By RYAN ARENA
Sports Editor

Before taking a two week break for the holidays, St. Charles finally seemed to find some offensive punch in a 7-0 win over Helen Cox.

Upon their return to action, the Comets found that punch to still pack some power.

SCC opened up district play at Riverside on Tuesday and recorded a 8-0 win in Reserve to start 2009 with a victory.

Pierre St. Martin and Tim Boesen each scored twice to lead St. Charles (2-10, 1-0), which has now won two straight matches after dropping their first 10.

“It was a battle between two really young teams,” said St. Charles Coach Rick Woodroof. “I feel like we were more the aggressor, which may have been the difference.”

St. Charles led 3-0 at halftime.

The match was scoreless for the first 15 minutes of action.

But once the Comets put the first goal across, Woodroof said the game’s complexion changed drastically.

“They played some pretty tough defense in the early going,” he said. “We put a lot of pressure on them throughout the game though. Once we made the first shot, their defense became a little disorganized.”

In the second half, an adjustment in gameplan helped spark a five goal surge.

“We changed our formation,” Woodroof said. “They weren’t pressing us, so we brought a man up from the back to put some more pressure on them. I think we wore them down at that point.”

(See SCC/RA, Page 10A)

The Comets struggled mightily to score at all in the first 10 games of the season, but now have scored 15 goals in their last two games.

“We had some really good moments, after a sluggish beginning,” Woodroof said. “Our guys made some really nice, creative plays. Things we’ve worked on in the past, they’re starting to do.

“It’s a matter of acquiring it. When there’s so much to learn, it takes some time to truly catch on.”

Edgar Avalos, Paul Cupit, and Josh Matherne also scored goals for SCC. The team’s other goal came off of an own goal by the Rebels.

St. Martin, Woodroof says, had one of the best efforts of the season by any Comet.

“Even beyond the two goals, he had a tremendous game. He made everyone better. He was a great example of senior leadership.”