ST. CHARLES — St. Charles East freshman Mya Leon was more than a bit scared before her first true rivalry game.
But as she stepped onto the field to take on St. Charles North in the championship match of the Rose Augsburg-Drach Invitational, those nerves slowly went away.And it showed in her ability to find the back of the net.
Leon found the back of the net three times for her first-ever high school hat trick to help the Saints take down their crosstown rivals with a 3-0 victory, giving them their first win in the tournament since 2021.“I was just really excited,” Leon said. “I wanted to beat North because they’re our rivals.
I was just really happy to get the win.”Leon netted her first goal for the Saints (5-1) just 4:24 in the game, one-touching a pass from fellow freshman Qori Strotkamp into the top-right corner of the net, and giving both freshmen an early boost of confidence.“There was definitely a lot of nerves, especially in the build up to that goal,” Strotkamp said.
“But I think it made a lot of good memories getting that goal, and I think there will be plenty more to come as we move on.”Just two minutes, Leon doubled the lead for the Saints after sneaking the ball past the goal keeper and into the bottom-left corner of the goal, making it 2-0 through seven minutes of play.She wouldn’t find the back of the goal again until the 57th minute.
After getting in a one-on-one with the goal keeper, the freshman cut left and sent the ball to the far side .
