Girls soccer: Naperville North's speed beats Metea Valley

Naperville North was looking to use its speed to beat Metea Valley deep during Thursday's DuPage Valley Conference girls soccer game in Aurora.

It simply took awhile for the big play to develop, and the reward didn't even arrive immediately. The Huskies still had to wait for the next restart.

That restart with 28:04 remaining resulted in the game's lone goal as Naperville North clipped the host Mustangs 1-0.

"Metea Valley plays a high line and we were trying to use our speed up top to get in behind them, and Ashley (Santos) sent in a great ball and beat them," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. "Alexis (Dandridge) was there and their goalie did what she had to do and came out and clipped her."

Amy Ahern was given a red card on the play when she collided with Dandridge. Once play resumed, the Huskies took advantage of the free kick as best friends Maddie Krejci and Morgan Krause connected.

Krause had originally planned on driving it far post but saw an opening and slipped it into Krejci, who finished it perfectly.

"We practice that play a lot so it's a lot easier to do and Krause played a great ball," Krejci said. "We had so many chances to score earlier, and it's great to have chances, but you have got to finish them."

Naperville North (4-1, 2-0) didn't need any more offense. Its back line of Krejci, Krause, Santos and Alyssa Siebers was outstanding, while goalkeeper Elizabeth Cablk, returning from an ankle injury, stopped every shot that headed her way.

"I think we missed some chances on balls that we should've put away, but that happens," Goletz said. "I was really happy with the back four. Jade Eriksen-Russo is a heck of a player and they did a good job of limiting her chances."

Santos nearly give the Huskies some breathing room later in the second half, but backup goalkeeper Maddie Morris punched it out, doing her part in keeping the Mustangs in the game until the very end.

"We were right in the game and we did a pretty good job of staying competitive," Mustangs coach Chris Whaley said. "It took us awhile to adjust with not having that extra body on the field, but once we did that we got more opportunities and that's all you can hope for when you're a man down."

Kelly Crowe's strong-footed free kick with about 13 minutes left and another long attempt from Eriksen-Russo were two of the better scoring chances the Mustangs were able to produce late in the game.

"I think it's been a long couple of weeks for our girls," Whaley said. "They're probably due for a break, but they're not going to get one."

The Mustangs will play in a tournament on Saturday.

On the flip side the Huskies were playing for the first time since March 21.

"We were ready to play," Krejci said. "We just wanted to play again."

"We only had two practices over spring break so we did a lot of running when we got back," Krause said. "Coach told us to keep running over break to stay in shape and then before the game he said don't lose your mentality and just keep going."

The Huskies will look to keep things going well when they returns home next Thursday to play undefeated St. Charles East.