Girls soccer: Sitta scores twice in Saints' 600th win
Moments after the final whistle, the girls of the St. Charles East soccer team gathered in their own goal.
The number 600 was soon raised high above their heads. Thursday night's 2-0 victory over St. Charles North served more than any other win.
Not only did the Saints continue their 16-0-0 undefeated season, secure the DuKane Conference and their top-ranked seed for the postseason - history in itself - St. Charles East also won the 600th game in program history.
"The history of the program, it's right in front of us," St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo said. "Even [St. Charles] North, they're part of it too. It's special for the community. Look at the [DuKane] Conference and everything the way it's shaking out: JV1, JV2 and varsity all [are] one-two with St. Charles East and St. Charles North."
"It says a lot about our community and the soccer presence that we have," DiNuzzo continued. "That's attributed to the people that have come before us."
Saints senior Jenna Sitta scored both goals for the Saints. As a team, St. Charles East is managing expectations and the pressures that come with an undefeated season the best it can.
"I think it's best to just take it game-by-game and kind of mute out all the outside distractions," Saints senior Megan Sreniawski said. "Just focus on what we do best and hold ourselves accountable. [Plus], keep playing at our level, regardless of our opponent."
"At the end of the day, we have to play 80 minutes, no matter who it's against," Sitta said. "No matter how big of a game it is and we've been doing it."
The Saints' success on the field this season goes beyond the white lines. Prior to its own varsity contest, the team went and watched varsity baseball and boys volleyball for a bit.
"We like to be together and we just have a special bond with each other," Sreniawski said.
The North Stars (9-4-2, 8-3-1) entered Thursday on a seven-game winning streak and held the Saints, who had scored 82 goals on the season coming into the night, to a season-low two goals. St. Charles East also scored two goals in two previous games.
The Saints defeated the North Stars 3-0 on May 1.
"I feel like we're a different team from the first time we played them," North Stars coach Brian Harks said. "We've got a lot of different players in different areas. I think we started to click as a team and really come together, but at the end of the day, St. Charles East had the run of play and they're a good team top-to-bottom."
While the North Stars' offensive chances were relatively few, sophomore Bella Najera was frequently involved on the attack and around the ball.
"Bella is definitely a player that we look to to create offensively," Harks said. "She's also very savvy defensively. She sees the game really well and I thought that she brought a lot to our attack in the second half."
North Stars junior defender Martina Nava played a key role in deterring a potentially fruitful Saints attack late in the second half by individually absorbing a few chances on her body before kicking the ball out of harm's way.
"Martina is another player coming on to varsity the first time this year and making an immediate impact at center back," Harks said. "She's super athletic, really fast and feisty so she brings a great [energy] to the back line."