St. Charles North back to .500 after win over South Elgin

Posted October 15, 2009 11:00 pm

By Brian Schaumburg Daily Herald Correspondent

South Elgin's Matt Shipon gets sandwiched between St. Charles North's Mike Winhoffer and James Mrotek, right, as they compete for a header Thursday in Streamwood. John Starks | Staff Photographer

The team that has had to win its last two games to fight its way back to .500 is happy with its play heading into the postseason.

The team that finished the regular season 7 games above .500 and is a No. 1 regional seed is not pleased with the direction its going.

Thursday's result did nothing to change that. St. Charles North defeated South Elgin, 1-0, at Millennium Field in Upstate Eight Conference play to finish the boys soccer regular season for both teams.

"It's been such a roller-coaster ride for us," North Stars coach Eric Willson said. "It's nice to be able to put a couple of wins together at the end. Postseason is on its way now and I think we feel pretty good about what we're doing."

STC North midfielder Angelo Canatalo scored the match's only goal with 12:27 remaining in the first half. Catalano took a feed from Drew Smith at the corner of Storm's penalty area. The senior midfielder beat a defender and then fired a shot past goalkeeper Ryan Hicks.

"One-nothing isn't the ideal result, but we'll take a win, especially going into the playoffs," Catalano said.

STC North (10-10-3, 3-5-1 UEC) has won back-to-back games this week without giving up a goal. The North Stars hope to duplicate their surprising run to the supersectional last season as a No. 9 seed. This season North is a No. 10 seed and opens the postseason Tuesday against No. 7 York in the Class 3A Conant regional.

"We're feeling pretty good," Catalano said. "We think we've found our stride and ready to make a run like last year."

The Storm (11-4-2, 4-4-2) has struggled to create many good scoring opportunities recently. They managed only 2 shots on goal against the North Stars. Their best chance came off a Matt Shipon corner kick that Dan Bohlin headed just over the crossbar 101/2 minutes into the second half.

South Elgin has enjoyed its best season in its short history but heads into the postseason on a two-game losing streak after losing 7-0 to Waubonsie Valley on Tuesday. The Storm is the No. 1 seed at the Class 3A Huntley regional and will play either Rockford Jefferson or Larkin next Tuesday.

"Guys aren't putting in the effort that they did earlier in the season and its shows on the scoreboard," Storm coach Mark Neville said. "We really can't get much going. It's pretty much been our story for the last week and a half, two weeks."

St. Charles North's Trent Coyle heads the ball between South Elgin's Dan Bohlin, right, and Matt Shipon Thursday in Streamwood. John Starks | Staff Photographer

St. Charles North's David Faar heads the ball away from his own net in front of a South Elgin player Thursday in Streamwood. John Starks | Staff Photographer

South Elgin's Dan Bohlin hits the turf as St. Charles North's James Mrotek stumbles over him Thursday in Streamwood. John Starks | Staff Photographer

South Elgin's Onyx Gonzalez and St. Charles North's Dan Figura, left, chase the ball into the corner Thursday in Streamwood. John Starks | Staff Photographer

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