Teams take optimistic approach to second season

Get your big caldron and pour in all your clichés: “everyone’s 0-0,” “it’s a new season,” “we have to play them one at a time,” “any team can win no matter what their record,” and any version of “the team with more heart/drive/spirit will survive.”

Yes, it’s playoff time for area girls soccer teams and of course there is a germ of truth to every cliché — that’s how they began in the first place. But while everyone does get a chance to play in the postseason, achievement to this point does matter for some things. Postseason seedings have been determined based on regular season achievement, for example.

And while teams do get to start anew, it’s the rare team that suddenly finds a goal scorer after struggling all season or mints an all-state goalie overnight. It happens sometimes that players rise to unseen heights, and that’s one of the magical things about the IHSA tournament. But season-long trends also have a way of continuing.

A year ago, St. Charles North moved all the way to the Class 3A semifinals before losing in the postseason. The North Stars finished third in the tournament in 2010 and host their own regional this year. The North Stars’ regional is one of four — Lake Park, Schaumburg and Wheaton North are the others — that feed into the St. Charles East Sectional.

“I’m excited,” St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. “It’s been a few years since we hosted. I’m excited and we get a chance to play on our home field. There will be alumni and community members who will come to the games and it will be nice to have those fans in our stands.”

St. Charles North hosts Glenbard West in the opening round on Tuesday with the winner taking on either Elk Grove or Bartlett in Friday’s title game.

“We had a team meeting (Saturday) and we talked about how we’re physically ready,” Vostal said. “We feel we have people in the right spots. We’re doing things on the field that I’m happy about. But in the playoffs, everyone has a team with qualify players and whichever team fights harder or fights for each other wins. Those are things that make a difference.”

Even successful teams need fortune in the postseason. Last year, St. Charles North trailed Batavia and Geneva in sectional play before winning and benefited from a fluke goal to beat Barrington in the supersectional.

“Even though there’s a whole new team and many of them didn’t have those experience, we talked about last year’s Batavia and Geneva games and how those are learning experiences for the girls who were there,” Vostal said. “For those who weren’t there, we tried to get them to draw on their own experience, maybe with another sport or maybe with their clubs.”

St. Charles North is the overall No. 3 seed in the Class 3A St. Charles East sectional. The No. 1 seed is Conant and No. 8-seeded St. Charles East can earn a match with the Cougars if it gets past Wheaton North in its Tuesday opener at Wheaton North.

“Last year, in the regular season, they beat us,” St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. “We beat them 1-0 in the semifinal in the regional and we beat them 3-2 this year although we were down 2-0 at halftime. They’re a good team.”

A native of England, Jennison is familiar with the knockout nature of the IHSA playoffs, which is similar to the FA Cup — a tournament which contested its final game at the same time as St. Charles East’s Saturday match with Batavia.

“Every game in the playoffs is a Cup Final,” Jennison said. “These girls are well aware that they need to bring their best game. I told them flat out that they need to play every second as though it’s your last.”

The Saints enter the postseason at .500, but have recently found the kind of goal scoring that could decide a match in the tournament. Playoff games can bring flaws fatally to the surface, but there is also time for teams to mend some of those weak areas and pull upsets.

“They’ve grown as a group together,” Jennison said. “They’ve realized their strengths and weaknesses as a team. Rather than be negative, they’ve pulled forward and helped each other. They’re a fantastic group.”

Jennison said his team can’t afford to look past Wheaton North, but a potential showdown with top-seeded Conant would be something he’d love his team to enjoy.

“These girls come in every day with a smile and ready to work hard,” Jennison said. “You can’t ask for more than that. If they come out and play and move the ball like they can, they can go as far as they want to.”

Geneva is seeded third in the sectional, and heads to Lake Park for regional play. The Vikings face Glenbard East in the semifinals with the winner of that match playing either the host Lancers or Batavia in Friday’s title match.

The Vikings have had a very successful regular season, winning the Upstate Eight Conference River title and advancing to the semifinals of the Naperville Invitational. They have done this with a very young lineup, especially in defense.

“You look at our team and you look at all our freshmen and you look at the people who kind of doubted our ability to have a strong season after losing seven strong seniors last year and a lot of people didn’t think we could hang with some of the strong competition we face,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said.

But with seven freshmen on the squad and many of them filling key roles, the Vikings have excelled. Having a strong goal scorer in junior Catherina Allon hasn’t hurt either.

“I think my team has played really hard, they have left it all out there on the field,” Owens said. “I couldn’t ask them for any more because they play their hearts out every game.”

Owens is aware of the pitfalls in her team’s pathway. Glenbard East is solid despite its No. 13 seed. Lake Park would be playing at home if it wins and meets Geneva and Batavia is a conference rival and is annually one of the toughest opponents the Vikings face. The Vikings only defeated the Bulldogs 1-0 this season.

“We’ve had a lot of success so far and hopefully some of that can carry over to the regional,” Owens said. “We have two tough teams. I think it’s going to be a tough regional and we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

Batavia enters the tournament looking for the cohesive play that it has lacked at times this season. At times in its season-ending 2-0 loss to St. Charles East, the Bulldogs passed-and-moved very well. But there were other times when that movement broke down.

“We’ve played Lake Park this season,” Batavia coach Jim McAlpin said. “We’re a different team than when we played them and I’m sure they are too.”

A year ago, the Bulldogs found a different level late in the season and defeated Bartlett in the tournament, then led St. Charles North before a lightning-related delay in the regional title match. The North Stars scored three times after play resumed, but they showed how a team can find a higher level in the postseason.

“Once the whistle blows, it’s a matter of experience and composure and having a belief that you can be successful,” McAlpin said.

West Aurora’s tournament is already over following Friday’s opening round loss to Plainfield East.

In Class 2A, Rosary hosts a regional. The top-seeded Royals meet Aurora Central in Tuesday’s first semifinal while Kaneland takes on IMSA on Wednesday. The title match is set for Saturday.