Schaumburg tops St. Charles East for title

Just being on the field in a Schaumburg girls soccer uniform is a bonus for Saxons forward Alexa Ben, who thought her season might have been over with an early-season knee injury.

But what seemed a torn ligament turned out to be just a bruise, so the freshman is sporting her Burgundy No. 9 shirt again.

And the Saxons were mighty happy to have Ben on the field in Saturday’s St. Charles East Invitational finale against the host Saints. Ben scored twice, including the game-winner with 4:25 to play as Schaumburg won 3-2 to claim the tournament title.

“Thank God it was only a bruise,” Ben said. “It’s very exciting.”

Ariel Larocco’s long pass up the left wing set Ben free for what proved to be the match-winner.

“That was a great ball,” Ben said. “When I got close, I thought I kicked it too far. But thank God I hit it in.”

Schaumburg coach Greg Charvat is one of the many associated with the Saxons program to have Ben back.

“She’s just kind of got back on the pitch and getting back into her own,” Charvat said.

Schaumburg (7-1-1) raced to a 2-0 first-half lead. Ben scored in the fifth minute of play after heading in a Teagan Eberle corner kick. Kelsey Steenstrup took a Ben pass and scored with a quarter-hour left in the half to make the lead 2-0.

St. Charles East (3-2-1) roared back in the final 20 minutes to tie the match. Lauren Rorhmeier scored the first on a penalty kick after a Schaumburg player was called for handball in the penalty area.

That goal came with just under 17 minutes to play. Three minutes later and Megan Smith tied the match when her long-range shot was mishandled by the Saxons goalie.

“We just have to learn to put the full game together,” St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. “We know the talent’s there. It’s just that they outworked us in the first 40 minutes. They won every ball and out-battled.”

Even in the minutes leading to their goals, the Saints began to control the midfield. The penalty kick came following a multi-shot sequence with the hosts trying to scramble the ball across the goal line.

“It’s a learning curve,” Jennison said. “They’re going to learn now that you only get so much by playing 40 minutes at a time. You’ve got to go out and give an 80-minute effort every time. They’ll learn from it.”

Then Ben scored and the Saxons celebrated.

“St. Charles East just came storming back today,” Charvat said. “We had some trouble containing them. But when all was said and done, (Ben) came in and made a great play.”