Girls soccer: Martin, Naperville North beat Waubonsie Valley
It was Hannah Martin's turn on Thursday night.
The Naperville North sophomore scored twice early in the second half and the Huskies rallied for a 2-1 victory over Waubonsie Valley in a DuPage Valley Conference match.
"It's someone different every time and that's what's great about this team," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. "It was Shaina Dudas on Tuesday against Naperville Central and today it was Hannah Martin. I feel like they're stepping up for each other and always ready to battle."
Martin scored a few minutes into the second half to tie the game. Then, just a few minutes later while back post, she took a ball from Dudas and buried it to give the Huskies the lead for good.
"We had so many shots in the first half, but we just couldn't finish and get any momentum," Martin said. "The team just continued to push forward and once we got the first one there was a lot of momentum and we fought even harder and were determined to get that second goal."
It doesn't matter if it's Martin, Dudas or someone else connecting as long as it's a Huskie finding the back of the net for Naperville North.
"I think a big part of this team's success is that it's not just one person doing it," Martin said. "Different people are playing big parts."
Waubonsie Valley (10-4-3, 4-3-0) only had one shot in the first half, but it was all the Warriors needed to take a 1-0 lead at half.
Metzger secured possession from Jillian Macaluso and connected just out of the reach of Huskies goalkeeper Maddie Hausmann with a shot from just outside of the penalty area.
"I just laid it through," Metzger said. "The goalie did what she could and kind of almost saved it but it still got through."
Metzger, who scored her eighth goal of the spring, showed how dangerous she can be even when her chances are severely limited.
"She's one of the best attacking kids we've seen, and as you saw, you give her 10 seconds of space there and she whips a fantastic ball back across," Goletz said. "That's the thing where I told the kids that we have to put away our chances. We don't necessarily have to be perfect all the time, that's a lot to ask of the back line, but when you leave goals on the field it can come back and bite you."
It didn't this time as the Huskies come out in the second half determined to finish some of their chances.
"They were coming at us a lot the whole game and were pressing our back a lot," Warriors junior Natalie Massa said. "I thought we handled it pretty well, but after halftime they really came out after us."
Naperville North (13-3-3, 6-1-0) nearly saw its lead dissolve, something which occurred three times on Tuesday, but Macaluso overshot her open attempt with about five minutes remaining.
"Defensively, we did enough again to win and (Waubonsie Valley coach Julie Bergstrom) always has them ready for any situation," Goletz said. "We didn't hang our head when down 1-0 at half but kept working on what we needed to do. We got two great goals from Hannah, two more team goals, and the girls know that every game in the DVC is like a playoff game and they're handling that pressure well."