Boys soccer: Naperville North rallies to reach state final

Naperville North is just one step away from making history.

The Huskies rallied in the second half to defeat Bradley-Bourbonnais 2-1 during Friday's Class 3A semifinal in Hoffman Estates.

"For whatever reason it was our night tonight," Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. "The boys hung in there. We had our chances and we finished them."

Naperville North (20-2-3) extended its unbeaten streak to 16 games, but more importantly, the Huskies advanced to Saturday night's state title game against Barrington.

The Huskies will attempt to win their second state title. They won their first in 1998 when Konrad was an assistant coach and before any players on their current roster were born.

"I think that as you get older you start to recognize the importance of the season and the cliché of the journey of spending so much time with a great group of kids," Konrad said. "It's been a blast. Unless you've been a part of a group like this you can't explain how special it is to see kids you work with and that you love and care about have success and see the pure happiness on their faces in these moments. That's what I'm most proud of."

He's been especially proud of senior Chris Sullivan, who scored his 50th varsity goal on a penalty kick in the 57th minute.

Sullivan became only the fifth Huskies player in school history to reach that number, but more importantly, he tied the game at 1-1. The Boilermakers had taken a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute on an Anthony Markanich goal, but Sullivan answered to knot things up.

"Nothing was going through my head at all," Sullivan said. "It was a huge moment and I just tried to tune everything out and even juggle a little bit to loosen myself up and just put it on a spot. I saw the keeper move a little bit on the juke and was just able to put it away."

There may have been a sense of relief on the Huskies' sideline when Sullivan delivered because this is a team that hasn't had to come from behind very often.

"We haven't been in that situation, but we've put other teams in the situation and noticed that teams start to crack when we're up a goal," Sullivan said. "We knew the negative effects of that. We all came together as one unit and were able to tough it out and win the game."

They did so via a set play, something that's been huge for them all year long. This time it wasn't Colin Iverson who finished, but Jack Bromagen, who received a long throw-in from Jack Barry that may have caromed off Iverson or a Bradley-Bourbonnais player. It didn't matter who it bounced off of, only that it landed near Bromagen's feet and he finished it.

"All I know is Colin jumped up like he always does with a bunch of guys and forced it to flick on," Bromagen said. "I guess I was in the right place at the right time and got my foot out and it went in."

And now the Huskies move on to the possibility of doing something the program hasn't done in 18 years.

"Just like the other night, the ball gets in and Brom buries a tough shot, a tough shot back post," Konrad said. "Brom is cool as always and finished and then we hung on for dear life and we're playing (Saturday) for a state championship, so it's exciting."