Boys soccer: Naperville North breezes past Metea Valley
After another unseasonably hot and humid day on Wednesday, a cool, strong evening breeze had to feel wonderful and provide some relief.
Metea Valley could've done without it.
Host Naperville North took advantage of the wind, scoring five unanswered goals in the second half to turn a tight game into 6-0 rout in a DuPage Valley Conference match.
"The wind was a huge factor," Huskies coach Jim Konrad said. "The first half it was an even-fought game. Metea is a good team. They had at least four times with good chances to score (in the first half) and their kids up top are super-dangerous. In the second half it was so windy they couldn't get the ball to them."
Naperville North (5-1-2, 1-0-0) took a 1-0 lead on freshman Ty Konrad's goal with 17:29 remaining in the first half.
"I felt kind of bad because I missed the first one and should've scored," he said. "It was kind of like relief and I was excited because it was the first goal of the game."
It was Ty Konrad's second goal of the season.
Metea Valley (0-3-2, 0-2-0) created a handful of scoring chances during the first half but just couldn't finish.
Nathan Barrett and Alfonso Castillo had a couple of the better ones but they were either stopped by the defense or by Naperville North goalkeeper Tommy Welch.
"We battled hard in the first half but didn't really get the result we wanted with one goal down, but we were definitely in the game," Mustangs senior Connor Lang said. "In the second half we came out slow. We didn't battle for what we wanted. Maybe it gets in our head, the wind, but the wind was not a big factor."
The Huskies felt otherwise and scored three times in a little more than four minutes early in the second half to put the game away.
Chris Sullivan scored the first of his two goals with 35:32 remaining, before Colin Iverson and Jack Barry scored. Sullivan has already scored 8 goals on the young season.
Alex Wang concluded the scoring on a set piece with just less than 10 minutes remaining.
The Huskies accomplished the rare feat of having a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior all score.
"Our forwards were really dangerous today," Sullivan said. "They were different from other games. They had a lot of confidence and were taking it at more people and creating more chances."
It's been a rough start to the DVC for the Mustangs. They've allowed 10 goals in the past two days. Their schedule doesn't get any easier with New Trier on Saturday.