Girls soccer: Show of strength from St. Charles North against Libertyville
One of the few remaining unbeaten girls soccer teams in the state, St. Charles North, remained that way by displaying its strength and ability.
The North Stars (15-0-3), led by Gia Wahlberg's play-making effort, put on an impressive display in winning Thursday's matchup hosted by Libertyville 3-0.
Wahlberg, who has 15 goals and 10 assists this spring, was involved in all three goals. But the contributions were numerous, as usual, for St. Charles North.
"I think I contribute well enough," said Wahlberg, a junior who has made a verbal commitment to Michigan State. "I definitely need my teammates' support, and I couldn't do it without them. There's no one player that's the best."
Hailey Rydberg, her younger sister Sami and Sara Audrey scored for the North Stars.
"We had this idea all season that we wanted to continually test ourselves," St. Charles North coach Brian Harks said. "We wanted to go against strong opponents, see what were made of and Libertyville was a very good team. For us this was a good result. Our girls came out and played really well. They had a nice mental approach to the game."
St. Charles North will take part Class 3A sectional action beginning Tuesday. The second-seeded North Stars begin with regional play against No. 15 seed Glenbard North in DeKalb at 4:30 p.m.
Libertyville (8-5-1) takes part in the Warren sectional. The sixth-seeded Wildcats will meet No. 10 Buffalo Grove at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Fremd regional.
The Wildcats hope they'll benfit from playing a team of the North Stars' caliber.
"(St. Charles North) was real strong and a really great team to go against," Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said. "A very physical team and great touches. We got lost a little bit, but we got a chance to get a lot of players into the game and we came out of the game healthy."
Wahlberg was taken down in the penalty area late in the first half, and Hailey Rydberg (verbal commit to Iowa) made the ensuing penalty kick in the 40th minute for her 13th goal this season.
Sami Rydberg made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute, when Wahlberg dropped a ball back to her.
In the 58th minute, Wahlberg hit a perfectly placed cross from the right side to Audrey, who headed it into the back of the net for a 3-0 advantage.
The North Stars' defense has allowed just 10 goals in 18 games this season. Keeper Sami Sample made 8 shots and got the shutout with support from back-liners Addy Ams, Claire Barresi, Madison Kaufman and Nicole Neslund.
"I've been really impressed with our back line all season," Harks said. "They're vocal, they're proactive in their movements and I think they do a nice job limiting other teams' chances on our frame."