Boys soccer: St. Charles East nips South Elgin

Scoring opportunities were rare during Wednesday night's nonconference boys soccer match between South Elgin and St. Charles East.

Perhaps it was understandable considering the fact that both teams were playing their second game in as many days.

"(Tuesday) night, we played an emotional conference game against one of our rivals (4-1 win over Batavia)," said Saints coach Paul Jennison. "I think some of these guys were drained but again you're looking for responses from lads."

Jennison received that response from 6-foot-4-inch senior defender Mitch Lucatorto, who gathered in a pass from junior forward Colin Coine and snapped a scoreless standoff with 1:24 remaining during the Saints' 1-0 victory at Norris Stadium.

"We've been challenging them regularly to show what they can do and today they stayed incredibly patient," said Jennison, whose team improved to 9-1-1. "You're always looking in a game like that for someone to step up and be the game winner."

Lucatorto certainly made the most of his first goal of the season.

"I saw the break all the way from the back," Lucatorto said of his 40-yard rush down the field. "(Colin) Coine was able to slot it back and I was just there in the right place at the right time.

"I play center mid as well so it's kind of home for me but at the same time it's different. I like to shoot though."

It was a disappointing finish for South Elgin (7-4), which battled the Saints throughout.

"I thought it was very even - it could have gone either way," said Storm coach Simon Brinklow. "It was one of those games where one goal probably would win it and unfortunately it was them."

However, Brinklow was pleased with his team's performance.

"We played Addison Trail (Tuesday) and we struggled," said the coach. "The one thing we said (tonight) was that we were going to play our game and I thought we did. There are a lot of positives to take away from the game."

Senior keepers Kevin Cook and Steven Owens combined for the Saints' fifth shutout of the season.

"I thought it was two very skilled teams that were just neutralizing each other," said Jennison. "South Elgin was very disciplined and organized. They defended well against us.

"It was nice to get a good 40 minutes from the guys in the second half."

South Elgin continues its busy week playing host to Plainfield Central Thursday afternoon in the PepsiCo Showdown.

"We will have to be rotating around a bit," said Brinklow.

St. Charles East, meanwhile, will enjoy a rare weekend off before visiting Larkin next Tuesday.

"It has been a great start to the season," said Jennison. "If you had offered us 9-1-1, there's no doubt we would be extremely happy with that.

"Now the real grind begins. The next four games are going to be incredibly difficult for us. The reality is I don't think we're as good as we can be just yet."