Quick start sends Naperville North to win

Naperville North felt it was important to grab the momentum quickly from Naperville Central when Tuesday night's boys soccer game at Naperville North started.

The Huskies certainly did that.

Senior Chris Ensign and the Huskies went on a breakaway to start the game. After a cross from Chris Sullivan, Ensign hit net just 37 seconds into the game.

It was a lead that Naperville North (5-4-1, 1-0-1 DuPage Valley Conference) never relinquished. The team prevailed 2-1 on just three shots.

"That (early score) was very unexpected. We were the underdogs," Ensign said. "It changed the momentum."

That's not to say the Huskies weren't confident about their abilities.

"In every contest you want to say you will win this game. But you don't want to be overconfident," he said.

After the Huskies withstood some excellent pressure from the Redhawks (7-1-2, 1-1-0) in the first half to lead 1-0 at halftime, the team made it 2-0 with 32:13 left in the game on Martin Li's goal.

Ensign made the original throw-in. The shot that resulted from it, taken in a crowd, went just inches wide of the net. Li grabbed the rebound.

"I took the ball. I was so close. I just blasted it," he said.

After Naperville Central's Daniel Poole scored with the help of a cross from Jordi McCormack to make it 2-1 with 17:44 remaining, the urgency level from both teams went up and continued increasing as time ticked down. In the last few minutes the Redhawks attacked the Naperville North net with a great effort, but the winner's defense held.

Ensign said the defensive efforts of Connor McBride, Grant Borg, Brandon Hipp, Wesley Wong, Kevin Keane and Matty Sylvester were crucial to holding off the Redhawks after Naperville Central had cut the lead to 2-1.

As for the Redhawks, coach Troy Adams said the opening goal by the Huskies was crucial.

"In the game of soccer, you can't take a mental break. One mistake can kill you and we made ours early tonight," he said. "We've not been ready to play at the beginning of games the last couple of games. We're not as mentally strong as we need to be, but we'll keep working on that."

Christian Robert was winning goalkeeper for the Huskies, making 3 saves.

"They worked so hard and battled and were able to hold on," Konrad said of his players. "This is always a fun game. The players know each other. They are all on the same club teams."