Girls soccer: Defense carries St. Charles North over Neuqua Valley
The St. Charles North girls soccer team's tenacious defense kept Neuqua Valley scoreless Saturday in a 3-0 North Stars home victory.
North has given up only one goal in its first three games of the season.
"We tell all the girls that our defense starts with our forwards and our attacks start with our backs," said North coach Brian Harks. "So our ability to play defense in 11 positions on the field is, I think, part of the reason why we've only given up one goal."
"All the midfielders did a great job but Cassidy (Joyce) did a great job of marking off number 5 (Alyssa Bombacino), one of their key players," said Hailey Rydberg, who scored 2 of the North Stars' goals. "I think that she and Sammy (Rydberg) really shut her down."
"I think we also took a nice step forward with our back line today," Harks said of his backs, which consists of two sophomores, a freshman and a junior.
North (3-0) scored all 3 of its goals in the first half.
Hailey Rydberg put the North Stars on the board at the 10 minute mark by successfully converting a penalty kick.
"Gia (Wahlberg) bounced off her defender and kind of put the defender in a tough position where it was a foul," Rydberg said, "I just stepped up and put it away."
"It started off with a throw-in. I saw Gia running on the side and it was all just really quick little passes that resulted in a goal," said Sarah Andrey, describing North's second strike at the halfway point of the first period. "I just happened to be in the right position."
Rydberg scored the final goal on a cross from Wahlberg, 3 minutes later.
"I saw Gia set up in the pocket and she knew exactly where I was going," Rydberg said "It was a perfect ball for me to touch and I just finished it."
"We gave up a PK early and they had a much better possession of the ball then we did in the first half. They work the ball well," said Neuqua coach Joe Moreau.
Neuqua (1-1) turned up its defense in the second half to prevent more North Star scoring. North's best opportunity was in the 72nd minute. Freshman Claudia Najera got past the Wildcat defense for a shot on goal in front of the net. Neuqua keeper Kasey Gillespie (4 saves) grabbed the ball before it crossed the line.
"We made some adjustments in the second half and our defense was more solid," Moreau said. "Offensively, we get some decent shots but were just not getting shots in the 18 (yard penalty area).
Sara Maleski (2 saves) and Nathalie Grier (4 saves) split goalkeeping duties for North. Maleski started and Grier took over in the second half.