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Sullivan, Naperville North shock Naperville Central

Naperville North coach Jim Konrad has seen his share of fantastic goals over the years. On Tuesday he saw one that he called the "goal of the century."

Huskies sophomore Chris Sullivan scored it. He broke a 1-1 tie with 26:23 left, and it held as Naperville North upended rival Naperville Central 2-1 in a Class 3A Bolingbrook sectional semifinal.

"Glenn Wishnew digs it out at midfield and then he gets it to (Chris) Ensign," Konrad said. "Ensign makes the sprint and then hits a hot ball across the middle and Sully somehow wraps himself around the defender, gets a foot on it and it ends up in the upper 90. That's Sullivan. He comes around in big moments."

Sullivan saw the play originate well before he delivered his 18-yard shot.

"I saw Chris (Ensign) and could see the play happening from a mile away," he said. "I saw Chris get space and the knew that the ball was coming. I just had to step in front of my guy and it couldn't have went better in the net."

Naperville North (15-4-2) fell behind 1-0 late in the first half, despite controlling the pace for most the half.

Naperville Central (13-2-6) took that lead with 7:10 remaining before the break when Jordi Heeneman scored off a throw-in from Riley Guttosch.

It didn't cause the Huskies to panic, though.

"I thought the boys responded well to that goal," Konrad said. "We didn't go into a shell and kept pushing and that gave me some hope. At halftime we talked about what a great story it would be for us to come back and a find a way to win."

Finding that way began with 35:34 remaining with Connor McBride scoring off of Sullivan's corner kick.

"It was a pretty big ball," McBride said. "I saw it and went back post and somehow I got my head on it. It hit off Jordi (Heeneman's) head at first and then right off mine."

The Redhawks had a couple excellent chances of netting the equalizer, but it just didn't happen. A cross from Daniel Poole to Sean Flading was one of their near misses as was a shot from Jordi McCormack with 17 seconds left in the game.

Backup goalkeeper Riley Wiest, who had replaced an injured Christian Robert earlier in the second half, denied McCormack's shot. Defender Nick Carballo then sent it out of harm's way as the final seconds ticked off on Naperville Central's season.

The Redhawks were aiming to advance to the state finals for the fourth straight year. They ended up losing just twice this season, both times to Naperville North; they dropped their DVC game 2-1 on Sept. 16.

"Somebody asked if this is a disappointment, but I think sad is a better word," Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. "A bunch of seniors that gave everything they could during the summer and in the season and played a great game today. They just couldn't find a way to get the bounce they wanted to."

The Huskies will play either Benet or Batavia in Saturday's Class 3A Bolingbrook sectional championship at 1 p.m.

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