Things tend to come naturally to senior midfielder Juliana Park for St. Charles North.
A three-year starter, Park easily merges her personality to her playing style, and she has that rare ability of being able to do something creative and consequential with the ball every time.
“Every player has their own unique personality,” Park said, nodding. “I feel like you can really see that when I’m on the ball. I always say my skills are easy. I’m quick and I like to make plays.
“Especially with my passing.”
As a matter of fact, Park created a textbook service Tuesday in the seventh minute that senior forward Laney Stark converted in the North Stars’ 1-0 Tri-Cities Night win over St. Charles East.
It was the third assist of the season for Park, who also has four goals for St. Charles North (8-4-2, 2-1-1). Junior goalkeeper Sidney Lazenby made seven saves for the visiting Saints (12-2-3, 2-1).
The result snapped St. Charles East’s 12-game unbeaten streak, and none of that would have ben possible without the rhyming dynamic that exists between Park and Stark for the North Stars.
“We’ve been playing for a long time,” Stark said. “I just feel like we really know each other, both on and off the field. She doesn’t even have to tell me anything. I just know where she is going to be.
“We played with each other when we were younger. Now through this season, we’ve gotten closer, and I think it has really been shown throughout the field.”
St. Charles North’s Juliana Park moves the ball as St. Charles East defends during a Tri-Cities Night game in St. Charles on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (James C. Svehla / The Beacon News)
Stark, a transfer from Bartlett, moved to start her junior season at St. Charles North. Park made sure that Stark’s transition was fluid and essential.
“We played club a long time ago and then picked it right back up when I came to North,” Stark said. “Juliana is quiet, but once you get to know her, she is really awesome.
“She takes people on and really knows how to distribute it. She also has a really good shot of her own and is dangerous that way.”
The 5-foot-6 Park has the requisite blend of size, quickness, a deft first touch and an excellent feel for the game. Her sensibility is quiet and self-effacing. Her play is authoritative.
St. Charles East’s Payton Rivard, left, and St. Charles North’s Juliana Park battle for the ball during a Tri-Cities Night game in St. Charles on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (James C. Svehla / The Beacon News)
To that end, she displays a distinctive brand of fast, aggressive and highly technical play.
Freshman defender Aubri Magana pointed out that Park is a connective thread, with a knack for making the players around her welcome and appreciated.
“Juliana is pretty shy, but she is all business on the field,” Magana said. “She is really calm with the ball, and when she has it, she always knows what to do with it.
“She looks up, she makes the pass, she dribbles or she shoots.”
during a Tri-Cities Night game in St. Charles on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (James C. Svehla / The Beacon News)
Park began playing at age of 5 in the youth leagues of the Tri-Cities.
“I grew up with two older brothers and I was always competing against them,” Park said. “I learned a lot of playing around them and seeing how they were.
“One of my brothers was left-footed and I’m naturally right handed, but I worked that into my game. From being around them, I also know how to make quick moves, and get past people.”
Park recently took a recruiting visit to Marquette. A game she fell in love with as a child now functions as a mirror where she reflects on the past and has a sharp sense of where she is going.
“When I was a freshman, I was just learning the game and deciding how to play with older kids,” Park said. “Now I’ve gotten older, and I am more aggressive and more confident.
“With that, we play as a unit and not just individuals. I think it all really shows.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
