Girls soccer notes: Marquee matchups await with postseason coming up

When St. Charles North beat St. Charles East, 4-1, last Tuesday as part of Tri-Cities Night, it was the second time the North Stars had beaten the Saints in five days.

The North Stars knocked out the Saints, 2-1, in a Naperville Invitational semifinal last Friday night.

Last Tuesday would have been the third time the teams had met if not for snow in March that led to the cancellation of the title game in the Rose Augsburg-Drach Invitational.

"We see them a number of times since we host the (Rose Augsburg-Drach Invitational) and that got snowed out and then we just so happened to meet in the semis last week," North Stars coach Brian Harks said. "It's never easy to beat a team as talented as St. Charles East so to do it back-to-back, the girls played extremely well."

There's a solid chance that a third battle could be down the road near the end of May. If both teams win regionals and sectional semifinals they would meet in the Class 3A West Chicago sectional championship game on May 27.

"Is it ideal to play teams multiple times? No," Harks said. "But by playing talented teams it's always nice to test ourselves."

Last year the North Stars handled the Saints during two games during regular season play, but the Saints beat them 3-1 in a sectional final. Could it be déjà vu all over again?

"It's a great rivalry that has created some fantastic memories over the years," Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo said. "St. Charles has a rich history of quality soccer and we are happy to contribute to that history. Regardless of record, rank or players, the teams always have spirited and competitive matches. We learn a lot about ourselves after every match against them and it's credited to the level that North plays at."

Semerau the Scorer:

Harvest Christian Academy (4-5-2) might struggle with numbers when it comes to personnel, but the Lions haven't struggled in scoring this spring behind a tremendous sophomore season by Ellie Semerau.

Semerau has scored 37 goals and added 8 assists while only playing in 10 games.

"She's phenomenal," Harvest Christian Academy coach Carmelina Hudson said. "She knows where to place the ball. It's been amazing to watch."

She might be the brightest star at Harvest Christian Academy, which is also getting huge output from fellow sophomore Daniela Martinez (15 goals, 15 assists) and senior Ashley Barkow (9 goals).

Unlike the large public schools that are often blessed with big numbers, Hudson looks to her bench and sees just three players when 11 others are on the field. It's certainly been a challenge.

"It's especially tough when we don't have all 14 of them here," she said. "There's one game we lost that could've been different if we had everybody, but overall it's been a great season. And Ellie (Semerau) has been so versatile. When some of the team can't show up because of injuries I've been able to pull her different directions and she's still pulling off assists and shots on the best teams."

Conference races:

Congratulations to Benet who not only went undefeated to win the East Suburban Catholic Conference again, but also didn't surrender a single goal in conference play this spring.

Tuesday's Naperville Central at Metea Valley game has huge DuPage Valley Conference implications. The Mustangs (4-0 in DVC) are looking to sweep the conference, while the Redhawks are eyeing a potential tie with a win since they're currently 3-1 as is Naperville North. The Huskies travel to Waubonsie Valley on Tuesday.

St. Charles North (6-0 in the DuKane) will try for a perfect conference season when it travels to Batavia on Thursday. St. Charles East (5-1) will travel to Wheaton North while third-place Geneva (3-2) has road games at Wheaton Warrenville South and Lake Park this week.

Crystal Lake Central (8-0 in Fox) is at Prairie Ridge on Tuesday with the title already wrapped up since Burlington Central (6-1-1) already has a tie and a loss while Huntley (4-1-3) wraps up against Crystal Lake South.

The biggest game on Tuesday is between Downers Grove South and Morton since both teams are 5-0 in the West Suburban Gold. The winner will take the conference. While in the West Suburban Silver, Lyons (5-0) controls its own destiny, finishing up at home against Glenbard West (4-3-1) on Tuesday while York (4-1) hosts Downers Grove North (4-2-2).

Another huge game on Tuesday involves St. Francis (4-0 in Metro Suburban Blue) hosting Riverside-Brookfield (4-0).

Postseason possibilities:

Addison Trail, Huntley, South Elgin, St. Charles North, West Aurora and defending champ Metea Valley are among the area schools hosting 3A regionals.

Some of the potential outstanding matchups for regional title games on May 19 include a possible Jacobs vs. McHenry game at the Grant regional and an all-Downers Grove battle between North and South at Addison Trail that same night.

DuKane foes Batavia and Wheaton North could meet on May 20 at Hoffman Estates for a regional title as could Geneva and West Chicago in South Elgin.

Some of the Naperville area's top teams hope to congregate at the East Aurora sectional where a potential Naperville Central versus Metea Valley game could happen in the sectional finals, which is where Naperville North is hopeful to be as well.

In 2A action, Glenbard South got a rough draw as the No. 8 seeded Raiders will meet top-seeded Benet in a regional semifinal if they can first defeat Chicago (Noble/Mansueto).

If Wheaton Academy can win its regional semifinal it will have the daunting task of beating host Lemont in the final.

St. Francis will host a regional and the No. 4 seeded Spartans would likely take on No. 5 seed Kaneland in the regional final on May 19.

Burlington Central, which obviously hopes to be one of the teams still playing when it hosts a sectional, would either get Cary-Grove or Woodstock North in a May 19 regional title game, but first would have to beat Harvard or Woodstock.