Girls soccer: Downers Grove North shuts out York

Downers Grove North coach Brian Papa likes to get his reserve players into the action. On Tuesday night at York, they rewarded him for it.

The Trojans collected an impressive 3-0 girls soccer victory sparked by bench players.

"I can go up to 12, 13 kids who could all be starting," Papa said. "Not everybody can start. But like I've been telling everybody, it's our level of play when we sub. We don't want to drop, and right now that's happening. We're very happy right now."

Junior Carli Nehls, healthy again after an ankle injury, came off the bench to collect a perfectly weighted through ball from Maggie Nevrly for the Trojans first goal of the game, in the 27th minute.

"It was perfectly placed by Maggie. It was a great ball," Nehls said of her second goal of the season.

The Trojans made it 2-0 in the 50th minute starters Abby Swanson and Delaney Forst combined for a Swanson goal. Four minutes later Swanson provided the service to Carissa Mysliwiec for a 3-0 lead.

Each of the three goals came out of strong combination play.

"Every goal that we're getting is developed from the field of play, the run of play," Papa said. "How many teams can say that? Usually you generate through restarts. We're good on restarts. We didn't today, but we're good at them. We're getting better at them. We're going to be a very hard team to beat."

The Trojans were very tough Tuesday. They sent 23 shots toward the York goal. The Dukes got off 5 shots, 4 of them in the second half.

Trojans goalkeeper Grace Stevenson made 4 saves, including a highlight-reel save in the 52nd minute to keep the shutout intact.

"If she doesn't come up big with that save it's (2-1), a whole different ballgame," Papa said.

The Trojans (10-1-1, 3-0 West Suburban Silver) impressed the Dukes (7-7, 2-2).

"They're probably the fastest, strongest team that we've seen all year," York coach Don Vana said. "And that's the second time we've played them. We have a little bit of injuries going through out team and have some girls that are out. So it's hard to come back with that."

The victory showed how well the Trojans are adjusting in their first year with the veteran Papa as coach.

"We're getting into the groove," Nehls said. "At the beginning of the season, it was a bit of a change from last year, but I think we're finally settling in. It's kind of a snowball effect."