Bulldogs drop home game to St. Charles North
By Darryl Mellema

Time and space are the unspoken dimensions on a soccer field. No matter the length or width of the pitch, players are always searching for time on the ball and space in which to maneuver.

Everyone knows Batavia’s field is small – 53 yards wide. But even given that size, the Bulldogs do a very good job closing down opposition. And this is where St. Charles North’s skill came to play.

On the North Stars first goal, roving forward Kelly Manski moved from the right wing to the center of the field and eventually into the channel on the left side of the penalty area to reach a loose ball.

Having created just enough time on the ball to send the ball back through the penalty area, Manski found Alyssa Brandt standing unmarked in a rare area of open space in the goal mouth. Manski whipped the ball from left to right, Brandt hit a full volley into the net and the North Stars had the only goal they needed in what ended as a 2-0 victory over host Batavia.

“I saw that the ball had gone out to (Manski),” Brandt said. “When I saw the cross, I knew I was unmarked. I saw Natalie (Winkates) go up for it. No one else was around me. It went over (Winkates) and it went over two defenders and all I had to do was put it in the back of the net.”

Volleyed goals are rare in all levels of soccer, but Brandt redirected Manski’s cross expertly into the net.

“It feels good,” Brandt said. “I’ve missed a few in the past and it’s nice to come out and put one away.”

The goal owed much to Manski’s movement. She has played as a right winger in the past, but has moved more infield this season. All of St. Charles North’s attacking players have some license to shift positions – and this freedom of movement freed Manski and created the passing – and scoring opportunity.

“She’s one of those players who’s smart,” St. Charles North coach Ruth Vostal said of Manski. “I was just saying on the sideline that we had crossed it to the near post twice and it kept coming back and I said ‘send it far post.’ She didn’t hear me, of course, but for her to realize that everyone was sucked over and to play it to the far post, she’s a smart player. She gets a lot of assists like that.”

Brandt’s goal came in the 16th minute of the first half and ended a period of attacking pressure for the North Stars. The team’s second goal arrived in the sixth minute of the second half and was the product of some opportunism in the penalty area by Elizabeth Parrilli, who latched onto a ball that was being headed about but not cleared. Parrilli reached the ball and headed it from the center of the penalty area into the right side netting.

“We’re trying her in a couple of different spots,” Vostal said. “She’s a great distributor. So we’re trying to get her a little more offensive. She happened to be in the right spot at the right time. We’ve been working on her heading, so that was nice for her to get one.”

Regardless of the score, the focus throughout the match remained on the North Stars defense, one of the strongest in the state this year. For the ninth time in 10 matches, St. Charles North (9-1, 3-0 Upstate Eight River) recorded a shutout.

“It helped that the field was incredibly narrow,” Vostal said. “We were able to try a couple of different formations in the back. But that back line has been solid mentally and physically.”

The North Stars played with three defenders for some of the match and worked with a back four for other portions of the match. Regardless who was defending –Jorie Clawson, Jenny Barr, Megan O’Leary, Kenzie Rose, Lauren Durocher – the midfielders – even the forwards – the visitors were nearly impossible to break down.

“I think our defense has been working really well together,” Jorie Clawson said. “We cover for each other really well. It’s not just our backs. It’s from the forward on back – we play really good team defense, and that’s a key aspect in allowing one goal all season.”

So far this season, St. Charles North has outscored its opponents 38-1, and the lone goal against was a Neuqua Valley penalty kick – a Gianna Del Pozzo spot kick that also accounts for the North Stars’ only defeat of the season.

The shift in the number of defenders comes as the North Stars move from a 3-4-3 formation to a 4-3-3 formation or even to their more traditional 4-4-2. The players’ movement makes it sometimes difficult to tell which formation the team is in. But regardless what’s happening in the midfield or with the forwards, the back line stays solid.

“We have confidence in each other that in either formation that we play, we can play well,” Clawson said.

The decision to start the match with three defenders was made in an effort to help the North Stars pressure Batavia’s goal. Throughout the match, the North Stars tried to spread the ball as wide as the pitch allowed.

“In the first half, it was way too crowded in the middle,” Vostal said. “The ball went out a lot. We tallied, I think, 66 times it went out of bounds. We needed to get some width. There wasn’t a whole lot of flow. So we figured we’d take some people out of the middle and put some people up top and fortunately that worked.”

Both teams displayed an end-to-end physicality that has been a hallmark of St. Charles North’s teams since the school started competing in the sport in 2001.

“We came out with a lot of energy,” Brandt said.

Batavia (4-2-2. 1-2), however, brought a physical component to its game as well, something that has increasingly become a style of play for the Bulldogs in Mark Gianfrancesco’s two years as the school’s head girls coach.

“I think they were probably the most physical team we’ve played and it’s good for our girls to see that,” Gianfrancesco said. “I think when we were composed on the ball, you saw in the second half some stuff starting to work. In the first half, I think we were just panicking.”

In fact, that increased physical nature, combined with a talented group of players, allowed the Bulldogs to weather the North Stars’ pressure and never get overwhelmed.

“We didn’t shy away their physicality, which they have,” Gianfrancesco said. “They’re tough. They go up and they win every ball in the air. I thought we were at least going up and challenging them for it too.”

As the second half became more open and more space developed in the center of the field, Batavia benefitted as much as St. Charles North. While they did not manage a solid effort on-goal, the Bulldogs began to possess the ball more and move into St. Charles North’s territory more frequently.

“In the second half, we saw the middle open up a little more and a few passes went through there – so that was good,” Gianfrancesco said.

Thursday’s match was made for players who bring a solid, physical presence to the game – and one of Batavia’s players in that category is midfielder Brittany Wahlen.

“Brittany’s obviously on of our more physical players,” Gianfrancesco said. “I don’t know anybody on our team that backed down, and that’s something we need to recognize.”

Batavia has seen both St. Charles East and St. Charles North – and one of those teams will lift the Upstate Eight River Division title. Without taking anything away from St. Charles East, Gianfrancesco said he was impressed by what he saw from St. Charles North. And he also took nothing away from his team, which he felt competed throughout the 80 minutes.

“They’re good, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “But on the first goal, we missed not clearing the ball, and we struggled at times not clearing the ball. And then a quick ball in and we’re not marked and a touch in. Against good teams, you can’t give those opportunities.”

Gianfrancesco saw areas in which the second goal could have been prevented as well.

“A lot of people look at the second goal and the end result,” Gianfrancesco said. “I look back on the corner and the opportunity to take a foul so they don’t counter. Their whole play started back there and they countered. Is that changeable? Can we improve on that? Absolutely, yes. If we’re not playing teams like this, it’s recognizable.”

St. Charles North is two-thirds finished with a sequence in which it has played the other tri cities area teams. Tuesday, the North Stars defeated Geneva 2-0. Next Tuesday, the opponent is crosstown rival St. Charles East.

“Momentum-wise, I think we have good momentum,” Vostal said. “I think what we’re practicing, we’re seeing in games. Win, lose or draw Tuesday, as long as we’re continuing to get better, that’s what’s going to matter.”

Area club teams attract players from all communities and so each tri cities match has a sense of a reunion to it following the final whistle, no matter how heated the match is.

“It’s always awesome to come out and play your friends,” Clawson said. “It’s also good to have a good match against them and to play well against them.”

Looking at 80 minutes against a team that finished runner-up in the Class 3A state tournament in 2012 and finding positives can be difficult. But the fact remains that Batavia is improved through 10 matches from where it was in its season opener against Wheaton Warrenville South.

“North’s a gauge, but there’s things that we could have done better today,” Gianfrancesco said. “We haven’t played somebody like that. Buffalo Grove is a good team, but they’re not physical like this. Wheaton South was not physical like this – we were actually the aggressor. When you’re looking at gauging teams, they’re nowhere near as physical as these guys.”

The speed of the game was apparent to those watching, but to those playing, it was very noticeable – especially to players with only a handful of varsity matches.

“I put one of the freshmen in, Rachel Reinecke, and I asked her when she came out ‘pretty physical – pretty fast?’ She said ‘yeah.’” Gianfrancesco said.

With eight matches played, Batavia is roughly one-third into its season, and Gianfrancesco said his team is right on-track for a successful campaign.

“There’s some improvement,” Gianfrancesco said. “There’s tons of stuff left. Hopefully we’ll see (St. Charles North) again. That’ll mean we’ll have pushed forward in the sectional.”