Naperville North takes invitational crown
After defeating state powerhouses Plainfield North, New Trier and Barrington on consecutive days to win the Naperville Invitational championship, Naperville North's girls soccer players were ready for a rest.
They earned it.
The Huskies won the state's strongest regular-season tournament for only the second time, defeating Barrington 2-0 Saturday at Naperville Central.
"I can't even tell you how tired I am," Huskies senior defender Jen Fortman said. "Three games in three days is a lot."
With both teams trying to push through their exhaustion, the Huskies (12-1) got a big boost in the seventh minute when they scored first. Senior forward Abbie Boswell drew the Barrington defense to her, then passed to her right to a wide-open Maddie Krejci, who slotted the ball into the net for her sixth goal of the season.
"She's been such a big-time player," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said of Krejci, "and it just shows that this is a true team from top to bottom."
"Coach always tells me to stay out wide and dive in when (Boswell) gets the ball, and Boz plays a perfect ball in every time for me to be able to finish," Krecji added.
Less than a minute into the second half, the Huskies struck again. Sophomore defender Morgan Krause slid a free kick into space around a four-person wall. Boswell beat her marker to the ball to put it in the corner of the net for her 12th goal of the year.
"That's a ball that's played into space," Fillies coach Ryan Stengren said. "We have no one standing in the space. That should be identified. It was smart on them. We exposed the space, they played it and they win the 50-50 ball."
The rest was up to the Naperville North defense, and it was as strong as ever.
In front of sophomore goalkeeper Elizabeth Cablk, playing her first start of the season due to a hip pointer regular keeper Fiona Baenziger suffered Friday night, the Huskies held firm. Naperville North rarely allowed Barrington (14-1-3) into its penalty area, forcing the Fillies to take most of their shots from distance. When the Fillies did get close, a Huskies defender was there to sweep the ball away.
"I thought the second half was great by our back four," Goletz said. "To hold (Barrington all-state forward Jenna Szczesny) to very limited chances, she's a special player and our back four did such a great job on her."
"Our defense was phenomenal," Krejci added.
Cablk made 4 saves for the shutout.
Having played four games in four days, including their own invitational gantlet, the Fillies let their weariness show.
"Our mentality was not good to start the game," Stengren said. "And you combine that with not having legs, I would tell you that a lot of people didn't play well for us today. ... Give credit to (the Huskies). They looked like they had a lot more energy than we did today."
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