St. Charles North 2, Wheaton North 0
St. Charles North's Maggie Hamilton has been scrappy and sneaky during the North Stars' postseason run to Thursday's 2-0, Class AA sectional title win over Wheaton North.
After hounding the opposing teams' best attacking players in two previous wins, Hamilton scored the second goal of the game by sneaking back behind the defense and beating a goalkeeper to teammate Lauren Ostarello's cross.
"It was a beautiful serve and I wasn't sure I would get on it," said Hamilton, who headed it in from 10 yards out. "I just stuck my head out and tried to get it."
"That was a smart goal," said North Stars coach Ruth Vostal. "A lot of people might have put that over."
In a game of scarce scoring chances either way, the North Stars (18-5) held the Falcons to 2 long-range shots on net for the day and have not been scored on during postseason play.
Ostarello and fellow defenders Hayley Nothnagel, Lauren Stoecklin and Annette Gwozdz gave up nothing behind them, and goalkeeper Vicki Traven made a diving second-half save in the North Stars' seventh consecutive shutout.
"We've been working on clearing the ball a lot in practice, and we all just mesh so well in the back," Nothnagel said. "Everyone is fulfilling their role."
The Falcons' Jaime Orewiler hit a shot off the post in the 18th minute, but it wasn't until the 37th minute that Alex Messacar sent a shot directly between the pipes.
Messacar settled a perfect diagonal feed from Alecia Natale and calmly punched it inside the far post from 8 yards out.
"Alecia split the defenders and had just the right timing on it," Messacar said. "I saw the goalie coming and just had to put it to one of her sides."
Down 1-0 at halftime, the Falcons (18-3-2) came out hard in the second half and pushed into their attacking third but couldn't manage that pivotal final link to a dangerous shot.
"We made some adjustments in the second half," said Falcons coach Tim McEvilly. "We had some great through balls out wide. We just didn't have that last touch."
While the North Stars will face Waubonsie Valley in a supersectional game on Monday, Wheaton North will say goodbye to a singular core of seniors that includes Orewiler, Michelle Scandora, Erin Strom, Allie Cerone, Hannah Perry, Kristin Perrine, Meredith Chase, Brittany Sorenson and Jesse Smith.
The Falcons played in their third consecutive sectional final and placed third in state two years ago.
"I think this core of seniors really set the tone for Wheaton North soccer," Scandora said. "We helped build the program up."
"You get a group of seniors like this maybe once every 20 years," McEvilly said. "They all saw what it took as sophomores to get to that next level, and they dedicated themselves to being a part of it."