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Girls soccer: Buescher's first goal gets Naperville North started

Senior Night is usually loaded with a bunch of final experiences.

On Tuesday at Naperville North, it also had a pair of unique firsts.

Junior Katelynn Buescher scored her first goal less than two minutes into play. Senior Jessica Denney took the field for the first time in a Naperville North uniform, in a 2-0 DuPage Valley Conference win over Wheaton Warrenville South.

"We came out really hard because it was Senior Night and we wanted to win for the seniors who have done so much for the program," Buescher said. "I think this was a confidence builder. We know we can score moving forward, which is good and it's all building blocks."

Buescher caught senior Morgan Krause's attention, and Krause set her up for that unforgettable first goal.

"I was on the weak side and open, so Krause got the ball and I was screaming for the ball," Buescher said. "I got it on my feet and just hit it to the upper right corner."

Krause then scored just 6:20 into play to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead, and the Tigers weren't able to do much offensively in response to that early deficit.

"Their possession and their shots were nearly identical from 20 yards out with no pressure around them," Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. "We were on our heels a bit and let them come to us initially. They were certainly motivated with it being Senior Night and having all their seniors with them this evening, so they were excited and they played well."

Wheaton Warrenville South (8-8-1, 3-4-0) has shined at times while struggling at others, which often happens to young teams.

"We're trying to season our young guns a bit and help them grow," Callipari said. "It's trial and error at times, and we'll learn from this."

Naperville North (15-2-3, 5-1-2) truly enjoyed celebrating its seniors by jumping to the early 2-goal advantage. The Huskies created some other scoring chances but it didn't matter that they couldn't finish.

What did matter was seeing the Illinois State recruit, Denney, take the field. Denney, who had knee surgery seven months ago, almost instantaneously received a yellow card, but returned to action shortly thereafter and enjoy quality minutes.

"This was my first time playing on this field and my last time playing on this field, and I got a yellow card," Denney said. "It was awesome. Obviously, it wasn't a phenomenal performance, but it meant so much to get back on the field, playing with everyone, especially in my final home game with my teammates."

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