Soccer: Park nets second straight game-winner, St. Charles North bests St. Charles East
Juliana Park's teammates will tell you she has a great skill set.
But the St. Charles North junior forward brings something else to the table.
"Recently, I've been really focusing in on bringing good energy to the team and working together," Park said. "Which is really good."
Park's efforts have been working wonders. She netted her second consecutive game-winning goal Friday night, scoring on a rebound with 2:15 remaining in the second half to give the North Stars a thrilling 2-1 victory over previously unbeaten St. Charles East in a Naperville Invitational semifinal at Memorial Stadium.
St. Charles North (11-2-1) advances to play Barrington (12-0-2) in the championship game at 9 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
" 'Parky' is really good," St. Charles North senior forward Sophie Kirsten said. "She's a very technical player, and she's able to get that good touch to be able to shoot it.
"And of course, her shot is amazing. So that's really valuable, and she can shoot from anywhere."
Park actually started and finished the decisive play. She sent a corner kick from the right side into the box, where Michigan State-bound star Bella Najera headed it toward the net.
The ball bounced off the top of the crossbar, and a defender tried to clear it. But Park had snuck in and intercepted the attempt before slotting a 12-yard shot past St. Charles East goalkeeper Sidney Lazenby to break a 1-1 tie.
"Bella put it off the crossbar, and then it was a nice job crashing," St. Charles North coach Brian Harks said. "They cleared it, and Park was on her toes, ready to go, ready to tuck it away."
Park's alert play was akin to a cherry-picker in basketball, someone who got in position to clean up a play.
"I saw it hit off the crossbar, and I was like, 'Someone has to be there. ...' " Park said. "I just went for it and scored."
Park's goal was her fifth of the season and completed a nice comeback win for the North Stars, who fell behind early when Grace Williams put the Saints (16-1) ahead with her 21st goal of the season just 65 seconds into the game.
"I was super proud of the way that our girls responded," Harks said. "That's an easy excuse to put your head down and kind of get out of rhythm, especially against a St. Charles East team that doesn't give you a whole lot.
"They're super structured. They're a really talented group, and they're very offensive-minded as well, so I thought that our back line did a really nice job, our midfield controlled the game, and our forwards generated a lot for us tonight."
Kirsten was in the middle of the action for the North Stars. She notched the game-tying goal when she tapped in a great crossing pass from her younger sister, Chloe, at the 4:23 mark of the first half.
"Chloe is obviously a very good player, and she was able to get down the line and beat her defender, and I was wide open," Sophie Kirsten said. "I screamed for it, and I was able to tap it in. Really nice pass."
Both sides gave a nice effort, accounting for eight shots apiece and three saves each.
"When you play in these games, the margin for error is very, very small," St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo said. "We made a mistake on a set piece, and they punished us, and they deserved to win.
"It was a good learning experience for us. I think we're going to be able to take away a lot from this game and hopefully put our best foot forward and improve."