Shannon Reid entered Tuesday not knowing that she would make her first career varsity start for St. Charles North.

But after learning that one of her teammates would sit out of the game against Batavia with an injury, the junior knew that she had to make the most of the new opportunity.

“I had no idea that I was going to start or if I was going to play the whole game,” Reid said. “But it was definitely worth it.”

In the end, it proved to be a memorable night for Reid, whose first varsity goal proved to be the game-winning score to help the North Stars to a 1-0 victory over the Bulldogs.

“She played with a lot of spirit and a lot of heart out there and when the opportunity presented itself, she made the most of it,” North Stars coach Brian Harks said. “When we have a player go down, we have a next up mindset. And the way she played in the game and get that goal was a really special moment for her and the team.”

Reid’s goal came in the 19th minute. After Addison Ybarra sent a free kick into the Bulldogs’ box, the ball ended up getting bounced around by multiple defenders.

But with the ball in front of the net, the 5-foot midfielder maneuvered her way through the crowd before putting her boot on the ball and slotting it into the top corner of the net.

“I can’t really see much since I’m a lot shorter than the other players,” Reid joked. “It definitely felt really chaotic, I felt kind of lost at one point. But once I saw the ball open and saw the slot, I just powered through it and shot with all I could.”

The North Stars (4-3-1 overall, 2-0 DuKane) were also without All-State defender Aubri Magana in the backfield, who sat out to deal with an ankle injury. But even with an improvised back row, the team managed to calm the Bulldogs’ attack to get their fourth shutout of the season.

“There’s no doubt that Batavia was dangerous, but the focus, much like being next up on the depth chart, it was focusing on the next play,” Harks said. “Magana has been a leader in our back line all season, and I thought that Abby Smith did an amazing job filling in that role, being loud on the field and supporting her teammates when asked to.”

The Bulldogs (2-5-1, 1-1-1) made a valiant effort in the second half to try to find an equalizer, spending a majority of the second half in North Stars’ territory, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

“We had a couple of run outs and we were putting the pressure on them, but you’ve just got to score,” Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “We had a couple corners there, and we just couldn’t score any goals. We did a nice job winning some 50-50 balls, but if you don’t score, you’re not going to get a result.”

Batavia finished the game with two shots on net, with junior Leah Zimberoff and Emma Wecker each getting a shot off.

“We did a good job playing in and trying to play the wings to get some balls across and some corners,” Gianfrancesco said. “We had more pressure in the offensive third than in the first half there. The pressure was there in the second half, but you can’t win a game if you can’t score.”