Naperville Central 3, Neuqua Valley 2

With real estate in front of her and a soccer ball at her feet, Naperville Central's Casey Short can cut you to ribbons.

"Sometimes as a coach you want her to be more selfish, but she's so composed," said Redhawks coach Ed Watson. "She just consistently makes exactly the right decision."

Two of Short's decisions gave her a pair of assists and a third gave her a goal in the Redhawks' 3-2 win over Neuqua Valley in a well-played nonconference game from start to finish Friday.

With less than a minute to play in a 2-2 tie with the host Wildcats (8-2), Short received a pass at midfield, dribbled up to and around a defender, drew a second defender and slid a pass to Kristen Hall on the left side.

Hall calmly poked a low-rolling shot past a charging goalkeeper, and the Redhawks went home winners.

"To keep that ball tucked down like she did -- she showed great composure on that play," Watson said of Hall.

The Redhawks (6-3) led 1-0 at halftime after Short broke loose up the end line and found Kelly Blumberg running onto the near post. Blumberg hammered it in, capping a strong first-half effort by the Redhawks.

"We had to keep the ball on the ground, play to feet and play give-and-go touches," Blumberg said. "We kept it on the ground and were able to move it up the field."

Short located a Nikki Franzese serve in the 53rd minute and finished on it from 12 yards out to put the Redhawks up 2-0, setting the stage for the Wildcats' comeback.

The Wildcats' Shelbi Johnson cut the lead in half with a pretty shot from 20 yards out on the right side that wrinkled the netting inside the far post, and Kendra Collins tied the game in the 60th minute, finishing on an Ashley Marrapode feed to the near post.

"I'm more than happy with the way we played today," Collins said. "We showed a great amount of fight. There was nothing but heart out on that field."

"We showed a lot of character in the second half, coming back like that," said Wildcats coach Joe Moreau. "After they dominated us in the first half, we came back and fought hard."

Moreau applauded the play of Alex Isdell and Jessica Pinto at midfield on a day when midfielder Megan Oyster was off playing with the national team.

Also not to be overlooked in the high-quality contest was a goal-line clear of a Wildcats shot by Taylor Heatherly in the first half, and Watson also tipped his hat to one of his juniors, who put forth a blue-collar effort all day.

"We've got a kid that loves to mark, and Jessica Rubin did a great job of staying with (Collins)," Watson said. "But I thought the girls on both teams did a great job today."