 4-over 40 to put Waubonsie Valley at 163.
The Saints, meanwhile, posted a 43 and 44, respectively, from Tyler Deetjen and Brad Weiss for their final pair of counting scores.
With the score deadlocked, St. Charles East had its first league blemish as a trio of Saints posted no better than a 46.
It was a particularly frustrating day for Niemiec, the Saints' top gun who has already captured one invitational and led the squad to the team title at Bartonville Limestone.
"I didn't play very well," Neimiec said. "I went OB (out of bounds) on the easiest hole on the course. I couldn't get (any approach shots) close."
"There are lots of good teams," said St. Charles East coach John Stock. "The conference is very strong. On any given night, it's a shot here or there."
For St. Charles North, senior No. 1 player Greg Wiitanen fired a 41, and Matt Schroeder and Chris Thomas had 43s to augment the play of Sprengel, the North Stars' third man.
"I kept my drives in the fairway," Sprengel said. "I played a good mental game."
-- Kevin McGavin
Girls volleyball
Geneva d. Lake Park:ŒLauren Wicinski and her Geneva teammates have been waiting for the new season to open. Thursday night at Lake Park, they proved they were ready.
With Wicinski, a sophomore outside hitter, turning in a solid effort, the visiting Vikings knocked off the Lancers 25-9, 25-13 to kick off the new campaign in fine fashion.
"We've been practicing a lot and working real hard," said Wicinski, who had 9 kills and 8 digs for Geneva. "We were real excited for the first game. We were like, 'Let's go.' "
When setter Jennifer Pokorny set up Wicinski for a kill and a 24-9 lead in Game 1, it was clear by then that Geneva was on and the hosts were off. A Lancers error on the next play gave the opener to Geneva and, with Pokorny spreading the ball around to several teammates, the Vikings had little trouble completing the two-game sweep.
"I thought I played pretty well, but it's because of the passes and the sets," said Wicinski, who started last season as a freshman.
Vikings coach KC Johnsen, whose lineup was missing senior hitter Rachel Urbells, was thrilled to see his young squad -- plus his veteran setter -- look sharp on Thursday.
"We jumped out pretty good and had a good start," he said. "And we've got a lot of young kids playing, so it's exciting to see them come out like they did tonight."
Lake Park coach Kate Clifton was not as pleased with her team's play. After a tough three-game loss to Conant in their season opener earlier this week, the Lancers (0-2) did not put up much of a fight against Geneva.
"It was a very off day," Clifton said. "We just weren't prepared mentally. Conference starts next week, and that's what we're working for now."
Noelle Fanella paced the Lancers with 4 kills and Chelsea Gieseke added 3. For the Vikings, who jumped ahead 10-3 in Game 2 before closing out the match, Pokorny recorded 17 assists and 2 aces, with Wicinski and Alexa Sommer leading the way on offense.
"We had a question mark with Rachel out with mono, but Jennifer's a fabulous setter," Johnsen said. "We executed pretty well for our first match."
Geneva not only passed and hit well, but the visitors brought their defense with them to Roselle. Wicinski had 8 digs and Megan Odenthal and Taylor Whitely each added 7 digs for the winners.
-- Stan Goff
Best of the West invite:ŒRosary let its serves do the work in Plainfield.
The Royals (4-0) dealt 8 aces against Oswego East in their opening round match at the Best of the West invite at Plainfield North, then nailed 10 more on Barrington in Round 2.
"When you're playing against teams that are not that strong, serving is something that can help you win more easily," Rosary coach Lisa Kasper said.
After a bit of a sluggish start, the Royals took care of Oswego East, 25-12, 25-13.
"We had to get refocused because we were playing a bit lackadaisically," Kasper said.
Rosary did not encounter so much as a speed bump in its second round match, cruising past Barrington, 25-10, 25-12. Lindsey Weber led the way with 7 kills and 3 aces, Kylie Schalz had 4 aces, and Olivia O'Connor added 3 more as the Broncos struggled just to keep the ball in play.
St. Charles North (3-0) also won both of its matches after a shaky start in the opener against Plainfield Central. The North Stars dropped Game 1 to the Wildcats, 25-17, before rallying to win the next two, 25-19, 25-9.
"I don't know the answer to what happened," St. Charles North coach Lindsay Trudell said. "Maybe we were a little nervous or feeling some pressure, but that really shouldn't be happening."
Though her team had shown steady improvement throughout that match, dominating Barrington in Game 3, Trudell wanted to see a more consistent performance against second round opponent Wheaton Academy.
"I let them know that wearing a St. Charles North uniform is a special thing, and I wanted them to be proud of that, and play aggressive, and not be intimidated," Trudell said.
Trudell's heartfelt talk seemed to have an impact on her team, as the North Stars jumped on the Warriors and didn't let up until they walked off the court with a 25-13, 25-12 sweep.
-- Henry Perez
Fenton d. Morton:ŒLauren Esmits collected 15 digs, 12 service points and 6 aces to spark the Bison (1-0) to a 25-20, 25-15 victory. Jayme Biagi posted 5 kills and 3 blocks, Ellen Harkins tallied 4 kills and Lauren Stanek totaled 15 assists in the win.
Downers North d. Nazareth:ŒErica Behm lofted 18 assists for the Trojans (2-1), who pulled out a 25-21, 25-23 sweep.
Boys soccer
Waubonsie Valley 1, Fremd 0:ŒFor both Waubonsie Valley boys soccer coach Angelo DiBernardo and Fremd coach Steve Keller, teamwide improvement meant everything Thursday night.
Sure, DiBernardo would like to earn a tournament victory at the Best in the West Tournament in 2007, but capturing the crown is not his team's main objective.
Instead, he would rather see game-to-game improvement, much like he saw Thursday night in the Warriors' 1-0 victory over Fremd.
"Right now, our goal is to get better on a game-to-game basis. It would be nice to win a tournament or play in the finals … but our No. 1 goal right now is to get better," DiBernardo said.
A slower tempo is something DiBernardo strives to get his players to grasp.
"From my standpoint, we've got a long way to go, and we're working on getting better," he said. "We try to play at 1,000 miles an hour, and you can't do that. We've got to slow the game down a little bit and have more purpose behind our decisions.
"Sometimes we play hot-potato type of soccer, and we've just got to get away from that."
Waubonsie Valley freshman Ryan Dotson provided the game's only goal 11:45 into the first half, drilling a shot to the lower right corner to give his team an early edge.
At the time it seemed the Warriors (2-1-1) would have more quality scoring opportunities. Yet as the game went on, Dotson's goal loomed more and more important.
"I guess we took advantage of the one opportunity we had," DiBernardo said.
Halftime adjustments made the Vikings (0-2) more competitive, but they weren't quite enough to propel Fremd to a tie game.
"Second half we switched some things around tactically for our team," Keller said. "We were able to push the ball up more and get a little more offense, (but) we've got to find someone to put the ball in the back of the net."
Just like DiBernardo, though, Keller chose to dwell on his team's progress and improvement from Fremd's season opener.
"I was pleased. It was a better performance for us (tonight) than it was Tuesday against Naperville Central," Keller said.
"The key thing is that we improved from the first game, and that's what I'll tell the guys on the bus."
Both teams return to action Saturday, with Waubonsie Valley taking on Naperville Central and Fremd squaring off against Sandburg.
-- Matthew McClarey
Naperville Central 2, Sandburg 0:ŒWith schools open now for the past couple weeks, students can once again expect a steady stream of grades until report card time.
On Thursday Naperville Central team received two grades in 90 minutes.
Redhawks (4-0) coach Jay Konrad divided his team's game into two sections, grading both above average in Naperville Central's 2-0 victory over Sandburg on the second day of the Best in the West Tournament.
"I think we played a great first 20 minutes," Konrad said. "I would have graded our first 20 minutes as an A, and our next 60 minutes as a B-minus. That was enough tonight to get through, but not where we need to be if we're going to continue to compete at a high level."
Naperville Central forward Byard Ebling scored both goals for the tournament hosts, staking the Redhawks to a 2-goal lead in the opening 15:07.
"We focused on (converting scoring opportunities) in practice, and it just kind of showed through in the game," Ebling said.
A lack of intensity at the start doomed Sandburg (1-1).
"I think we came out and we were playing very soft," coach Jack Ferraro said. "We have to do a better job defensively."
-- Matthew McClarey
Conant 5, Downers Grove North 1:ŒDowners Grove North was on the receiving end of goal-scoring explosion by Conant senior Zach Raetzman.
Raetzman provided the cutting edge in an easy 5-1 victory as he scored the first 4 goals for the Cougars -- all in the first-half -- to help his club rebound from its disappointing 3-1 loss on Tuesday in its tournament opener at the 16th annual Lancer Classic hosted by Lake Park.
"We created a lot of chances in that first half (against) Wheaton (North) and didn't finish, and we gave up 2 goals on restarts, in addition to a sloppy (one) as well," Raetzman said. "On most nights we can score and offset a mistake or two because we've got a strong attacking club.
"Tonight we took advantage of some early chances and didn't allow them back in."
Raetzman was pulled for a short while after striking for 3 goals in the first 18 minutes and for good after just missing his fifth at the hour mark. He combined with all-state striker Eric Marofske to score his second of the match at 11 minutes, after finding the back of the net just five minutes into the match on a helper from Paul Roszyk.
"We had reminded the guys that we just could not allow (Marofske) to handle the ball in space (tonight) if we wanted to compete with Conant," said Trojans coach Brian Gervase, who with his third different lineup in as many matches is still searching for the right combination.
"Unfortunately we did, and they really took advantage of us in our own end.
"But we had some moments where we did some good things with the ball, and we may have found out that Justin (Pickering) can play well in the center-back position for us."
Next up for Conant (2-1-0) is Glenbard East at noon Saturday. Downers North takes on Wheaton North at 2 p.m.
-- Mike Garofola
Downers Grove South 1, Brother Rice 0:ŒSteve Lucinek scored a first-half goal for the Mustangs in the Red Devil Cup.
Glenbard North 1, Streamwood 0:ŒAntonio Cianciolo scored in the 77th minute off a Matt Pablo assist to lift the Panthers (4-0) past Streamwood at the Addison Trail Invite.
Lisle 7, Plano 1:ŒThe Lions (3-0, 2-0) remained unbeaten with the easy win in the Interstate Eight Conference. Freshman Grant Fitzgerald had 2 goals and an assist.
Fenton 4, Notre Dame 3:ŒJonnathon Cardoso, Karol Vryjak, Jose Melendez and Yannish Milewski each scored for the Bison (3-1-1) at the Maine East Kickoff Classic.
St. Francis 2, St. Joseph 2:ŒGreg Fetter had a goal and an assist for the Spartans (2-2-1) at the Addison Trail Invite. Brian McMahon also scored for St. Francis.
Glenbard West 2, Wheeling 0:ŒGeoff Oidtman and J.T. Wiebe scored a goal apiece for the Hilltoppers at the Wheeling Invitational.