St. Charles N. ready for rematch at state
There was a moment at the end of Tuesday’s St. Charles North-Barrington match when a half-dozen former North Stars gathered on the field for a photo — and it was a talent-laden group with their arms over each other’s shoulders.
Just to the right of center, 2010 Tri-Cities All-Area Captain Leah DeMoss stood next to 2011 All-Area Captain Sammi Gage and most had some form of St. Charles North gear on.
St. Charles North has been in existence for 12 years, yet it has not only been incredibly successful, but it has embedded that familial nature deep its collective DNA. And those North Stars of the past get one more weekend to cheer on the current team when the IHSA Class 3A semifinals open tonight at North Central College.
“It was so cool after that Barrington win, you had the Barrs, the Stoecklins, Manskis, Gages and Duseks, and we’ve got the two Durochers on the team now, all these families with kids who have helped built that legacy,” St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. “To look at how many alumni we have that have been to the state tournament, whether they graduated last year or the year before — or even before that — they’ve all been a part of that.”
One more state finals chapter gets written this weekend. When St. Charles North (18-5-2) faces Downers Grove South (19-5-3) at 7 p.m. in the evening’s second Class 3A semifinal. Naperville North and Glenbrook South play at 5 p.m.
Downers Grove South has one of the state’s strongest girls soccer traditions. In 29 years, coach Barry Jacobson has won 488 games and the Mustangs have finished second once, third once and fourth twice.
This year’s Mustangs team has won 12 of its last 13 matches and has three star attackers. They are led by Sarra Ludwig, who has scored 29 goals this season. Flo Beshiri added 15 goals and 13 assists while Jessica Bronke has 9 goals and 14 assists. Ludwig is the player who garners the most attention for her size, her strength and ability in the air.
“Obviously we’d like to keep it on the ground against them,” Vostal said. “Their style is to be dangerous from set pieces and we’re going to do our best to limit those. But we’re going to do our best to defend throw ins as well as set pieces. We have played great forwards in Iowa as well as in Illinois and I feel we know what we have to do to try to defend against them.”
The two teams met early in the season and St. Charles North won 1-0 on a Lauren Koehl goal late in the second half.
“It gives us a better idea of what they do,” Vostal said. “You know about Sarra Ludwig up top and you have an idea of their tendencies and their style of play, and that gives us a little comfort. But the outcome from that match doesn’t matter. We’ve grown and improved and I am sure they have as well. It will be a completely different matchup.”
Jacobson is retiring after this weekend, bringing one of the longest coaching careers in Illinois girls soccer to a close. He was the Mustangs coach when Vostal played for the school now known as St. Charles East. Vostal, then Ruth Poulin, graduated in 1994.
“I’ve always admired him as a coach,” Vostal said. “I remember playing against them and they had great players like Nicki Little. I know he is a tremendous coach and I respect him. He deserves recognition for the number of years he’s coached and the success he’s had.”
Vostal is forging a successful career at St. Charles North. In her 12th season, she has won 196 games and taken the North Stars to the state finals twice previously — a second-place finish in 2004 and a third-place finish in 2010.
“When St. Charles North first opened, I knew St. Charles soccer had been so successful,” Vostal said. “So I made sure a lot of the coaches at St. Charles North had come from St. Charles East because I wanted to bring that legacy over. I think we captured it.”
In addition to Vostal, other North Stars coaches who played for the Saints included Merit (Elzey) Stloukal, Sarah Lynch, Anne Poulin and Stacey (Peterson) Carlson. The sense of a legacy continues. Vostal’s varsity assistant is Annie Lauterer, who was a senior on the 2004 North Stars team that finished runner-up to New Trier.
“(Lauterer) used to talk about being a ballkid for my sister Anne’s team and being on that field and watching them and wanting to do great stuff when her time came,” Vostal said. “She got to do all of that at North. And now there are kids who grew up and saw her on the field and now she’s on the staff and they see that too.”
Four North Stars have experience from playing in the 2010 finals — seniors Carleigh Dusek, Lisa Manski, Koehl and junior Alex Gage. Manski is suffering from a back injury that will keep her from playing. But collectively, Vostal has tapped their experience in preparing for this weekend’s matches.
“I tell these girls on the roster and also the seniors that if they’re here for four years, I want them to have the experience of going to state,” Vostal said. “Whether it’s the team brunch that we’re going to have or decorating the bus or walking onto the field knowing they’re one of the top teams in the state, there’s so much more that goes into it than bringing home whatever trophy we will get on Saturday. They’ve extended their season as long as they could, and we want those who have been here before to step up as leaders when we get there.”
Vostal said there isn’t much that can be done to improve the team’s fitness at this point of the season. So practices have dealt with tactical things the coaches feel might be relevant to the match with Downers Grove South.
“I really think a lot has been done with the mental focus and mental preparation,” Vostal said. “As a coach, you can do a lot when they’re on the field, but there is so much ore that you can do before you send them out there. We’re going to focus on the little details that we feel we can improve on and what we need to do in order to stop them and then be sure they’re ready to fight.”
St. Charles North has its share of stars. Offensively, Koehl has 22 goals and 11 assists while Kelly Manski has 10 goals and 12 assists. One of the unsung heroes is 11-goal, 8-assist junior Natalie Winkates.
“She’s been consistent throughout the year,” Vostal said. “It’s continued in the playoffs. She’s a fighter and a scrapper and a nuisance in the middle. She does have that fight. All of our girls have that, but there is a different level with Natalie where she stitches it into a different drive and her energy is at a different level.”
Defensively, the North Stars have not allowed a goal in the postseason.
But after all the preparation, Vostal said there is a time when she also wants her players to go and play and try to enjoy and express themselves.
“We have a lot of different quotes that we use, but one of them is to play for the love of the game,” Vostal said. “I tell them to play for the reason that they put on their cleats when they were 5-years-old and playing Tri-Cities Soccer. I want them to go and play for their teammates. We do all the hard work, but when we want them to take a moment and play for the love of the game. Then no matter what happens, we will walk off the field and feel good about it.”