Girls soccer: St. Charles North blanks Streamwood in regional opener

Kaitlin Glenn's minutes on the pitch appear set to take off for St. Charles North.

The rise in confidence and dedicated refinement to her skills are just part of the equation for the North Stars' freshman. Glenn's finishing tally in the North Stars' Class 3A Streamwood regional semifinal 8-0 win over the Sabres is perhaps an example of her putting it together.

"Megan McGuire dropped the ball wide, picked her head up, had great vision to find that ball," North Stars coach Brian Harks said. "First touch out of Glenn, the composure to find the back of the net. What a great way to start your playoff career in high school with a goal."

Bella Najera and Sophia Hein each scored two goals in the first half for the North Stars (17-2), who continued to pour it on in the second half. Juliana Park, Sidney Timms, Sophie Sutherland and Glenn all found the back of the net in the dominating playoff opener.

Streamwood (7-13-1) struggled to generate much offensive chances against the North Stars, but goalie Selina Chavez kept busy with eight saves.

The No. 1 seeded St. Charles North will face either Elgin or Bartlett in the regional final at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Glenn's adjustment to varsity skill and speed has been a steady progression as minutes were hard to come by at the start of the year.

"My touch on the ball was really poor," Glenn said. "But I feel like over the season my touch has become better and I've been getting more minutes."

Gaining confidence has flipped that switch.

"At the beginning of the season, I really wasn't confident in myself," Glenn said. "But more toward the end of the season, where we are now, I began to build more confidence in myself and just be strong on the field."

"Coach [Eric] Willson, he's a very good coach," Glenn said. "I feel like he's definitely one of the coaches who has pushed me to be a better player. He's willing to stay after school to help players get a better touch on the ball. He's constantly telling you how to improve and get better."

McGuire, for her part, "is a player who is super aggressive."

"There's never a moment - whether it be in a game or practice - where you know she [isn't] giving you absolutely everything she has," Harks said. "It just doesn't go unnoticed by the coaching staff and by her teammates and it's such a blessing to have on our team because her teammates see that and feed off it."

"I absolutely love Megan," Glenn said. "She's one of the players that welcomed me on the team. She's one of the players that's really helped me get to where I am today. She's been constantly helping me grow, improve and give me feedback and [her assist on my goal] was a good cross, too."

Streamwood coach Matt Polovin juggled the lineup all season with varying player combinations, but they still found a way for seven wins.

"Just definitely proud of how we came out every game. It was a weird season," Polovin said. "I didn't have a back-to-back game where I am the same lineup because of injuries, vacations, family emergencies, that's how it's been. We had some really good games. I mean, we played Batavia [lost] 2-0 [last week]. We easily should've tied that game ... can't take anything away from North. They're stacked. They're a great team. They're a No. 1 seed for a reason."

" ... Our girls, they did everything they could," Polovin said. " ... for me personally, I've been doing this for 21 years. I've never had a season like that [with the lineup changes]. I have some seniors I'm going to miss who have really given a lot to this program."