Quantity was the key for St. Charles East on offense. Defensively, even Streamwood’s quality couldn’t get past “Gator.”
East’s 3-0 shutout of Streamwood begged for an explanation as to why Alison Chesterfield would have a nickname associated with an animal known for short arms.
“It goes back to grade school, when some classmates turned ‘Ali’ into alligator,” Chesterfield said.
Considering the stellar saves, Chesterfield’s moniker made sense in terms of ferocity as East (3-0, 1-0) claimed the Upstate Eight River opener and stayed unbeaten while Streamwood (1-2, 0-1) endured a second loss within the unusual seven-game homestand that starts the season.
As attempts (14) mounted in the first half, East had five shots stopped, one off the crossbar, one off the left post, a potential first goal negated by an offside ruling, and a trio high enough that one caromed off the field-goal crossbar.
Saints coach Paul Jennison had one simple instruction: “Keep knocking on the door.”
Good analogy because if it were a door bell, the Saints would have worn the chime out before Sophie Jendrzejcyk scored on Streamwood starter Yasmine Resendiz, who included a kick save among her highlight-reel stops up until 2:33 was left in the first half. Jendrzejcyk’s second goal of the year came off reserve Hannah Kolb’s first assist.
“I was getting very frustrated, we all do when it seems like nothing will go in,” Jendrzecyk said. “Being our third game, it’s obvious we can play better and need to get warmed up more for the season.”
With 27:22 remaining, Jendrzejcyk’s through-ball pass sprung Darcy Cunningham for a one-on-one with Natalie Guindon, the Sabres’ second-half goalie. Guindon had a huge save on Cunningham six minutes before and kept Streamwood’s hopes up until a scramble produced a rebound off the left post that gave reserve defender Hayley Popiel an open lane for a goal with 2:57 left.
“The positives were a shutout, a third victory, a great start in conference, but there’s definitely room for improvement,” Jennison said. “Start with improving our shots-on-target ratio.”
East owned a 22-3 advantage for attempts and a 13-2 edge for shots on goal.
Making Chesterfield’s second solo shutout sweeter was a personal desire.
“With a club rivalry in play, it was definitely my goal not to let a club teammate (Tawny Carroll) score,” Chesterfield said.
Streamwood’s virtual one-woman offense had a late break from the left wing, with consecutive blasts turned away.
“Thought my first shot would get in and really believed my putback would make it (2-1), but she’s good at (big) stops, something I’ve seen her do so many times for Strikers,” Carroll said. “It’s not as nice if you’re not on the same team.
“Knowing they took second in the state last year and have so many seniors with club experience, I was still very proud of my teammates. We’re a young team, our whole backline is freshmen and sophomores, so it was still a good effort by us.”
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Streamwood coach Matt Polovin isn’t a fan of moral victories, but he recalled last year’s 7-1 loss and the Sabres’ history against East.
“Throughout history they’re always a good program, so I can’t be made at all. We played our hearts out for 80 minutes with 100 percent effort.” Polovin said. “We didn’t look at the jersey and give up, to some a 3-0 score would be an amazing feat. I thought Tawny had a goal for certain, but ‘Gator’ made beautiful saves, which is what you expect from a tremendous shot stopper.”
Steve Nemeth is a freelance writer.