Stars fall in unusual fashion

Wheaton Warrenville South girls soccer coach Guy Callipari usually doesn't substitute his players in big bunches, but Saturday against St. Charles North, he thought he would try something new.

The Tigers were subbed in groups and it did them some good, as they beat the North Stars 4-3 in nonconference action in Wheaton.

"We went with a kind of platoon system and tried to even up the lineups fairly, give everyone 10 minutes just to keep them fresh," Callipari said. "It worked our really well for us.

"We thought this would be a good time to try it in a formidable opponent like St. Charles North. We thought they would be physical and strong, and they were."

Not only was the rotation unusual, but so was the final score. Usually when these two teams battle, goals are much harder to come by.

"It was easy to score goals today -- not just for us, but for both teams, for whatever reason," St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. "Wheaton Warrenville South-St. Charles North is typically a 1-0, we win, they win, we go back and forth."

The North Stars (11-5) tallied first on sophomore Leah DeMoss' unassisted goal at the 36:26 mark.

Less than a minute later, Wheaton Warrenville South (13-1-1) received a boost after Kendall Hoekstra's back-to-back goals were scored about 3 minutes apart.

Hoekstra, who usually comes off the bench, took Wheaton Warrenville's first shot of the game, missed, but 6 seconds later, made up for it with 35:50 on the clock with an assist from Nicole La Petina.

"She settled it, she took it low, drove it in the back of the net, and we were up and running," Callipari said of Hoekstra's first goal. "It was great for her. I was really pleased with the team play today."

The Tigers scored another two goals from Lauren Livingston and Alli Bellmer for a 4-1 advantage with 23:48 remaining in the first half.

Right before the break, Annette Gwozdz' goal in the goalie's box made it 4-2.

St. Charles North's Caitlin Winkelman scored the lone goal of the second half at the 31:47 mark on a penalty kick.

"It was a crazy game," Vostal said. "It was a fun 40 minutes. Any team can say this -- a 9 (a.m.) game, both teams have prom…we came out flat and they scored on our mistakes."