Girls soccer: St. Charles East and Fremd begin season with 1-1 tie

ST. CHARLES — Despite a slow start on offense, St. Charles East made the most of its opportunities in the second half to force a 1-1 tie against Fremd in Tuesday’s season opener at Norris Stadium.

The Saints got their first score of the season with 21:19 left in the second half on a breakaway. After the ball settled at the feet of sophomore Anika Dodrill, she moved into the box and was hounded by Vikings defenders. After a quick look, Dodrill found senior Alli Saviano, who tapped it into the bottom-right corner of the goal past Vikings goalie Riley Goettsche to tie the game at 1-1.

“We were able to get a quick counter attack and my forward (Dodrill) was able to play me through the defensive line,” Saviano said.

The goal was only the third shot the Saints had on goal in the game, with the first two both coming in the first 10 minutes of the match. St. Charles East coach Vince Dinuzzo said that the match definitely showed some growing pains, but also showed the promise his lineup has.

“We had to work through a lot in that first half to learn from our mistakes and find our way,” Dinuzzo said. “So I think finding our way to get a tie says a lot about not only our seniors and their leadership, but a lot of our younger kids stepping up and putting in some great performances.”

Dinuzzo felt that the team’s nervousness of playing a highly-ranked team like Fremd showed throughout the game, with most of the first half being played in Saints’ territory. But as the game went on, he felt that the young team started to get the hang of the game.

“A lot of the kids were playing in their first varsity game, including two freshmen in the starting lineup,” Dinuzzo said. “I think them just getting more comfortable with the game made the difference.

Fremd struck gold first 19 minutes into the match. After East goalie Sidney Lazenby fouled midfielder Sami Serpico just outside of the box, Fremd senior Gemma Gillespie nailed a free kick from 21 yards out into the top left of the net to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

“When Sami got fouled, I was actually really excited because I had been practicing it,” Gillespie said. “Since it was such close range, I knew I didn’t need to put that much power on it, just place it.”

The Vikings controlled possession for a majority of the game, outshooting the Saints 5-3 in the match. Of the five shots, Gillespie, who started the game as a center back, had four of them.

“I just wanted to test their goalie,” Gillespie said. “Definitely unfortunate, but you just got to keep shooting. One of them will go in one time.”

St. Charles East will next face Rockford Boylan at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. With the first game out of the way, Dinuzzo hopes that as the season progresses, the Saints will find a way to become the best version of themselves.

“I don’t think we know what that looks like just yet,” he said. “But I think that gaining experience is going to help that. Doing stuff like watching film, giving them feedback and supporting them as they grow.”