Girls soccer: St. Charles North shuts out Burlington Central
Kayla Floyd knew she was more capable than her three-goal output from last season perhaps would indicate.
Floyd, St. Charles North's sophomore midfielder, is now a third of the way to last season's total after she scored one of eight total North Stars goals in its 8-0 win over Burlington Central to open the St. Charles Tournament on Monday.
"I was really disappointed with how many goals I scored last season because I know I can score more," Floyd said. "This season definitely one of my goals is to score more and find the back of the net."
Floyd "tries to find space to be open" and find an open teammate for a pass, but the poise on the field has evidently grown from last season.
"Once you really are focused, it's pretty easy to move around and know your pass before you pass it," Floyd said.
The North Stars (3-0) took a commanding 6-0 lead at the half. Sydney Timms got them rolling on a header into the back of the net barely two minutes into the contest on a corner.
Bella Najera added two goals of her own to precede Floyd's to make it 4-0 with 10:37 remaining in the first half. Lauren Balster and Sophie Sutherland knocked in the other goals before the half.
Julianna Park and Leah Bellock added the other second half goals.
North Stars coach Brian Harks thinks Floyd is another example of the type of North Stars athlete showing maturity "between the ears" and with their feet.
"[Floyd] is a player that is stronger than she was last year; faster [and] her vision on the field is a lot more quality this year," Harks said. [Floyd] is also a player that has always been really physical, but now she picks and chooses and she plays really smart."
"The overall confidence and composure that she has this season has been a really nice addition," Harks continued.
Abby Vichich, the North Stars' junior defender, is a teammate that has helped Floyd progress more on the varsity level.
"[Vichich has been]very helpful with helping me know the program more and having more confidence on the field," Floyd said. "That's also something I struggled with last year, so helping me get ready and focus more on my play [as opposed to the opposite]."
Burlington Central (0-2) is a program looking to settle roles and playing time, as it graduated six off of the varsity roster last year. The early tests against Naperville Central and St. Charles North are serving as good metric sticks to where the Rockets are and can grow.
"We set up a schedule that's really tough," Rockets coach Jess Arneson said. "Obviously, that's on purpose so it exposes a lot of things. It exposes some of the stuff that we really need to work on. And for us today, it was a little frustrating because a lot of the stuff that they struggled with are things we have worked on.
"I think now it's just going to get down to being more disciplined and communicating better."