St. Charles North, St. Charles East get off to a good start – Shaw Local

The 2024 women's soccer season has been underway for a few weeks, and several teams are showing great potential early on.

Here are some of Kane County's top teams to date.

St. Charles North remains undefeated.

After starting the season with ties against Crystal Lake Central and Burlington, the North Stars won four straight with wins over Burlington Central, Hershey, Loyola Academy, and Crystal Lake Central. won the St. Charles Invitational Tournament.

It would be no exaggeration to say that the North Stars had the upper hand in the invitational match. St. Charles North outscored its opponents 20-2 in four games, including 6-0 wins over Burlington Central and Crystal Lake Central.

Sophomore forward Caitlin Ndela led the attack, scoring five goals to tie Burlington Central's Mackenzie Rogers for the tournament's Golden Boot. Senior forward Laney Stark scored three goals in four games and was named tournament Most Valuable Player, earning first-team all-tournament honors along with senior midfielder Kayla Ford.

Defensively, senior Lauren Kolios is a wall in goal. The senior has allowed only five runs on the season, but has posted two shutouts at the net. She was helped tremendously by her defensive play in her most recent game against Crystal Lake Central, with only two shots on goal from her all game, both with 10 minutes left to play.

The North Stars will open the Duquesne County Conference with a 12-day break against tough Wheaton North, but coach Brian Harkes remained undefeated in the invitational. St. Charles North felt it knew what it had to do. .

After winning the St. Charles Invitational on March 23, Harkes said, “I consider every game up until spring break to be preseason.'' “So I think our girls are going to have a lot of momentum moving forward as we start conference play.”

St. Charles East Duo conducted by Wallenberg and Saviano

One consistent theme throughout the Saints lineup so far this season is mixing up some old with some new. And this is more common as to who leads in goals for St. Charles East through the first eight games.

Freshman forward Sophia Wallenberg led the team with five goals. She has found a perfect spot in the Saints' lineup, playing the third-most minutes on the team so far this season with 555, joining senior Mackenzie Loomis (619) and sophomore midfielder That's second only to Peyton Rivard (625).

On the other side of the duo is senior captain Ali Saviano. The midfielder currently leads the team with four assists, including two in Saturday's 5-1 win over Oak Park River Forest, and is second on the team with four assists. The freshman and senior duo have combined to score nine of the Saints' 13 goals.

A similar situation appears online for the Saints. Junior Sidney Lazenby was a key player for St. Charles East, appearing in all eight games, allowing four goals and stopping 18 shots. However, Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo also used freshman Mia Olenak in the game, with the goaltender appearing in the second half on three different occasions. While in net, Olenak saved 12 shots while allowing his only goal. The Saints have already recorded five shutouts this season.

The Saints begin conference play Thursday against Glenbard North, which is extreme in either direction. They run a team with a combination of youth and experience, so it should be interesting to see how they come together in conference play.

Other Kane County teams fall in the middle of the pack.

Early in the season, other teams around Kane County were trying to find their footing heading into the next few weeks of conference play.

Geneva currently has the third-best record in the area with two wins and one loss, but has only played three games so far. Jordan Forbes put on a clinic on net in both wins, recording shutouts in both, and Audrey Stred had a two-goal performance in the season opener against Bartlett.

Batavia showed flashes of stardom early in the season, but remains a sub-.500 record. Abbi Edwards helped the Bulldogs with five goals and three assists, including a hat trick in a 7-0 win over Streamwood.

Kaneland, which plays Batavia on Tuesday, faces a similar situation to Geneva, with the Knights still having just two games left in their return from spring break. Both games ended in close contests, with the Knights winning the season opener against Sterling 7-0 with five players finding the back of the net, and losing the other game 5-0 to Plainfield Central.