Girls soccer: St. Charles North squeaks by Batavia
St. Charles North's girls soccer team has thrived in pressure situations throughout the regular season.
Tuesday night's annual Tri-City Shootout offered another opportunity to see what the North Stars were made of as they faced host Batavia (12-3-2, 3-2-1) with a share of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division championship hanging in the balance.
Despite being held scoreless in the first half - thanks primarily to the superb play of Batavia senior keeper Jenny Scara - the North Stars (14-0-3, 5-0-1) upped the intensity a little bit more in the second half and finally found the range during their hard-fought 1-0 victory.
Freshman Sami Rydberg recorded the game's only goal - her second of the season - on a rebound attempt with 31:29 remaining in the second half.
"After the first shot didn't go in, I was just focused on seeing where the rebound went and I wanted to finish it," said Rydberg.
"We had a big player step up in the form of a freshman - Sami Rydberg," said North Stars coach Brian Harks, whose team finished in a first-place tie with Geneva in the UEC River. "She didn't get the first shot but she stayed with it and got the rebound. It was really nice to see.
"It's a share (of the conference title) but at the same time we set out mini-milestones throughout the season. This was one of them so it feels good at the end of the day."
St. Charles North peppered 18 shots on the Bulldogs' defense, 13 of which were turned aside by Scara - several of spectacular variety.
"Their keeper on the back line is amazing," said Harks. "She made some really nice saves. That was impressive."
"Jenny (Scara) played really well," said Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco. "That's why she is probably the top keeper in the area because of just that. She definitely kept us in the game."
Rydberg, whose older sister Hailey is one of the North Stars' top players, was happy to contribute in a big way.
"It's great to be able to help out and make a difference on the field," said the younger Rydberg. "I look up to my sister as a role model. Their keeper made some amazing saves especially during the first half. We just wanted to come back and find a way to get one in - and we did."
Harks was enthused by his team's perseverance.
"I was happy with the way our forwards responded (in the second half)," he said. "They kept fighting and fighting, trying to find the next one. It could have been easy for them to get frustrated but they stayed after it."
Batavia managed just two shots on goal against North Stars senior keeper Sami Sample.
"We were fortunate to only give up one but we would have liked a little more on the offensive end in the last 30 minutes," said Gianfrancesco.
"I like them having the vision of seeing somebody before the playoffs that is a good team. It keeps them engaged."
• A total of $1,386.15 was raised by the four Tri-Cities teams toward cervical cancer.