Boys soccer: St. Charles East, Geneva win on rivalry night

No matter where Michael DePasquale runs on the soccer pitch, three words always are near his heart.

"For you, Mom."

DePasquale's mother, Tricia, passed away on July 17, 2021 after a courageous multiyear battle with Stage IV colon cancer.

Those words are protected underneath his captain's armband he wears every game this season.

Off the pitch, he wears a bracelet with her ashes tucked safely inside.

"She used to come to almost all of my high school games," DePasquale shared following St. Charles North's 4-0 loss to St. Charles East as a portion of the annual Tri-City Soccer Night on Tuesday. "And just sit in the bleachers and watch. She always just loved seeing me play and the way that I play. [Tonight], I just tried to play like I'm playing for her. I like to pretend she's there watching me in the stands."

Each year, T-shirt and raffle ticket sales are donated to a designated cause. Tuesday's proceeds will go toward cancer research in Tricia DePasquale's memory.

For at least 80 minutes during a given game - or practice, soccer summer camp session and the like - "soccer is definitely an escape."

"It definitely allows me to get away from the reality of what's happening," DePasquale continued. "Tonight was definitely a great night for that."

"I think it was that way during the summer time, too, leading up to the season coming up to summer camp and being a part of that," North Stars coach Eric Willson said. "Staying extra to help out the younger kids, going and watching our freshmen and just doing things because I think soccer was a bit of en escape."

Since the moment Willson met DePasquale upon entering high school, "you just knew he was a quality individual, a good person who cared about his teammates [and] did things the right way."

"He comes from an amazing family and he's just a really special kid, so all we can do is support him through difficult times the best way we can," Willson said. "Whatever is going on on the field for us is totally secondary when it comes to things like this. I'm glad we could do, as a group of four programs, come together - like we have over the years - and do something for a really good cause."

In the game, the Saints (13-1-0, 3-1) received goals from Josh Ruiz, Will Orloff and two from Sebastian Carranza. The North Stars (4-2-5, 0-0-4) last victory came on Sept. 11. Since then, they've lost twice and tied three times.

"Josh Ruiz looked very good; I thought Luca [Avendano] played well," St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo said. "The midfield, when they were all together on the field at the same time, they were very cohesive. It was fun to watch them move the ball."

In the second game, Geneva (4-7-3, 2-1-2) beat Batavia in a convincing 4-1 victory.

Trent Giansanti's hat trick accounted for Geneva's three goals and a 3-0 lead. Batavia senior forward and captain Ryan Kahley scored just before the half to cut into the lead. Geneva defender Braeden McPheron added an insurance goal in the second half.

"That's two games in a row [with a fast start]; so Saturday, when we played Bartlett, we got off to a quick start," Geneva coach Jason Bhatta said. "Tonight, two goals within the first 10 minutes. If we take our chances - that's what we weren't doing in the first half of the year - we weren't taking our chances ... we've got goal scorers Like Christian [Diaz] and Trent, they can score goals. They're coming into form now. I think that's five goals in two games for Trent and [Christian] is getting assists and everything."

For Batavia (6-7, 2-2) it was the team's second straight loss.

"[We didn't get a fast start]. When you don't mark up, doesn't matter what it is. We've marked up well all year, just didn't do it tonight," Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. "They made us pay. Other teams maybe didn't make us pay, [but] they made us pay."