St. Charles North wins a thriller against Vernon Hills

Opening-round girls soccer games in the PepsiCo Showdown tournament aren't often easy.

Fifth-seeded St. Charles North found that out in a hurry but got a winning goal from freshman Hailey Rydberg in the final minute to push past unseeded Vernon Hills 3-2 at Olympic Park in Schaumburg on Saturday afternoon.

Rydberg scored her third goal of the season when, after taking a pass from Claire Barresi, she scored in the final 30 seconds from up top, outside of the box.

"We just kept pushing and I heard everyone on the sideline," Rydberg said. "I just got a pass back, and I was able to get a shot. I just faked one way, thought I could shoot it and go for it. It was a pretty goal to get."

It was especially fetching to the North Stars (4-1-1), who next host No. 12 seed Lake Forest (5-1) in the Round of 16 on Tuesday. St. Charles North didn't play its best soccer, even though it jumped out to a 2-goal advantage in the first eight minutes.

"I don't think we played great overall," St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said. "There were some nice moments that we had some sequences of attacking. But overall, we were just off. We got 2 nice goals and just let up. We had a problem getting started again. When you get up 2 goals, you have to learn how to finish that off. It was great that we found a way to win at the end."

Hanna Durocher scored both of the North Stars' early goals. She scored in the second minute off an assist from Madison Kaufmann. Six minutes later, Durocher struck following a pass from Lizzi Parrelli.

Vernon Hills (2-5) didn't let down while facing the 2-goal deficit, though the Cougars played the match without starters Natalie Orozco and Erin VanDemerkt.

The Cougars bounced back off a set piece as Amy Andrea scored from up top in the 30th minute. Three minutes later, Kelly Hull was on the spot to score off a rebound to tie it at 2.

"It was against a good team that's seeded higher than us," said Vernon Hills coach Vince DeLuca. "We wanted to come out here and play well. We weren't worried about winning or losing. We wanted to put together a nice game. All the credit goes to the girls, being down 2 goals and fighting back. Then we had a chance to score in the second half. (St. Charles) goalkeeper (Shelby Stitz) made some nice saves and our keeper (Sydney Resnick) also made some nice saves.

"It could've gone either way at the end."

• Unseeded Warren made a push of its own and had No. 2 Lyons on the ropes until the Lyons climbed back to beat the Blue Devils 3-2 in penalty kicks.

Lyons backup keeper Lidia Breen came off the bench for the PK session. She made four straight stops - three diving, one with a punch over the crossbar. The Lions won the kicks 2-0.

"It was good game and I was really happy how the girls played," Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. "We had a couple new faces with some girls injured. I'm pleased with how we sorted things out on the fly against a real good opponent.

"We're still trying to sort out the best place for everyone to be. I think we made some good steps in this one and we were really clicking in the second half. I thought we were pretty dangerous with some shots off the post - and some good saves by their keeper (Emily Johnson)."

Warren (2-2-1) got its goals from Valentina Rodriguez after a corner kick and from Natalie McNally, assisted by Alliyah Parker. Lyons (4-0-2) got both its goals from Margaret Lynch.

• No. 10 Lake Zurich started the tournament with a 2-0 victory over unseeded Prairie Ridge.

The Bears (5-2-1) scored a goal in each half. Emily Undelhoven tallied the first one off Maggie Tuckey's free kick in the eighth minute. Nicole Rasiarmos had the other goal, with Madiline Blasko picking up the assist.

Lake Zurich's Elly Daleske made 4 saves and earned her fourth shutout.

"It's a good win," Lake Zurich coach Michael Castronova said. "In a tournament like this you want to win and advance. We came out and worked hard. Our forwards were pushing (Prairie Ridge) back. We were playing with more movement."

Lake Zurich will next be on the road for a second-round matchup at No. 7seed Metea Valley on Tuesday.

• Unseeded Libertyville made it four straight wins to start its season as the Wildcats beat No. 16 seed Crystal Lake South 3-1. The Wildcats (4-0) scored all 3 goals in the first half.

"Great win," Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. "It's great to score early. You never know what can happen on this turf. It was important to get a lead and play good defense, which we did in the second half. I thought we played a nice game."

LIbertyville got its goals from Taylor Underwood, Maggie Peterson and Gabby Struick. Emily and Maddie Olson, along with Annie Thompson, picked up assists.

Crystal Lake South (5-2-1) had its goal from Alyssa Gaede.

"(Libertyville) was a very tough team," Crystal Lake South coach Jay Mueller said. "We came out a little sluggish in the first half and we gave up a soft goal early. It took us a little while to get into the game. Second half, I thought we played much stronger and kept them out of our goal for a half."

Libertyville advances for a test at top-seeded New Trier, the defending state champ, on Tuesday night.