Girls soccer: St. Charles N., Jacobs, Elgin notch Pepsi wins
The St. Charles North girls soccer team began its defense of its 2017 PepsiCo Showdown championship on the right note with a 2-0 win over Stagg in a U.S. Army bracket opener at Olympic Park in Schuamburg Saturday.
All goals for North (6-0-1) came in the second half and mainly from the foot of Claudia Najera, who tallied 1 goal and 1 assist. Hailey Rydberg also scored and keeper Sara Maleski made 2 saves on 12 shot attempts in her shutout.
Jacobs 2, Morton 1 (PKs): At PepsiCo, Golden Eagles received a late goal from Cassie Kowalski in the final 3 minutes of regulation to send this U.S. Navy bracket opener into penalty kicks, where Jacobs won 3-0. Keeper Emily Pasetes made all 3 saves in the shootout while Tori Adams had 1 assist for Jacobs (3-2-2).
Elgin 1, Homewood-Floosmoor 0: The Maroons (3-5) opened U.S. Marine Corps action at Pepsi with a win behind Makenna Downing's goal off Hayly Munoz's assist. Getting a shutout in goal was Joana Mercado with 1 save.