Girls soccer: Veterans making difference in Dundee-Crown's solid start

Dundee-Crown has gotten off to a strong start this spring.

"We have great leaders on our team in Berkley Mensik, Kate Raby and Giselle Farias," Dundee-Crown coach Rob Moulton said. "We are playing hard, smart and together and we are taking it one day at a time."

Moulton is stressing hard work and dedication from his girls this spring after a 4-11-1 record a season ago. So far it's working as the Chargers (2-0) won their first two games of the year against Streamwood and Hoffman Estates.

"We look forward to a great rest of the year and have a team that's capable of making a great run," he said. "We understand that we need to work hard to earn it."

Battling weather and unique opponents:

By the time Rosary was finishing up a 3-0 loss against Westosha Central (Wis.) last Saturday there was half an inch of snow on the field.

Rosary (3-2-1) certainly experienced some things in the Antioch Invitational last week. The Royals had a 3-0 lead against Belvidere North only to lose 5-4 on Friday before bouncing back for a 3-1 win against Antioch and then falling to the tournament champions from Wisconsin.

"Losing 5-4 was a heartbreaker but then we came back and beat Antioch," Rosary coach Amy McMahon said. "And we played well against Westosha. They scored all their goals in the first half so we shut them out the rest of the game."

Playing three games in two days in less than fair conditions will hopefully pay off as a valuable learning experience.

"It helps us find the areas we have to improve on," McMahon said. "We switched up our formation from last year so we're trying to adapt to strengthening our defense and everything like that. The girls are receptive to constructive criticism and willing to learn so I think that's going to help us progress."

Senior Alaina Ferraro and junior Macey DeMoss are leading the Royals. DeMoss has 10 goals already while Ferraro's versatility has her stepping into different roles pretty much seamlessly depending on team needs.

Sophie's Choice reigns at North:

St. Charles North has a talented squad this spring and the Sophias and Sophies have a lot to do with it.

"It can make it really confusing so we pretty much use last names and nicknames," North Stars coach Brian Harks said.

Seniors Sophie Sutherland, Sophia Hein and Sophia Hickey and junior Sophie Kirsten account for the plethora of North Stars named Sophia/Sophie, a name of Greek origin meaning "wisdom."

"The next game I'll just put our starting lineup of Sophia all across the top," Harks joked.

Harks has to be pleased with what the Sophia/Sophies and their teammates are doing after they secured their first championship of the season, winning the Rose Augsburg-Drach Invitational on a cold, wet Saturday at St. Charles East to improve to 5-0 overall.

"It was a great way to end what we consider spring break," Harks said. "We're really looking forward to taking on some DuKane Conference teams. We know it's a really talented group of teams and wins never come easy so this conference poses a really nice challenge."

The tournament dynamic of having to win and advance had been missing in the regular season since 2019 and was definitely missed.

"We talked about the tournament style of play with the girls and how it allows you to get in the right mindset each game and it's one after the other so very much the postseason mentality," Harks said. "We won (the Augsburg-Drach Invitational) in 2019 and hadn't had it for two years so going into the finals the girls saw 'St. Charles North' on the trophy and I think that was a little extra motivation."

The North Stars will also compete in the extremely tough Naperville Invitational later this month with games already scheduled against Oswego East and Benet.

Augsburg-Drach notes:

St. Charles East's Anna Champine, McKenna Gahagan and Grace Williams, St. Charles North's Martina Nava, Bella Najera and Sophia Hein, Bartlett's Sabrina Fowler and Madison Neer and Burlington Central's Eva Samuelian were among the all-tournament team in last week's Rose Augsburg-Drach Invitational.

The North Stars edged the Saints for the title, 2-1. Last year the Saints beat the North Stars three times including to win the Class 3A Bartlett sectional.

Wearing a new coat at Geneva:

Geneva knew losing all-conference, all-sectional selection Lilly Coats to an injury for the first six weeks or so of the season was going to be a big loss, but it also afforded another kid with an opportunity to step up.

Sophomore Leyna Yonehara has done just that at center back to replace Coats.

"Although she had no previous experience at this position, her composure and leadership in the back has resulted in three shutouts in our first four games," Vikings coach Megan Owens said. "Although she had a solid freshman year for us, she was limited by injury, so it's great to see her playing with so much confidence and poise this year. She is quickly becoming the vocal leader of our defense."