Saints use fast start to beat Bulldogs in UEC River opener
By Darryl Mellema
Regular season matches are decided over 80 minutes of play but Saturday's Batavia-St. Charles East match was effectively decided over a span of 86 seconds.
That was the time host St. Charles East needed to take the match from 0-0 to 3-0 – all three goals coming within the opening five minutes of the match.
The swiftness of the assault left Batavia momentarily reeling – and though the Bulldogs came back into the match and attacked strongly in the second half – the Saints ended with a 4-2 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory.
“I can't complain about that,” St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. “That was a great way to start off the game.
“You don't want to be defending or chasing a small scoreline, especially with a wind this strong. These girls, their work in the half was relentless. Obviously we put ourselves in a good spot in the first 5 minutes to be 3-0 up. It certainly makes it a lot easier.”
With a strong wind blowing from the south on Saturday, each team knew it would have 40 minutes defending into that breeze and another 40 with the wind at their backs.
St. Charles East won the flip and chose to attack with the wind at its back in the first half and that decision was one of the keys to the victory.
“We knew that the team that got the wind in the first half, that was going to be a big difference,” Jennison said. “We got fortunate with that and we knew it was game on.”
Despite any meteorological edge, the Saints still needed to score goals on the pitch, and they set to accomplishing that goal almost from the opening kickoff.
Ninety seconds into the match, they won a left wing corner kick and Darcy Cunningham sent the ball into the penalty area.
The ball was knocked back toward the right post, flicked on, not cleared by Batavia and eventually came to Anna Corirosi, who scored.
“That was awesome,” St. Charles East junior Shannon Rasmussen said. “We knew we had to come out strong and play with the wind, because we had the wind in the first half.”
Corirosi's shot went into the net with 38:03 left in the first half. Forty-four second later, Carly Pottle took a right-to-left shot that crept into the Batavia net at the left post.
Another 42 seconds elapsed before another Cunningham left wing corner kick was met by an unmarked Amanda Hilton at the far post and headed into the net.
“They were set plays,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “The wind had a factor. We didn't challenge in there and didn't clear the ball and they put the ball in the back of the net. What are you going to do?”
Saturday's match was the Upstate Eight River opener for both teams. St. Charles East (3-1, 1-0) earned its third straight victory after a season-opening loss at Fremd while Batavia (2-1-2, 0-1) lost for the first time.
“Everyone said this was a big game because it's our first conference game so getting the three early goals really helped set us up,” Rasmussen said.
Cunningham's crosses were key in two of the Saints' three opening goals. She remained a threat throughout the match.
“You know what, we've got some quality girls this year on set pieces,” Jennison said. “(Rasmussen, Cunningham, Liana Imbrogno) – I've been preaching for the last few weeks about whipping it in and that's all they can do is whip it in there.
“Then it's up to the rest of us to get to it and attack it. Today, we were fortunate to get on the end of it.”
The Saints had most of the chances in the remainder of the first half. Rasmussen sent a free kick off the crossbar after 13 minutes and a Cunningham corner kick to Sam Lombardo forced a save from Batavia keeper Nicki Seiton three minutes later.
As the half reached its midpoint, Batavia had its best opportunity in the opening 40 minutes when a Kim Stanczak corner kick was headed toward goal by Karina Rosales. The shot was saved by Saints keeper Kendra Sheehan.
St. Charles East scored with its first serious attack of the second half to take its lead to 4-0. Pottle took a shot from the left wing and the ball was not cleared by Batavia's defense and eventually came to Lombardo at the far post, from where she scored.
Batavia had already steadied itself defensively late in the first half, and now the Bulldogs began to attack and win set plays of their own with the wind at their backs. 
At nearly the midpoint of the half, Brittany Wahlen took a flip throw-in from the left sideline. The ball arced through the penalty area to Megan McEachern, who headed into the net.
The Bulldogs reduced the margin to the final scoreline with 2:45 left when Shelby Stone hit a long free kick off the Saints keeper's hands into the upper portion of the net.
“She hit it well,” Gianfrancesco said. “We wanted it on-frame and there was a misplay by the keeper, but the wind will do that. We had some other opportunities we wish we could have taken advantage of as well.”
Splitting the match into a pair of 40-minute exercises, Batavia gained a “win” in the second half and though it won't show in the team's overall record, these are the things the Bulldogs will build on as the season moves toward its midpoint.
“Our girls gritted it out,” Gianfrancesco said. “The first thing I told them when we brought it in after the match was that we won the second half 2-1.
“I didn't see anybody give up. We panicked a little after the second and third goal. They definitely came back and played harder in the second half and were more composed.”
Saturday's match ended a series in which the Bulldogs played four times in eight days. This week, Batavia only has one match – a Tuesday home contest with Elgin. The Bulldogs then have nine days to prepare for St. Charles North's visit on April 11.
After playing its first four matches on artificial turf and having practiced for much of the early season on Mooseheart's artificial surface, playing on the natural grass at Norris Stadium was a bit of a shift for the Bulldogs, whose next three matches are on their home naturally-grassed field.
“We've been practicing on (natural grass) the last several days,” Gianfrancesco said. “I don't think we were overly used to it. We let the ball bounce around and I think we miskicked some. But we play on it and we'll get used to it.”
Not only does Batavia have Wahlen capable of working the flip throw-in. Anna Zeyen can also perform the maneuver.
“It helped,” Gianfrancesco said. “We scored a goal on it. It's part of our offensive opportunities – we create from that. I wish we had created a little more.”
St. Charles East played on Thurday, the Saints' only action during Spring Break. Their schedule gets decidedly more hectic this week, starting with Tuesday's Upstate Eight River match with Geneva.
On Wednesday, play opens in the St. Charles East Invitational when the Saints play Schaumburg. On Thursday, the Saints face Naperville Central and Saturday, they play rival Geneva for the second time in five days. All four matches are at Norris Stadium.
The busy schedule means practice time will be at a premium, especially as the heavy schedule includes matches on April 8, 9 and 10.
“Sometimes it'd be nice to take a break and have a practice,” Rasmussen said. “It's hard to keep going game after game. You get injuries or get sore and tired. But it's also fun at the same time.”
After watching other teams win their tournament title in recent years, the Saints have victory as a goal as they enter they own invitational.
“It's a really tough tournament, our home tournament, and we haven't won it in awhile,” Rasmussen said. “This is our best opportunity and we want to come out strong and try to win it.”
