St. Charles North goes out winners with 3rd place trophy
They had to work a little longer than they might have wanted, but St. Charles North's girls soccer team got to walk off the field a winning team on the final day of the season.
After battling Glenbrook South for 80 scoreless minutes, the North Stars emerged 3-2 victors in a penalty kick shootout and claimed third place in the IHSA's Class 3A tournament.
But that only went a small way toward explaining the smiles, the hugs and a few tears as the team left the field at North Central College. After 27 matches, the season was over.
"We're so excited to get into the state tournament," St. Charles North senior Alyssa Peterson said. "I think, no matter what place it is, it's an accomplishment to be in the top four. We wanted to be one of the two teams who won on the final day this weekend."
By claiming victory, the North Stars (23-2-1) established a school record for victories, eclipsing the 22 wins by the 2004 team which finished second in the tournament. And one week after graduation, the seniors finally concluded their high school experiences.
"I couldn't have asked for a better senior year than this," St. Charles North senior midfielder Maryl Behm said. "I'm so proud of our team. I'd rather come off the field smiling with third place than crying with second place. Getting to state was our goal. Yesterday stunk. But we all woke up this morning, got over it and this was just like another game to us. We came out and worked hard and got a reward for it."
In order to get its hands on the third place trophy, St. Charles North had to emerge from the lottery of a penalty kick shootout. The North Stars weren't perfect with their kicks - KK Barr, Sammy Gage and Peterson scored while Leah DeMoss and Kelli Alderman failed to convert.
But in goalkeeper Kristen Manski, the North Stars had a shot-stopper who was not going to be defeated. Manski got her hands on the first shot, though it still went into the net. The second kick went over the bar. After Eleni Haramaras scored, a Glenbrook South shot missed the net and then Manski made the match-winning save.
"For the past couple of months, we've been taking PK's in practice," Manski said. "My coaches taught me different ways to tell where they were going to shoot by the way they aligned their hips, the number of steps they take to the side or if they're a right-footed kicker - all of that."
The match itself took some time to rise to the level of Friday's semifinal or most playoff matches. For the third time in the tournament, lightning in the sky forced a delay. This one came at halftime and didn't disrupt the flow of the game as much.
"I think people assumed there was going to be less pressure because since it wasn't for the championship," Peterson said. "But there was just as much pressure because there's only one team that's going to win. We kept looking to see where we could get that fire like we had in the second half of yesterday's (Friday's) game. I think we finally got it in the second half tonight."
The match, until that delay, had been without much incident. Behm hit the crossbar after 5 minutes and cleared a shot off the goal line after 25 minutes.
The second half saw the North Stars increasingly take control of the match. With 14 minutes left, the team's best passing move of the match left Paige Dusek free in the penalty area, but she had the ball taken off her feet. While St. Charles North still failed to get many shots on goal, the ball stayed in Glenbrook South's end for most of the final 15 minutes of the match.
"At halftime, we knew we had the heart and we had the effort," Behm said. "We just motivated each other and said 'guys, we are not losing this game."