The 2026 Tri-Cities Night was one to remember for both St. Charles East junior Sophia Wollenberg and Geneva junior Claire Reeve.

Wollenberg slotted in a goal and added a pair of assists to help the Saints to a 3-0 victory over St. Charles North.

On the other side, Reeve paced the Vikings with two second-half goals to help pull away for a 4-1 victory against host Batavia.

The win for the Saints (15-0-4 overall, 3-0-1 DuKane) marked their first victory over their crosstown rivals in a DuKane Conference game since 2021.

“The past couple of years, we haven’t played against them the way that we wanted to play,” Wollenberg said. “This year, we came in with the emphasis of having the energy and leaving it all out on the field. We want to go for that conference championship, so we brought that energy, and that momentum helped us in the attack.”

Wollenberg got the Saints out in front early, connecting with sophomore Mya Leon on a long through ball that she slotted away for the 1-0 advantage just 1:39 after the starting whistle.

“Leading up to the game I was nervous, but right when I saw Soph I called for the ball, and she gave me the most beautiful through-ball,” said Leon, who is up to 37 goals on the season. “I just cut across and shot far post. And I feel like that took away any of our nerves and helped me get my head in the game and prepare for the rest of it.”

Wollenberg would get her second assist in the 31st minute, connecting with the foot of Josy Pearce on a corner kick, before adding an insurance goal of her own in the 62nd minute.

“She’s had 20 goals for us in her first two years, so it’s no shock when she has efforts like this,” Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “She looked great out there, definitely more confident. She’s been hard on herself in terms of watching film and making some adjustments, and it showed on that finish.

“The composure she had there, it was good to see.”

The early disadvantage was something the North Stars (4-6-2, 2-1) struggled to come back from for most of the night. But North Stars coach Brian Harks said it was something the team could build off of in case they happen to face them in the playoffs.

“It’s not the way you want to start off the game, but our girls responded pretty well,” Harks said. “They settled into the game. In a game like this, sometimes maybe nerves get the better of you, but now everyone’s had an opportunity to have this experience, and we’ll be more prepared for next time.”

In the second game of the ledger, Reeve ended up giving the Vikings (8-5-1, 3-2) the lead for good in the 60th minute after getting a through-ball in from junior Olivia Pohlman before squaring it away to give them a 2-1 lead.

“That was a real nice assist there, and I just used my right foot, which was weird, because I’m a lefty,” Reeve said. “It was just kind of a blur, but I was trying to time it so I was onside and managed to hit it in.”

Reeve kicked off the scoring in the contest with an assist after finding senior Teagan Modjeski on a corner kick in the 10th minute. She also secured a brace in the 73rd minute of play.

“I think it was just the warm-up, walking in and then flipping the switch in the second half,” Reeve said. “This is a big rivalry game, and we had a lot of energy. The team helped a lot, and we had a lot there at the end.”

The Vikings finished with three goals in the second half, with Pohlman getting a score of her own in the 72nd minute of play.

“I think we knew we had more in the tank and had another level in us,” Vikings coach Megan Owens said. “I mean, what an amazing event that shows why you play. You’re playing in front of your community for a great cause against your biggest rival. What more could you want?

”Batavia gave us a great match, and it was just fun all around and great to see our team respond.”

Freshman Claire Heniff scored the lone goal in the game for the Bulldogs (4-8-1, 2-2-1), drawing her first career varsity score in the 25th minute to draw the game at 1-1.

“I thought we played a good first 65 minutes, and I thought we performed well besides looking at the score,” Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “What we need to do is making sure we score on some of those opportunities that we’re getting. We had multiple where we were leaning on them. We just had a bad five minutes or so at the end that turned it to that score.”