Girls soccer: St. Charles North wins 17th straight regional

The parts change year to year but St. Charles North girls soccer remains a remorseless regional championship machine.

The top-seeded North Stars secured the program's 17th straight regional title with a 5-1 victory over No. 9 St. Francis in a Class 3A championship match at Wheaton College Friday.

"The girls have a great mindset," fourth-year St. Charles North coach Brian Harks said. "We talk about tradition and this is just one tradition that they were able to (maintain). It's great. I'm just so happy that they get to experience this. They know that it doesn't come easy and they put a lot of work into it."

Midfielder Cece Wahlberg demonstrated such work after she was awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area with the North Stars already leading 2-0 late in the first half.

The Indiana State-bound senior bent a high-arcing shot toward the center of the goal. The leaping St. Francis keeper fingertipped the ball but could not stop it from finding the net.

Wahlberg's left-footed boot was no accident.

"She practiced that (Thursday)," teammate Claudia Najera said. "I stood right in front of the goalie because I knew she was going to get it. I just stayed there and watched it go in. It was great."

Well, maybe not so great from the Spartans' perspective.

"The third one was the one where now you could just see us deflated," St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. "We had a couple of opportunities early and we didn't take advantage of them. Give St. Charles North a ton of credit because they played super well. They're a high-caliber team. They defended well."

The St. Charles North defense was so stout senior keeper Sara Meleski had to make just 3 saves.

The only goal for St. Francis (9-8-3) came in the 58th minute. Junior Anna Moran pounced on the rebound of a direct kick by senior Hannah Rittenhouse that Meleski deflected off the crossbar.

It was a tough end to a trying season for the nomadic Spartans. Not only were the reigning Class 2A state champions bumped to 3A, they played no on-campus home games because the school's synthetic turf field remains unplayable due to flood damage.

"No home games. No practice facility. It's all been hard," Winslow said. "But don't read into anything other than take your hats off to St. Charles North."

Harks credited sophomore center backs Grace Barresi and Makenna Collins and senior defender Ali Wessel for containing Rittenhouse and said sophomore defender Brigitte Wolf "had one of her best games of the season."

"I also think our midfield and our front line did a great job defending," he said.

St. Charles North turned its 3-0 halftime lead into a 5-0 advantage when Najera scored twice in the first seven minutes of the second half. Wahlberg likewise finished with 2 goals and added an assist, and junior Sarah Andrey scored.

St. Charles North (17-1-2) advances to a Schaumburg sectional semifinal against Batavia on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. The Bulldogs eliminated rival Geneva 1-0. The North Stars can't wait.

"We want to continue this season because we want to be together," Najera said. "We want to win for each other."