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NAPERVILLE – Barrington won the prestigious Naperville Invitational after its hard-fought 1-0 victory over St. Charles North Saturday morning, in the rain, at Memorial Stadium at host Naperville Central.
The Fillies (13-0-2), who survived back-to-back penalty kick contests with Loyola Academy and Naperville North to advance, lifted the big trophy thanks in part to a first-half header by Roos Van Roekel from Brooke Brown, and some terrific work by its backline.
“Three games in as many days for both teams is a lot to ask from all of the players, and made for a not-so-pretty 80 minutes of soccer. (But) I am very proud of how hard the girls were able to grind out a win against a very good opponent, and with us going deep into our roster to achieve this victory,” said Fillies coach Ryan Stengren, who shared the title here in 2019 with the North Stars, and won it outright in 2017.
“We did not play very well last night against Naperville North. Megan Holland played great for us in the net. (So) before this game, I challenged the team to respond both physically and mentally if we wanted the chance to win here today. And the girls found a way to do so.”
North Stars assistant coach Eric Willson, filling in for head coach Brian Harks while he was away, was just as pleased and proud of his club as was his counterpart over at Barrington.
“Three tough days of soccer playing against three tough opponents was not easy for these girls. There were a lot of tired legs out there today,” Willson said. “But the team came out and performed really well and with a lot of effort and energy against a team that is always organized, well coached and so dangerous in the air (which) ultimately led to our downfall with their goal off a corner.
“We played so much better in the second half. We pushed our attack forward, created chances, and did our best at the end of a very grueling three days of tournament play.”
The North Stars used three goals from Laney Stark to open this tournament with a 4-0 win over Waubonsie Valley. On Friday, Sophie Kirsten and Juliana Park bagged both goals in its 2-1 victory over rival St. Charles East.
“There were so many players that stood out today,” Willson said. “Kayla Floyd comes to mind first for her work in the midfield, and all of her 50-50 balls that she won. (The) Kirsten sisters (Sophia and Chloe) were so tough, and we’ve always come to expect great stuff from Bella (Najera) as well.”
Najera will play next fall at Michigan State University.
Willson made sure to give high praise also to Abby Sims and Courtney Suhr, who in the second half provided quality play along the backline.
The North Stars (11-3-1) will play St. Charles East once again, this time at Tri-Cities Night on Tuesday at Batavia, while the Fillies are away at Rolling Meadows, then Elk Grove, before ending league play with Hersey on Saturday.
“Ellie Sanchez was fantastic along the back — so gritty, tackling, winning so many balls for us. And our backline, as I said, was organized, and just solid as unit,” said Stengren, who is without starters Kate Lubinsky and Kaitlin Taylor.
“We moved so many pieces around in the second half,” Stengren said. “(We) even finished with one of our top scorers, Sarah Sarnowski, playing as an outside-back towards the end of the game. We need to get healthy, recover from a really busy week, and get back at it on Monday to work on getting better.”
https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20230429/girls-soccer-van-roekel-heads-home-barringtons-win-over-st-charles-north-in-naperville-invite-finale