Boys soccer: St. Charles North UEC River champs again

Having an entire week to think about a disappointing loss can be both a negative and a positive.

On the heels of last week's 2-1 loss to Streamwood, St. Charles North's boys soccer team rebounded in fine fashion during Tuesday night's 2-0 victory over Batavia (4-11-2, 0-5-1).

Junior forward Bernard Elegbede scored two goals within a 3½ minute span early in the second half as the North Stars (11-3-3, 4-1-1) captured their second consecutive Upstate Eight Conference River Division title during Tri-Cities Night at Burgess Field in Geneva.

"The thing we talked about at halftime was less touches and more combination play," said North Stars coach Eric Willson. "We picked up our speed of play, got the ball off our feet and got some movement off the ball."

Elegbede scored his first goal on a picture-perfect header off a corner kick by Jonathan Acevedo in the 45th minute.

His second goal - seventh of the season - came a few minutes later thanks to another assist from Acevedo.

"Coach told us to stay focused and play our game," said Elegbede. "Once we started doing that and moving the ball 1-2 touch, we got what we needed and the goals that we were looking for."

Willson wasn't surprised that Elegbede served as the catalyst.

"That kid has been really fantastic for us," said the coach. "He has been pretty productive in big games."

Conference title-clinching victories certainly fall into the big-game category.

"This conference is a real difficult one," said Willson. "I just don't think there is an easy game. For us to win back-to-back conference titles is really a testament to the type of players that we have. It's a pretty special group."

The Streamwood loss served as a reminder for the North Stars in many ways.

"It has kind of been stewing with us for a week," said Willson. "We've been training and working hard on things we thought we could improve upon. One of those was our combination play."

With the win, St. Charles North also retained possession of the "Fox Trophy" - awarded to the Tri-Cities' top point producer for the season.

Piercarlo Ricossa stopped 3 shots in the North Stars' shutout while junior keeper Treven Ritko-Siros made 11 saves for the Bulldogs.

In Tuesday's nightcap, St. Charles East (14-3-2, 4-2) put on a dazzling first-half display during its 1-0 victory over Geneva (7-8-2, 2-4).

Zachary Nelson tallied the game's lone goal off a feed from senior forward Justin Stepien in the 10th minute for the Saints, who unloaded 15 shots over the first 40 minutes.

"Incredibly proud of that performance - first half especially," said Saints coach Paul Jennison. "I thought that was as good as we can pass and move off the ball. That was different level."

On the plus side for Geneva was the fact that it was still a 1-goal game at halftime.

"I don't think East had more than one or two bad touches in the first half," said Vikings coach Ryan Estabrook. "That first half was pretty impressive by East."

"We had pretty much all the possession," said Stepien. "It does get frustrating (not scoring more) but at the same time you know you're doing something right when you're keeping the ball that long."

Junior keeper Jay Bode kept Geneva close with 10 saves - several of the spectacular variety.

"Jay had a good game," said Estabrook. "He got himself in the right positions and he was quick off his line."