Girls soccer: Naperville Central wins and advances past Oswego East

Naperville Central had one goal during Tuesday's Class 3A East Aurora regional semifinal against Oswego East: To win and play for a championship on Friday.

That goal was accomplished thanks to a single goal from Maddie Redeker as the Redhawks held off a talented and stubborn Oswego East team 1-0.

"I understand with restarts that some say they're not the purest part of the game, but man, did she go up and absolutely hammer that ball," Redhawks coach Ed Watson said. "It was well placed, the service was great and she got on the end of it and caught it flush."

The timing was also on the dot as the Redhawks scored in the final minute of the opening half to seize momentum, which they naturally carried into the second half having already controlled most of possession for the first 40 minutes.

"'It really boosted us," Redhawks senior Jessica Sonner said. "We really had possession for most of the game but nothing to show for it so I definitely think that goal at the end of the first half helped push us into the second half."

Sonner assisted on the goal as she sent in a corner kick in front of the far post toward Redeker.

"I know Jess usually hits it toward the back post so that's usually where I run to," Redeker said. "We call it the three or four spot. I usually look up to see where the ball is and if I'm not in the right spot I backpedal and run onto it and that's what I did and hit it down toward the goal."

Naperville Central (10-12-1) had chances before Redeker and plenty after as well with Hannah Bradley-Leon, Abbey Hillman, Emma Irle and Caroline Reedy among others applying pressure on Oswego East but proving unable to finish.

"All we're looking for is to continue to find goals and we haven't been pretty all year so why would it be different today," Watson said. "We had a lot of opportunities, but when you're a team that struggles to score, you tend to struggle to score, and that was us again today."

While the offense couldn't muster more than Redeker's goal, the defense locked down behind goalkeepers Sophie Epelbaum and Erin McHugh. The Redhawks also got a nice boost both physically and mentally with Sarah Avery back in the lineup after missing a couple of weeks with a sprained ankle.

"It was nice to have Sarah Avery back," Watson said. "She did a nice job of settling us down in the back."

Oswego East (7-14-1) didn't go away easily.

"We played a really tough schedule to compete against the top-caliber teams like Naperville Central," Wolves coach Juan Leal said. "It got us ready for here where it's do or die and we played well today. We moved the ball and we were attacking, but a lot of kudos goes to Naperville Central for that corner kick they capitalized on."