by RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

After a series of cancellations left St. Charles without game action for more than two weeks, the Comets were faced with a true test in their last game before district action – defending Division III state champion Newman.

The Greenies showed exactly why they possess that crown on Wednesday, defending their home field successfully in a 5-0 win over St. Charles.

Kara Deutch and Hannah Romig each scored twice to lead Newman.

The Greenies (10-2-2) led 2-0 at halftime.

“I felt like we played extremely well in the first half. We just were tired at the end, especially on defense,” said St. Charles Assistant Coach David Bordelon. “Newman’s a very good team and our girls played well, but we couldn’t get it on their side of the field.”

Compounding matters for St. Charles was that a number of players were sidelined due to injury, leaving the Comets’ small margin for error against Newman to be almost non-existent.

Newman controlled the ball for much of the game. Bordelon credited Comets goalkeeper Kristen Carrier for making a number of tough saves under a wave of Greenie shots.

“She really deserves a lot of credit,” Bordelon said. “They got off a lot of shots against us, and she saved a bunch of them.”

The Newman game was the end of a very tough pre-district schedule for St. Charles (3-10), which saw the Comets face off against a number of top teams in the area.

Bordelon said that he feels it has prepared the Comets well for district season, which opens for St. Charles with a home game with Riverside on Tuesday.

“The girls are really excited about starting district,” said Bordelon. “I think we stand a pretty good chance.”