St. Charles East blanks South Elgin
Defense may win championships, but you need offense to win games.
he St. Charles East girls soccer team had plenty of that Saturday in a 5-0 defeat of South Elgin in a Upstate Eight crossover match at Streamwood's Millennium Field.
The Saints improved to 2-0 with a pair of goals in the first 12 minutes, then another in the 36th that rendered the second half basically academic.
"Ball movement and team involvement," East coach Paul Jennison noted as the key to his team's first-half offensive explosion. "We've got good some good weapons, but at the same time, when you can interchange 18 girls and give them equal time throughout the game, that shows we're dealing with a team mentality here."
It took only 26 seconds for the Saints to connect Saturday. Junior Claire Rasmussen got fouled in front of the South Elgin bench, then blasted the ensuing free kick to senior Julia Peterson at the 6-yard box, who promptly headed the ball into the right corner of the net.
"It was a beautiful goal," Rasmussen said. "I served it into Julia and she had a beautiful header goal, perfectly placed."
Rasmussen herself got into the scoring act in the 12th minute, firing a missile from about 30 yards out into the right corner of the net, past diving South Elgin senior goalkeeper Jackelyn De La Mora.
Two minutes later, it was almost 3-0 as East sophomore forward Chantel Carranza took a pass inside the 6-yard box from junior Megan O'Neal but fired it wide right of the goal.
Carranza made up for that miscue in the 36th minute, taking a pass down the center from junior Morgan Kull and heading it into the right corner of the net. Kull had 3 assists Saturday.
Junior Hannah Kolb added goals in the 50th and 72nd minutes to seal the victory for the Saints, but she insisted that individual accomplishments pale in comparison to the bigger picture.
"Whether we set goals or score goals, we do it together," Kolb said.
South Elgin was playing its third game in about 40 hours, and tired legs just couldn't generate much offense. The Storm got outshot 17-4 and managed just 1 shot in the second half.
But there's plenty of season to go, and though her team is 0-3, Storm coach Tiffany Disher sees good things on the horizon.
"The best thing that I can say is my players have really bonded," she said. "Listening to their comments at halftime, they are very positive, their soccer IQ is high and they are willing to share their knowledge with others on the team."
Freshman goalkeeper Ashley Kopzyk had 6 saves for South Elgin, all in the second half.