St. Charles North pays back Bartlett
Last year, the St. Charles North North Stars boys soccer team had its season cut short by the Bartlett Hawks in the regional final.
Wednesday night, the North Stars were the ones ending Bartlett’s season, this time in a sectional tournament.
The North Stars (15-6-2) defeated the Hawks 3-1 in the second semifinal of the Class 3A Bartlett sectional at Millennium Field in Streamwood and advanced to play the Schaumburg Saxons in the sectional final at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The North Stars were dominant with possession of the ball throughout Wednesday’s game, and scored their 2 two goals in the first half of play.
The first goal was notched by Tyler Davis on a long shot off a deflection. Alex Behm then came up with the second goal about 10 minutes later, getting a long shot in after a Bartlett player lost control of the ball.
“We switched the ball really well and we got opportunities to score,” said Behm. “We really played well in that first half and that’s how we need to play for the rest of the postseason.”
Davis got the scoring going again for the North Stars in the second half with a goal on a pass from Kyle Swanson.
Bartlett’s Anthony DiNuzzo got the Hawks (11-11-2) on the board with a goal on a pass from Christian Castro with about 6 minutes left to play, but the North Stars would hold on and come away with the victory.
“We always try to take long shots, to test the goalie and see how well he’s doing,” said Davis. “If you can’t take shots, then you can’t score, so we always shoot.”
Despite the loss, Bartlett head coach Ben Beary was proud of the way his team grew throughout the postseason.
“To see my team handle this particular game the way that they did, and the maturity that they showed ... I wasn’t getting that out of them at the start of the season,” said Beary. “They’ve grown a lot. They just got beat by a better team, and it’s nothing to hang their heads about.”
The North Stars struggled with their conference schedule this year, but Davis knows that the playoffs are a whole other season.
“The playoffs are always huge for us,” said Davis. “We’re just trying to win state. We’ve only made it to the supersectionals before so we’re trying to win state.”