Girls soccer: Naperville North's Krause nets game-winner in 99th minute
When the final whistle blew Thursday night, Morgan Krause's Naperville North girls soccer teammates swarmed her near midfield.
Just two minutes earlier, in the 99th minute of a Naperville Invitational quarterfinal, Krause had settled a game that seemed destined to be decided in penalty kicks. She had that swarming coming.
With Krause's left-footed blast from just inside the St. Charles East penalty area in the second overtime period, Naperville North won 1-0 and advanced to Friday's semifinal at Naperville Central against Fremd.
The Huskies (12-0-2) are ranked No. 1 in the Daily Herald Top 20, the Saints No. 12.
"It felt great to get that goal," Krause said. "We were really dragging (after) Tuesday. They came off a good team, we came off a good team. So it was going to be who wants it more, and we wanted it more."
The Huskies played 100 scoreless minutes Tuesday against No. 5-ranked Neuqua Valley in a DuPage Valley Conference game. They avoided a rematch Friday by winning after Neuqua lost to No. 8 Fremd on Thursday.
Now they have about 20 hours to regroup before taking on Fremd.
"Our legs are heavy," Krause said. "Our legs are very heavy, but we have to get back after it tomorrow. Take care of our bodies, get some rest."
"I'm sure there will be some heavy legs, but this point you're in the semifinal of the best tournament in the state of Illinois. I'm hoping the adrenaline piece will carry itself through," Huskies coach Steve Goletz added.
The goal was the central attacking midfielder's 12th of the season.
"Santos hit a great first touch centrally, and I just kept running unmarked," Krause said. "I don't know, I just got free somehow. And then she played a great through ball in. I took a touch with my left foot. I saw the goal and said I've got to hit this, so I buried it."
"Morgan has been great this season, moving from center back," Goletz added. "She's not a true attacking mid, but she's filled the void, and the combination between her and Santos to get the game-winner was a great combo. What a great finish by Morgan with her left foot."
Credit quality competition for the Huskies nearly going 200 minutes without a goal.
"I definitely think that it's a testament to both Neuqua and St. Charles East," Goletz said. "They're both phenomenal teams. I thought St. Charles East tonight in the first half was about as good as we've seen in the attack."
The Saints (8-3-3) were proud of their performance also.
"Honestly, what more can you ask of our girls than that?" Saints coach Paul Jennison asked rhetorically. "For the majority of the game, I've got to be honest, I thought we were the team that was in control of it. I don't normally put that out there, but at the same time I thought these girls were absolutely fantastic tonight. They had energy. The possession of the ball on the ground was fantastic. The movement was just different level.
"But the difference today was a player of that quality with a strike with two minutes to go. You want something like that to break a deadlock in a game this tight. Unfortunately for us, Naperville North had it. It's going to take one heck of a team to beat them this year."
The Saints will play Neuqua Valley on Friday, with the knowledge they played evenly with perhaps the best team in the state for nearly 100 minutes.
"That's got to be a massive character builder for our girls," Jennison said.