Naperville North gets game that matters most

Naperville Central vs. Naperville North in girls soccer is never just another game, even when it's sandwiched in the schedule between Naperville Invitational weekends.

That both teams will play invitational quarterfinal matches Thursday is nice, but the Huskies' 2-1 DuPage Valley Conference victory at Naperville North still means more.

"This is the only game that matters," Redhawks coach Ed Watson said. "This was the game that the girls look forward to. If we would have won the game we would have been back in the conference race. ... Going up to Barrington and playing on Thursday? It's just a game."

"The hard piece is just being able to stay focused on a huge week ahead," Huskies coach Steve Goletz added. "I told them approach this week as kind of a state playoff week. You're going to have to win Tuesday to stay alive in the DVC, so it's a must-win game. And then you're going to have to win Thursday against Plainfield North to stay alive in the tournament to get a crack at the No. 1 team, which is New Trier. It's very similar to what you're going to face in this sectional."

The Huskies scored just three minutes into the game when sophomore Morgan Lockridge redirected a Morgan Krause corner kick into the Naperville Central net. It was Lockridge's second goal of the season.

The Redhawks (9-5-1, 1-2) evened the game in the 50th minute on Meridith Tunney's 27-yard free kick into the upper left corner of the Naperville North net.

"I really like the way we played today," Watson said. "That's a team that I'm comfortable going forward with."

The Redhawks almost scored twice more, but Huskies goalkeeper Fiona Baenziger made a pair of big first-half saves.

"I was so happy for Fiona that she played so well tonight," Goletz said. "We've given up 2 goals all year and she's made some good saves, but she hasn't been tested a ton, and she got tested a ton tonight and she stood on her head and made some phenomenal saves. That's a three-year goalkeeper right there for us."

The Huskies (9-1-0, 2-0) got the game-winner when Abbie Boswell got a head to Emily Wilhelm's service into the Redhawks' box. The ball squirmed just over the goal line against the right post.

"I'm not very good with my head, and that was my first header goal ever in high school soccer," Boswell said of her ninth goal this season.

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