Sister act helps N. Stars start fast

Anne Poulin has been a great sister to Ruth Vostal.

Poulin took over the North Stars' girls soccer program for her older sister, who was on maternity leave after giving birth to twins in February.

In Poulin's time as coach, the North Stars went 4-1 with the only loss a heart-breaker against New Trier in the Pepsi Showdown Saturday.

"To be fair, we played amazing on Saturday," said Poulin, a former soccer star herself at St. Charles. "We just couldn't finish; that's soccer."

Vostal asked Poulin to take over in August 2007 -- 6 months before the twins were bore. St. Charles North AD John Rutter gave Poulin the green light.

"(Rutter) trusted me that I could handle it," Poulin said.

Vostal made her 2008 debut Monday for the North Stars' 1-0 win against rival St. Charles East at home.

Poulin enjoyed her time as head coach, calling the experience fun, but at the same time, it was not a whole lot different from coaching at the club level.

"I loved it," Poulin said.

Poulin, however, isn't going anywhere. She will continue to coach the North Stars, perhaps taking on the role as co-coach -- not just assistant -- if necessary.

St. Charles East: If the St. Charles East girls soccer team appeared to be lined up differently for Monday's cross-town contest at St. Charles North, then the appearances were accurate. After starting the season playing its usual 4-3-3 from last season, the Saints shifted to a 4-4-2 setup.

"We switched formations and we flipped people around and it took them awhile to get the hang of it," St. Charles East coach Pat Feulner said. "It was like coming out and playing your first game again. We've played so sporadically. Now we come out and we've gone from three forwards to two and we've gone back more to a 4-4-2."

Roles are different in the two formations. Forwards are more centrally-situated and have to make movements based on each other's runs. Midfielders need to exploit space created by those forwards with probing passes. The approach as St. Charles East played it, was still to attack as much as possible, but the early moments were a struggle.

"By the second half, we started getting in rhythm and we started finding people," Feulner said. "We had them on their heels. The finishing will come. That's always the last thing to it. We had some good runs and some good opportunities."

Off to a 3-2 start, the Saints haven't played poorly this season. But the need to maximize the team's firepower combined with some key injuries has helped necessitate the switch.

"We're looking for a formation the kids are going to be comfortable in," Feulner said. "When (Katie) King went down, we had to go away from three midfielders because we just didn't have enough experience in the middle to play it. We went back to four."

One of the keys in a 4-4-2 is wing play from the outside midfielders, who must provide crosses for the forwards to finish. Hannah Ketterling and Kerry Savage held those outside roles for much of Monday's game.

"For the first time out doing it, we didn't look too bad," Feulner said.

The upcoming schedule will challenge the Saints -- but in a good way.

"By the end of the week, we should have a pretty good feel for what we're doing," Feulner said. "We can get into the practice routine then and get back to playing. That's what we really need, to get on the field and find out what everybody can do. We played everybody (against St. Charles North) and I saw some of them in different spots."

Kaneland: The Knights have a lot to be happy about so far this season.

Just a month into the year, the Knights have already eclipsed last season's win total. They did it in their biggest win of the year against Plainfield North Monday.

Kaneland, bugged with injuries, won just 3 games last year. The Knights won their fourth this season and are currently 4-4 through Tuesday's games.

"Last year was such a bummer for us," Kaneland coach Scott Parillo said.

The Knights opened the season with a 6-0 loss to St. Francis, won 2, lost 3 and won 2.

"It's been a roller coaster," Parillo said. "But we'll ride it as long as we can."

There is no better way to describe the Knights this year than "young." There were 5 sophomores and 2 freshman in the starting lineup against Plainfield North Monday and the underclass clearly dominate this team.

"They can't drive (a car), but they can start varsity," Parillo said. "But they are having a good time. The girls are so excited. They enjoy playing soccer."

West Aurora: Drawing a tie against Oswego East in the first game of the year, the Blackhawks went on a 7-game tear before Oswego got in their way Monday for their first loss of the season.

"Don't get me wrong, (Oswego) was one of the tougher teams we've played," West Aurora coach Joe Sustersic said.

Still, the Blackhawks have much to like about this year, despite playing most of their games back-to-back, thanks to the weather.

They beat Oswego and Morris back-to-back, followed by Plainfield North and Glenbard North. The win against the Panthers was the first time the Blackhawks started DuPage Valley Conference play with a victory. West Aurora also won its own 4-game tournament.

"There's been a lot of positives," Sustersic said. "The girls have done a good job rising to the occasion."

• Correspondent Darryl Mellema contributed to this report.