St. Charles N. blanks St. Charles E.
Alex Gage always likes to take a few extra practice corner kicks when the wind is blowing heavily so the St. Charles North sophomore knows how to battle the breeze when it comes time for game play.
Gage’s gauge was accurate midway through the second half when she hit a cross that set sail through the match-long gale and met her sister Sammy’s head, who did not fail with her headed effort. The Gage-to-Gage combination was the crucial second goal what ended as a 2-0 Upstate Eight Conference River contest at Norris Stadium.
“I want to test the wind so I know how far I need to kick it into the wind or out of the wind,” Alex Gage said. “It’s just a lot of testing, to make sure I get it down because it really messes with the ball when it goes up in the air. It goes left and it goes right and it’s really crazy.”
You’d never think anything of the skills involved to have seen the goal on videotape without a sense of the elements. Alex Gage knocked the ball around the top of the six-yard box, where Sammy Gage rose and headed into the net. “I know my sister is an amazing header,” Alex Gage said. “On corner kicks and set pieces, I’m supposed to look for Lisa Manski and Sam Gage in the middle. That’s what I hit it to. I get it up there and she can finish it.”
From Sammy’s point of view, the ball couldn’t have been placed better.
“I just know where Allie’s ball is going to be every time,” Sammy Gage said. “She is so good at them. I just make the run, I look up and the ball is going to be there, unless I don’t run to the right spot.”
Sammy Gage-to-Gage’s headed goal came with 17:50 to play. At that point, the North Stars had been leading for just over a half-hour. The opening goal involved Sammy Gage playing a leading pass on the ground to Lauren Koehl, who moved between defenders and shot from 8 yards into the net.
“Getting the ball on the ground and controlling it, we really needed to do that,” Sammy Gage said. “We’ve been working on that play for the last two or three weeks. To finally get it to work out was really good.”
Alex Gage is a defender for the North Stars who comes forward for free kicks and corner kicks. While her offensive contribution was important, the way the North Stars kept the Saints at-bay was equally critical. Although only a sophomore, Gage already has played 36 matches in a North Stars uniform.
“We’ve been really working on staying with our marks,” Alex Gage said. “That’s really hard for us with new players on the team like Kenzie (Rose) and Jorie (Clawson.) They’re working really hard and doing great, but it’s been hard for us to mesh. But we’re talking better and communicating better and picking up our marks.”
The win came in the first match for St. Charles North (7-3, 3-1) since they fell to Geneva on Thursday, though their schedule picks up this weekend with a trip to Burlington, Iowa for the Tournament of Champions.
St. Charles East (4-4-3, 1-1-1) has been competing in the Naperville Invitational and has weekend tests with Lake Zurich and Downers Grove South. The Saints carved numerous chances, but were unable to finish them.
“You get these types of games,” St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. “We felt we had a fair amount of chances. In the second half, they really only had the one chance and they put it away. Hat’s off to North. At the end of the day, they did what they needed to do.”
Through the match, Saints sophomore defender Allie Arvizu was central at both ends of the field. She came forward and struck a series of dangerous free kicks. And defensively, she didn’t back down from anyone despite receiving a charley horse in the first half that stiffened as soon as she stopped running at halftime.
“She’s been solid back there,” Jennison said. “Since we lost Clara (Stoffel), you’re looking for someone to step in. (Arvizu’s been fantastic and she played 50 minutes with a dead leg. She’s going to feel that tomorrow.”