East, North battle to scoreless draw
ST. CHARLES -- St. Charles East couldn't beat rival St. Charles North on Saturday in an Upstate Eight Conference soccer match, but emerging with a scoreless tie sure put a serious dent in the North Stars' hopes of repeating as conference champions.
North (12-3-2, 4-1-1) entered the match one game behind Neuqua Valley (7-0-1) in the loss column in the standings. Neuqua Valley, which beat Streamwood 6-0 on Saturday, has two league games remaining against Bartlett and East Aurora. North still has to play Larkin, South Elgin, Bartlett and Streamwood. Neuqua beat North 2-0 earlier this season.
"That's what hurts the most about this one," North Stars coach Eric Willson said. "We really put ourself in a tough spot if we want to repeat as conference champions."
Against the Saints, the North Stars held a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal, but chances were limited on both sides.
St. Charles East (8-8-3, 2-4-2) missed perhaps its best opportunity with six minutes remaining in the first half when Thomas Cassens sent a shot over the post after finding himself in a one-on-one position with North goalie Zach Hosler following a pass from Ben Fowler. Later, with 18 seconds remaining before halftime, North's Austin Andrekus saved a shot off the line after Hosler was caught out of position on an open-net attempt by Chris Wallace.
"We came here to win and we are disappointed that we didn't win," Saints coach Jorge Ortiz said. "We played well against a good team. This is more what I expect from us game in and game out."
North's best chance came in the 64th minute when Mike Picinich ripped a 30-yard shot that was saved only by the fingertips of East goalie Charlie Lyon.
"I give credit to East. They played a courageous game," Willson said. "Both teams played well and there deserved to be a winner here."
Elgin 1, Lake Park 1 -- Osiel Ravadan had 26 saves in goal for the Maroons. Joel Perez scored the lone goal for Elgin (9-8-1, 3-5-1 Upstate Eight Conference).
Westminster Christian 7, Elgin Academy 0 -- The Warriors were led by a hat trick from Tyler Beachler. Jeff Marshall also scored a pair of goals, while Ben Carani and Cory Hodge each scored once.
Ryan Beachler had two assists, while John Reid, Jeff Marshall and Steven Hoeflich each had one. Ethan Flickinger had seven saves in goal for Westminster (9-8-3).
