St. Charles North rallies in home opener
The last two years, the St. Charles North boys soccer team has started slowly in the regular season, before playing its best soccer in the postseason.
The North Stars were sluggish out of the gate in Thursday's home opener, but rallied in the final minute to earn a 2-2 draw with Waubonsie Valley in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover.
St. Charles North (2-0-1) was able to salvage the tie thanks to Zach Matuszak and Jared Casey.
With 53.6 seconds remaining, Casey used his 6-foot-2 frame to control a throw-in from Matuszak and then nailed it past Warriors goalkeeper Sean Elvert.
"We saw the long throw-ins and wanted to use my size to an advantage," Casey said. "We tried it three other times on throw-ins and this one worked out."
It was Casey who also first got the North Stars on the scoreboard at 28:53 in the second half with his left-footed blast from up top.
"I wasn't really ready for the shot," Casey said. "I just sort of settled and cut it back to my left foot and hit it. I was off-balance and didn't see it go in and just heard everyone cheering."
The North Stars held the Warriors in check in the second half while getting its own offense in gear. They hope to avoid the trend of having to rally by avoiding such slow starts. They also started slowly on Tuesday before rallying to defeat South Elgin, 4-1.
"You have to say you're proud of the guys being able to come back on a tough, disciplined team like Waubonsie Valley, St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said. "But we've got to sort out our first half play. In two of three games we haven't been happy with how we've come out and we've got to change that."
Waubonsie Valley (1-0-1) started strongly but couldn't maintain the pressure it applied to control the majority of the first 40 minutes.
"If you look at the game and analyze it, it was a good first half by us," Waubonsie Valley coach Angelo DiBernardo said. "We emphasize playing the ball quick and keeping possession of the ball, and I thought we did a decent job. Obviously we have to get better at that part of the game because the second half we just lost the ball really and didn't have many possessions."
The Warriors scored in the 20th minute when Yvan Foonde followed a shot from junior Luis Kauffman. St. Charles North goalkeeper Jake Pezzutto saved Kaufmman's shot but it deflected toward Foonde who put the rebound in.
Foonde was also involved in Waubonsie Valley's second goal. He dribbled to the left of the box and dished to Frankie Saiz who blasted it past Pezzutto.