Boys soccer: St. Charles North finds its stride at right time
After experiencing a rough stretch midway through the campaign that included a 7-game winless streak, St. Charles North's boys soccer team has turned its season around - and then some.
The 13th-seeded North Stars (11-4-3) captured their third Class 3A regional championship in 4 years with Friday night's 2-1 victory over 12th-seeded Schaumburg (9-10-1) in St. Charles.
"This is the time that you want to be, right?" North Stars coach Eric Willson said about his team playing its best soccer of the season. "After we went through those little struggles and came out on top of it, the confidence and momentum that we've had has just continued to build and grow.
"It shows in the way that you play."
Against Schaumburg, the North Stars grabbed an early 1-0 lead before many fans got to their seats.
Just 29 seconds into the match, senior midfielder Thomas Weber found the back of the net.
"We talked about starting fast in the locker room (before the game)," said Weber. "That's a perfect example.
"Nolan (senior forward Sinnaeve) headed it to me and I took a touch on the defender and just hit it."
Taking an early lead in a win-or-go-home game was exactly what the North Stars needed.
"Getting that goal in the first 30 seconds obviously is a great way to start," said Willson, who has guided the North Stars to 9 regional titles since taking over the helm in 2004.
Midway through the first half, the North Stars extended their lead to 2-0 on Nolan Sinnaeve's header off a picture-perfect corner kick from junior Luke Persenico.
"I cut in front of the defender and it was wide open," said Sinnaeve.
"For us to keep searching and find another goal was really positive," added Willson.
Thwarted on a couple decent scoring opportunities early in the second half, the Saxons narrowed the deficit to 2-1 on junior midfielder Ian Much's rebound goal with 4:31 remaining.
Schaumburg continued to make things interesting down the stretch, creating 3 corner kicks in the last minute as the North Stars held on for the victory.
"It got super hectic," said Weber.
"It's playoff soccer there at the end," said Willson. "They're throwing numbers forward because their season is on the line."
The late flurry didn't come as a surprise to Saxons coach Eric Sorby.
"That's a testament to our team - not giving up and these guys fighting to the end knowing one bounce, they could put it in and be back in this game," said Sorby, whose team included 12 seniors.
St. Charles North awaits top-seeded West Chicago (19-2-3) in Tuesday's 4:30 p.m. sectional semifinals at St. Charles East.
"It's going to be a difficult game but we'll do our best to get prepared and ready to go," said Willson.