Girls soccer: Naperville North blanks Geneva

When you get to the quarterfinals of the Naperville Invitational, you expect to see quality girls soccer matches, and that's just what Naperville North and Geneva delivered on Thursday at Geneva's chilly Burgess Field.

That Naperville North seemed comfortable in a 2-0 victory says as much about the Huskies talent this season as it does the quality Geneva has at its disposal - because the match was not one-way traffic for 80 minutes.

Still, Naperville North (11-1) won thanks to a goal by Alexis Dandridge 16 minutes before halftime and Maddie Krejci's tally 4 minutes from the end of the match. With the visitors' defense mostly airtight through the match the Huskies moved into Friday's 5 p.m. semifinal with Barrington at Naperville Central. Barrington is the only team to defeat Naperville North this season.

"Last year, we had a pretty good run in this tournament," Krejci said. "We won and that's obviously our goal again this year. We've never done that as a team back-to-back and that's one of our goals."

Geneva (10-2-1) proved hard to break down, as befits a team that entered Thursday's match on a five-match unbeaten streak. But from Dandridge's well-placed shot midway through the first half, the Vikings had an uphill task on their hands.

"We took it to them," Geneva coach Megan Owens said. "Their first goal was beautiful, upper 90, and our defender was right there. There's no way to stop that. The second hurt a little bit."

Geneva battled against Naperville North's midfield, but clear chances on goal were difficult to find. The best shot the Vikings had came with 3 minutes left, a close-range, tight angle shot by Jenna Dominguez.

"All our kids fought and we had our opportunities - we just didn't finish," Owens said. "This is definitely a confidence booster for us. We were aggressive and we didn't back down."

By the time Dominguez came close to scoring, Naperville North led 2-0 on Krejci's goal, placed low to the right corner of the net when one-on-one with Geneva keeper Emma Harkleroad.

"We always have a ton of chances that we can finish, and sometimes we don't," Krejci said. "We keep pressing hard and wait for the chance to finish it."

Naperville North's defense recorded its eighth straight shutout, has allowed 3 goals all season, and showed why they have been so difficult to break down. Certainly the individuals are talented, but they play as a unit, with the midfield pitching in as well, leaving opponents a multilayered maze to navigate.

"We're all really close as it is, and we communicate a lot," Naperville North defender Emily Wilhelm said. "We've improved a lot from the beginning of the season. We're really excited we've gotten this many shutouts."

Strong offense, suffocating midfield, organized defense and goalkeeping that came through when they needed it - it's hard to poke many holes in Naperville North's performance.

"It was a great performance and we knew we had to be good tonight to beat a team as good as Geneva is," Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. "They gave us a run. That's about as tough a group as we've played all year. We've got some great athletes all over the field, and they matched us."

While Naperville North moves to the semifinals, Geneva concludes its tournament play Friday against Evanston in a 7 p.m. match at Naperville North.

"We're hoping to build on this momentum and keep it going," Owens said.