Naperville Central leaves WW South with win

Naperville Central coach Ed Watson received a scarf and Caroline Reedy got her first game-winning goal.

Reedy's goal was the lone score Tuesday as the Redhawks handed Wheaton Warrenville South its first loss in the DuPage Valley Conference with a 1-0 victory in Wheaton.

"I think all of us wanted to win and all of us worked hard for it today," Reedy said. "Scoring that goal was great. I was glad to help the team get another win."

Watson was awarded a spirit scarf - which he joked that he could've used during the 80 minutes of action - after the game from Tigers coach Guy Callipari for picking up his 400th victory last week against Waubonsie Valley. Callipari isn't too many seasons away from getting No. 400 himself, having begun the year with 337 wins.

Reedy scored with about 90 seconds left in the first half.

"Meredith McGuire brought it from the midfield and played an amazing ball in and Katie Anderson moved some defenders out of the way so I could hit it," Reedy said. "It was great."

Naperville Central (6-5-2, 3-2-0) isn't playing great consistently but its defense continues to keep the Redhawks in most games.

The Redhawks have yet to win two games in a row, but all six of their wins have been shutouts.

"Scoring that first goal helps," Watson said. "That was a nice finish by Reedy and I thought our defense was pretty solid."

Wheaton Warrenville South (5-4-0, 2-1-0) had some opportunities to net the equalizer but couldn't finish.

"Naperville Central was very organized and stiff competition and defensively they're strong and they work very hard," Callipari said. "They get you off-balance and anytime you get a little bit of rhythm they try to interfere with the process."

Naperville Central senior defender Caitlin Reice had a lot to do with that. She said the team is playing extra tough in back because they know scoring is at such a premium that they cannot afford many mistakes.

"There was a sense of urgency in the back about scoring and to keep it out of our end," Reice said. "I don't think there was bad pressure, it was just knowing we have to work hard 100 percent of the time."

For a brief moment with just under four minutes remaining, it appeared as if the Tigers netted the equalizer off a corner kick. But one of the officials waved off the goal and the Tigers didn't have any other solid scoring chances.

"I was proud of the fact that in the last 25 minutes we transitioned through three formations and I thought they did a nice job with the organization and understanding of their roles and managing their game," Callipari said. "They tried to create opportunities, but playing against the clock a bit, as well as the opposition, for young kids that's really tough to do."