Girls soccer: WW South beats Naperville Central on overtime penalty kick

Wheaton Warrenville South and Naperville Central were never going to play a high-scoring girls soccer game Tuesday.

So it was no surprise when the two DuPage Valley Conference teams went to overtime scoreless.

The first overtime period ended - barely - with a goal after the Tigers' Allie Anderson was fouled in the Naperville Central penalty area just two seconds before the horn sounded to end the period. Tigers senior Anna Fank calmly stepped up to convert the penalty kick for a 1-0 WW South win in Naperville.

"We played a great game the whole time," Fank said after her ninth goal of the season. "Our defense kept us in the game."

There was no doubt who would take the penalty kick for the Tigers (6-2-1, 2-1). The key was tuning out the "commotion" around her, which included the referees taking a little time to put two seconds back on the clock after the horn sounded.

"It was good that she had the ball on her foot at the end of it all," Tigers coach Guy Callipari said.

Both teams struggled to pressure the opposing goalkeepers.

"Their defense is super-strong and we knew that coming in, so we knew we had to play to our strengths," Fank said.

The Tigers' respect for the Redhawks also played into their tactics.

"We changed our game plan a lot obviously," Callipari said. "We were a lot more direct than we wanted to be, but that was because they applied so much pressure defensively and they cover a lot of ground pretty quick. So our combination play and trying to play around the back, we just didn't want to take that risk. We decided to play more risk-free and Anna's a good target to try and do that. We can get up the field 20-30 yards by playing into her."

Naperville Central's record moved to 6-3-2, 3-1-1.

"We wasted too many opportunities in the first half," Redhawks coach Ed Watson said. "... This is who we are. We're a very good team with no scoring. And unfortunately you can't win your way with zero."