Hinsdale Central rallies to beat St. Charles North

There's a reason teams like Hinsdale Central and St. Charles North play in tournaments like the PepsiCo Showdown, and Thursday's encounter in St. Charles proved that point.

The teams clashed in a Showdown quarterfinal which gave a feeling of tournament pressure one month before the IHSA postseason begins in a hard fought contest won 2-1 by the visiting Red Devils.

"A match like this prepares us for the playoffs," Hinsdale Central coach Michael Smith said. "That's why we're in this tournament. St. Charles North is a school that isn't on our schedule. It's a match against a strong program with a great coaching staff where we knew they were going to be prepared."

Many teams compete in tournaments in this middle portion of the season. Hinsdale Central heads next week to the Naperville Invitational while St. Charles North prepares for its annual trip to Iowa for the Tournament of Champions.

"I think when you get further into the winner's bracket in the PepsiCo tournament, you see the light at the end of the tunnel," St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. "I look at tonight's game as another opportunity to play a top team in the season. I'd like to play all the top teams. I know we will play another great team on Saturday."

The match took nearly 20 minutes to move into high gear, and when it did, Hinsdale Central (8-1) had its best chance of the opening half to score. Emma Dannhausen-Brun was released in the penalty area and forced North Stars keeper Shelby Stitz to make a strong save.

The North Stars (5-2-1) battled their way into the match and the sides were soon back at equilibrium. That changed with 3 minutes left in the half when Hanna Durocher fought her way through two tackles in the left corner before sending the ball to the goalmouth, where freshman Gia Wahlberg finished the opening goal with a shot high into the net.

"I say all the time that (Durocher) is one of the craftiest players in a one-yard radius," Vostal said. "She's able to have that vision, and she had the vision to find (Wahlberg), who's going to be an incredible goal scorer."

Both sides made adjustments at halftime, especially Hinsdale Central, which needed to at least tie the match if it wanted to advance in the tournament.

"The one thing we talked about at halftime is that we play with a style that requires a level of thoughtfulness and familiarity and movement," Smith said. "In the first half, we were getting to the right places and not playing the ball on time. So we talked about doing what we do best and being consistent in that behavior."

Nine minutes into the second half, St. Charles North nearly doubled its lead when Laren Neslund headed over the crossbar. One minute later, Hinsdale Central tied the score when Dannhausen-Brun ended a quick-passing move when she moved in alone on Stitz. Dannhausen-Brun's initial shot was saved, but the Red Devils junior retrieved the rebound, moved to the right in the penalty area and scored.

Ninety seconds later, Hinsdale Central had the goal it needed to win the match and advance to Saturday's semifinals when Erin Smith sent a 35-yard free kick from the left wing into the goal just under the crossbar.

"We talk about seizing the opportunity and not waiting for it to happen," Smith said. "(Erin Smith) saw their goalie was cheating a little bit and took a chance on it. That's what we want, because she showed confidence in her ability to take that chance."

Despite allowing a pair of goals, St. Charles North's defense showed its development after being reshaped in the off-season.

"I feel we really helped each other tonight," North Stars defender Neslund said. "When someone messed up, someone else stepped up and covered. We did a really good job of working together today."

The fact that Thursday's match had a tournament atmosphere was beneficial those defenders, who worked under pressure rather than in a blowout match.

"This tournament's shown us that we can step up in the last 30 seconds and score a goal," Neslund said. "We can work together and have high intensity. I think we're growing well together."