Girls soccer: St. Charles North secures regional crown
Four-year varsity starters Hailey Rydberg and Gia Wahlberg finished their home careers Friday night the same way they started them back in 2015 - with a victory.
The senior co-captains helped lead St. Charles North's girls soccer team (19-0-1) to its 16th consecutive regional championship with a 4-0 triumph over Bartlett (11-7-3) in St. Charles.
"It's crazy how the time goes by but it was a great game to end on here," said Rydberg, who assisted on her younger sister Sami's goal late in the first half as the North Stars stretched their lead to 3-0.
Wahlberg, meanwhile, finished what Rydberg started midway through the half with an easy touch rebound for the North Stars' second goal of the game.
Bartlett junior keeper Teagan Noesen made the initial save of Rydberg's point-blank attempt before Wahlberg cleaned up the second-shot opportunity.
Together, the "Bergs", as they're affectionately called by North Stars public address announcer Grant Oler, Rydberg and Wahlberg capped their high school years with an amazing home record of 28-1-1 with the lone loss coming in April of 2015.
"It's sad but it feels good right now," said Wahlberg, the school's all-time leading goal scorer. "We got the win in the last time on the field. It's a little upsetting but I'm grateful for it."
With the win, the top-seeded North Stars advance to Tuesday's 4:30 p.m. Class 3A Geneva sectional semifinals against 4th-seeded St. Charles East (13-5-6), which defeated Geneva 2-0 Friday afternoon in Rolling Meadows.
"We'll deal with that one on Tuesday but we're looking forward to it," said North Stars coach Brian Harks, whose team beat the Saints 3-1 on April 24.
Against 8th-seeeded Bartlett, the North Stars used a tried and true method - jumping on top early as freshman Chloe Netzel's shot trickled over the goal line off a feed from Claudia Najera.
"It's something we strive for," said Wahlberg, "It doesn't feel good being scored on early."
Sophomore Sarah Andrey accounted for the lone second-half tally, juking a defender before delivering a tough-angle shot into the right-hand corner.
Junior keeper Sara Maleski recorded 5 saves as the North Stars notched their ninth shutout.
"At the end of the game, I made sure that the girls took a step back," said Harks. "Even though regional championships seem like a common thing in this program, it's a real big accomplishment. It's not something to take lightly.
"I told them to at least take a brief moment to be proud of what they've done and then take that moment and move forward."
It helps to have leaders like Rydberg and Wahlberg around as well.
"Those players are obviously a big part of this current group but they're going to leave a lasting impression for years to come," said Harks. "The tone that they set in games and practices and in the offseason - their teammates see it and want to step up their games."
Noesen made 12 saves for Bartlett.
"I think we fought hard," said Hawks senior Jenna Dombrowski. "It's hard to defend a team like that. We were just trying to pack it in the middle and deal with them how we could."