Girls soccer: Krejci goal lifts Naperville North past Benet
Special players seem to deliver at the times that their teams need them most.
Naperville North senior Maddie Krejci is one of those players.
Benet put up a strong defensive girls soccer front and limited the Huskies' chances during Friday's Class 3A Bolingbrook regional championship, but the Redhawks let Krejci slip by once early in the second half and she made them pay dearly.
Krejci worked a pass into senior Alexis Dandridge who then sent it back to Krejci, who buried it just inside the far post and out of the reach of Benet goalkeeper Anna Keefe.
It proved to be all the scoring that was needed as the Huskies survived 1-0 and moved on to next Tuesday's Class 3A Metea Valley sectional semifinal against Neuqua Valley.
"Maddie is a kid who always finds a way to score and that's why she's so special for us," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. "In the playoffs the games don't have to be pretty sometimes as long as you survive and advance. Any win in this sectional is a good win and now we'll focus on Neuqua. We know they'll be ready and it's a great rivalry for us."
Naperville North (19-1-1) didn't create many scoring opportunities but made the most of the game-winning goal.
"Maddie played a great ball into me and I did what coach said, I held the ball and she continued her run," Dandridge said. "I just had to slide the ball in and then she had a great finish."
Krejic spun Benet's outside back and got ahead, but when she saw defensive help coming in her direction, she flicked a pass back to Dandridge but kept going full steam ahead.
"I knew if I kept running there was a chance I'd get the ball back," she said. "Lexi played it back and I just put it in the back of the net."
Benet (11-8-3) did a great job of limiting Naperville North's chances, and the Redwings knew that their only chance of pulling the upset was to keep the game scoreless for as long as possible.
"Our entire game plan was to frustrate them, slow them down and play disciplined defensive soccer and then look for a counter or set play," Benet coach Bob Gros said. "They're such a great team, though, with a great midfield and tremendous back line and a good goalie. They've given up so few goals so we knew we had to slow them down because it would be tough to score."
Benet presented few scoring chances. One of its better ones came from sophomore Erin Flynn with 23:20 left in the game, but Naperville North goalkeeper Elizabeth Cablk scooped it up.
"They sat numbers deep on us and made it hard to play," Goletz said. "They did a great job and their kids where battling from the first to last whistle. It was a fistfight out there tonight and I told Bob (Gros) that my kids will never back down and his didn't either. Both teams battled hard."