Naperville Central 1, Naperville North 0

When it left her left foot, Naperville Central's Casey Short wasn't quite sure what to make of the shot she took from 23 yards out Friday.

"I didn't get a lot on it. I was a little worried," Short said. "But it was just enough."

Short's shot nipped the inside of the post and crossed the goal line, two minutes before halftime, giving the Redhawks a 1-0 win over Naperville North in a Class AA regional title soccer game at Naperville Central.

"She was able to find that space between the midfield and the back line," said Redhawks coach Ed Watson, whose squad improved to 20-5 on the year and will face Neuqua Valley in a sectional semifinal game on Tuesday.

"That goal came at a big time because it allowed us to go into halftime with momentum on our side."

In a game in which neither team's defenses allowed attacking players behind them, the Redhawks' 7-2 edge in shots on net came almost exclusively from long range.

Redhawks freshman goalkeeper Krissy Many went up and snared what was perhaps the Huskies' most dangerous shot of the game, a hard-hit blast taken by Rycke Guiney from 35 yards out in the first half.

"We had a quick turnover and Guiney hit a great ball," Watson said. "(Many) got to her line and stayed with it the whole way."

One season after struggling to score, this year's Redhawks have consistently put goals on the board. On Friday they took a slightly different tack in holding the Huskies' attack at bay.

"We talked all year long about trying to be an offensive team, but it's the state tournament time," Watson said. "Shutouts keep you in games, and we played a little more defensive-minded."

For a young squad playing one of the toughest annual schedules in Illinois, a 7-8-4 record to end the year doesn't quite tell the story of the Huskies' 2008 season.

"Their record doesn't reflect how good they are," Short said.

"They're under .500, only because they play a brutal schedule," Watson said.

Coach Brent Terada's squad only started a single senior, and he was pleased with the effort he got all year from his girls.

"They have so much heart, and they're such a great group of kids," Terada said. "I can't say enough about them. They're awesome competitors.

"Next year we'll be a little bit older, and a little bit better."

-- Gary Larsen

Wheaton Academy 3, York 1:ŒThe first 10 minutes of Friday night's Class AA St. Francis girls soccer regional final, York looked like it would make quick work of Wheaton Academy.

The second 10 minutes showed Wheaton Academy was far from finished. The Warriors (15-6-2) bounced back with 3 goals and held on for a 3-1 victory. They will play the winner of this afternoon's Bartlett regional final between Glenbard West and St. Charles North at Tuesday's Wheaton North sectional semifinals.

York held most of the possession for the game's first 10 minutes, culminating in a Danielle Vujovic goal that Warriors goalkeeper Emily Mulder nearly saved. The assistant referee ruled it crossed the goal line, however.

Before the Dukes (17-4-1) could finish celebrating, Sharkey turned the game around with the tying goal. She worked a give-and-go with teammate Jenn Lee, beat the lone Dukes defender in front of her off the dribble and roofed a shot into the net in the 12th minute.

"For us to respond that quickly didn't give us a whole lot of time to dwell on that (York goal)," Warriors coach Dave Underwood said. "I think it really gave us a boost and some life. I think it really shook them up a little bit, especially when we got that second one."

Two minutes later a Leah Fortune 30-yard blast short-hopped the York goalkeeper, and Sharkey pounced on the rebound for her second goal of the game, 26th of the season.

"I just followed it and tried to chip it into the goal and it worked," Sharkey said. "It was pure luck that we came out and got three."

Sharkey also figured in the game's final goal, sending Lee through for a shot that deflected off the York keeper and started rolling toward the net. Lee made sure to finish it off, and just like the stunned Dukes were behind by 2 in the 19th minute.

"That's a great team. Wheaton Academy is a good team, and they play well. There's no looking back after that," York coach Rachael Shepherd said. "… It was just seven minutes that happened to have the fate of the game in its hands."

"At halftime I didn't think it was going to end at 3-1," Underwood said. "I was kind of surprised they didn't get another one, because they're just so talented, but our defenders did just such a great job."

-- Orrin Schwarz

Neuqua Valley 2, Batavia 1:ŒNeuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau didn't know exactly how many regional titles the Wildcats have won after his team topped Batavia at home.

All he knows is that he is glad and relieved his No. 3-seeded Wildcats topped the No. 6 Bulldogs 2-1 in Naperville on Friday.

"We are fortunate to come out on top," Moreau said. "I thought (in) the second half we played much better. I think defensively, the whole game, we played sound. We never really gave them any scoring chances."

"It was a tough battle, but it feels good," Neuqua Valley senior midfielder Ashley Marrapode added. "They gave us a good battle, so we have a lot to learn for next time, definitely."

With the win Neuqua Valley improved to 16-5 overall and will play Naperville Central in Tuesday's 6:30 p.m. sectional semifinal game at Waubonsie Valley.

About midway through the first half, Neuqua Valley broke open the scoring with a goal from sophomore midfielder Alex Isdell.

The Wildcats' second goal arrived with around 15 minutes left in the contest, as Marrapode scored after a free kick just missed the goal.

"Megan Oyster played a great ball in there, and I didn't want to let that go to waste because she's been working on those in practice," Marrapode said.

Both teams posted 11 shots on goal, with the Wildcats attempting 8 times in the second half. Batavia attempted 8 in the first half.

Batavia missed both penalty kick opportunities in the first half and did not score until late in the second half. With less than three minutes remaining in the game, sophomore midfielder Haliegh Erwin tallied one in.

"We played very, very well," McAlpin said. "That's been our season. We play very well and do what we want to do, and just not be able to put the ball in the back of the net. I think this was our best 80 minutes of soccer this season. It's never good to end the season the way we did, but it's good to play that well."

-- Christine Bolin

WW South 2, St. Charles East 0:ŒFor the best part of a decade, Wheaton Warrenville South's season has finished its season in the state sectionals or beyond.

Last year, in fact, a run of eight straight sectional final appearances ended with a regional title loss to St. Charles East.

WW South (19-1-1) returns to the sectionals this year, and they earned that right with a 2-0 victory over the Saints at Norris Stadium.

"We came out here and knew we could do it," WW South senior Allie Bellmer said. "It was just a matter of coming out here and putting it all together. Everyone on this team was so unbelievably excited about this. It is so unbelievably amazing."

Bellmer's offensive contributions to the victory were massive. She hit the blistering shot eight minutes into the second half that turned into the Tigers' first goal

St. Charles East goalie Zoie Samaan parried the shot, but the rebound fell kindly in the 6-yard box for Nicole LaPetina, who scored.

"My team is unbelievable at that -- Nicole's always there," Bellmer said.

Bellmer scored the second goal three minutes from the end of the game. With St. Charles East pushing forward in search of an equalizer, a long ball created a 1-on-1 situation for Bellmer with Samaan. Bellmer finished the chance to seal the victory and a spot in Tuesday's Wheaton North sectional semifinals.

"I just went with it," Bellmer said. "Everyone was just 'go!' So I went with it. It was a good ball over, a perfect ball over."

The Tigers defense stood tall late in the contest. Twice after Bellmer's goal, St. Charles East had chances to reduce the deficit and set up a potentially wild finish.

First Bridget Shrigley headed the ball off the goal line, and then goalie Katlyn Barnes saved an Ellen Bartindale free kick.

The Saints (11-8-1) advanced to the supersectional in 2007 but were unable to find postseason magic this year.

"(WW South) is a great team," St. Charles East senior Bartindale said. "If it can make it easier, it's losing to a team that is really good and not a fluky thing."

-- Darryl Mellema

Lake Park 2, Hoffman Estates 1:ŒJulia Nelson scored 2 goals, including the game-winner in overtime to lift the Lancers (15-6-3) to the Class AA Lake Park regional championship.

Wheaton North 2, West Chicago 0:ŒPaige Fowler and Jaime Orewiler scored for the Falcons, and Hannah Perry earned the shutout in goal.

Softball

Glenbard South 3, Rochelle 0:ŒAn undefeated run through a 14-game conference slate is quite an impressive achievement.

Accomplishing that same feat two years in a row? Now that's really something.

With its 3-0 victory over Rochelle in Glen Ellyn, Glenbard South accomplished that very task, pushing its Western Sun Conference winning streak to 28 games and counting.

The Raiders (24-5,14-0) made it a priority to at the outset of the year to try and duplicate the success of last year's squad.

"Winning conference and going undefeated was one of our goals," senior center fielder Nikki Simpson said. "Today I think we went out there focused, and really put our minds in it and said 'We're not going to let up. This is what we want to do, so let's accomplish our goal.' "

Simpson provided the offensive fuel for Glenbard South, notching a pair of hits in her first three at-bats and driving in the first two Raiders runs. Simpson's single to center field in the bottom of the third scored first baseman Robin Borowski, and her bloop single to right field gave Glenbard South a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth.

"I just went up there and tried to focus on hitting the ball with runners in scoring position," she said.

Simpson's 2 RBI were enough for pitcher Jill Trzaska, whose complete-game, 12-strikeout performance earned the senior her 16th victory of the year.

"She spots her pitches so well, and she's able to paint that black," Rochelle (7-14, 4-9) coach Brian Mungai said. "As soon as we're looking outside, she throws it inside. There's a reason she's been dominating this conference for the last two years."

For Trzaska, Friday's senior day backdrop made the Raiders' accomplishment that much more special.

"It's amazing. It's every team's dream to go undefeated in conference, and to have it done twice and for everyone to just pull together and play as a team is great," Trzaska said. "It's just unreal to have all of your team backing you up … and with all the seniors, I think it meant a lot to all of us."

"It was nice to see that all of (the seniors) could contribute and have a good memory on their last day of regular season on their field," Raiders coach Julie Fonda said.

Glenbard South will face Lake Park on Monday in Roselle before opening its postseason schedule next Saturday.

-- Matthew McClarey

Neuqua Valley 3, Waubonsie Valley 1:ŒLindsay Colvin improved to 7-1 on the mound for the Wildcats (18-12, 14-6), scattering 5 hits while striking out two and walking one in the Upstate Eight Conference showdown.

West Chicago 11, Oswego East 10:ŒThe Wildcats (20-8) scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the nonconference win. Megan Scott went 4-for-4 with a double, home run and 2 RBI. Mary Connolly (19-6) pitched 3 innings as the starter, and returned to pitch the final 1½ innings to earn the victory.

Naperville Central 3, Rosary 0:ŒFreshman Alyssa Wunderlich (3-1) fired a 2-hitter with 14 strikeouts and a walk as she notched her first shutout for the Redhawks (20-6) in the nonconference win.

Montini 9, Aurora Central 2:ŒJenna Mahoney and Jessica Smith had 2 hits apiece and Jackie Glowinski drove in 2 runs for the Broncos (13-10, 8-5) in their Suburban Catholic Conference win. Winning pitcher Katy Shellstrom improved to 5-2.

Baseball

Naperville Central 8, Naperville North 6:ŒThe more, the merrier.

The theme of the DuPage Valley Conference marathon finally came full circle with Friday's finales -- producing three champions.

Naperville Central's 8-6 eight-inning win over Naperville North allowed Wheaton North and Glenbard North to each grab a share of the title along with the Huskies (21-10, 13-8), last year's champ.

Wheaton North (19-12, 13-8) rolled to a 9-0 win over Wheaton Warrenville South while Glenbard North (13-10, 13-8) swept Glenbard East with a 6-3 eight-inning win.

It took all 21 DVC games to sort out, but the three champions came away mostly satisfied -- and exhausted.

"From where we've come, I'm speechless," said Glenbard North coach Mike Franzen, whose team won 11 straight conference games to claim a share of its first title since 2002. "At the beginning of the year, I thought we certainly had a chance at it."

Wheaton North took a different path, jumping to a multigame lead before losing six of seven. Friday's win, coupled with Naperville North's loss, made all the nervousness disappear.

"Just how we drew it up," joked Falcons coach Dan Schoessling, whose team won its first DVC title since 2000. "We overcame a lot this year. In the end we got the job done."

Then there's Naperville North, which won seven of its last nine DVC games to successfully defend its title.

Friday's loss to Naperville Central (17-11, 12-9), however, denied the Huskies the outright crown.

"I can't sit here and lie to you and tell you I'm happy that we had to share it," said Huskies coach Carl Hunckler. "Everybody stubbed their toe in the DVC at some point, and we were happy to have that opportunity."

The Redhawks, who were also in the title hunt before losing twice to Naperville North on Thursday, rallied from a 5-3 deficit on Friday. Naperville North's Alex Helms and Elliot Ganet singled home runs in the bottom of the third to give the Huskies their lead.

In the Redhawks' half of the fifth inning, Marc Mantucca singled home a run and Nick Linne launched a 2-run homer -- his first of the year and his third and fourth RBI of the game -- to put Naperville Central ahead 6-5.

The Huskies' Nick Laskowsky smacked a solo home run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game.

The score remained 6-6 until the top of the eighth when winning pitcher Pat Kaminska (5-2), who threw 3 scoreless innings of relief for the Redhawks, slapped a two-out, 2-run single and then sent the Huskies down in order in the bottom of the eighth to seal the win.

"That's a big program win," Kaminska said. "It just felt like (Thursday) wasn't us. We just had a bad day overall, and we were getting down on ourselves. I can't look at one person on our bench who didn't play a 24th in this whole game here."

-- Kevin Schmit

Glenbard North 6, Glenbard East 3:ŒThe Panthers (13-10, 13-8) claimed a share of their first DuPage Valley Conference title since 2002 by scoring 3 runs in the top of the eighth. Steve Cocat, who homered, singled home the game-winning run. Austin Safranski (6-3) pitched 2 innings of relief to earn the win.

Wheaton North 9, WW South 0:ŒTrey Martin (4-0) pitched a 2-hitter with 8 strikeouts and no walks for the Falcons (19-12, 13-8), who sealed a share of their first DuPage Valley Conference title since 2000. Martin also blasted a 3-run homer while Ryan Javech had 2 hits and 3 RBI.

West Chicago 6, West Aurora 4:ŒEthan Burau and Josh Yednock both homered for the Wildcats (10-15, 8-13) in their DuPage Valley Conference win. Jordan Long (4-2) was the complete-game winning pitcher.

Glenbard South 15, Rochelle 3:ŒWinning pitcher Andy Manson (4-5) went 3-for-3 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI for the Raiders (19-13, 13-8) in their Western Sun Conference win. Joe Biagini launched his 12th homer and had 4 RBI, giving him 53 on the season. Will Hill went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI.

Immaculate Conception 9, Indian Creek 8:ŒAfter scoring 5 runs in the seventh inning to tie the Class 1A Somonauk regional semifinal game, the Knights (11-18) scored the game-winning run in the top of the eighth when a sacrifice fly by Carlos Rodriguez drove in Frank Carpanzano. The Knights advance to today's regional final to play Hinckley-Big Rock.

Boys tennis

Lake Park sectional:ŒWheaton Academy's Charles West and Devin Moore are opposites in many ways, and that only adds to their effectiveness as a doubles team.

West, the tall, right-handed junior, and Moore, the average-in-stature, left-handed freshman, ran their record to 21-3 winning two matches to qualify for state out of the Lake Park sectional.

West and Moore, who were seeded No. 1, used a combination of strong ground strokes and consistent serving to win their play-in match 6-2, 6-1.

"The combination has worked out great," said Wheaton Academy coach Matt Hockett. "Their two losses were to state-qualifying teams. Charles is tall so you know he's going to get everything in the air. But he's done such a great job with his serve and his approach. Devin is strong, has great groundstrokes and, interestingly, as a freshman, he's the one who calms them down."

They'll both be teammates in the fall on the Warriors' varsity soccer team, so a characteristic they share is the consistent aggressiveness that is a requirement in soccer.

Last year West missed the state cut by one match, so the addition of the confident Moore, who has a lot of outside tournament experience as his partner, has been a completely positive development.

"He really has a lot of talent," West said. "He has phenomenal groundstrokes, so I make him run a lot. I'm usually the one at the net. We'll have to keep closing at the net in order to go on and win the sectional."

"Charles has really helped me adjust to doubles tennis," Moore said. "I think he calms me down. And the lefty-righty thing works out great because we have different spins, and can work different sides of the court and different angles. It's really exciting to qualify for state."

The No. 1 seeded singles player, Matt Boguslawski of Glenbard North, also qualified for state with a pair of quick victories.

"I'm really excited about qualifying," Boguslawski said. "Today, I was serving pretty well and my volleys were strong. Hopefully, I'll win sectional and get a good seed at state."

Boguslawski is hoping to improve upon his performances in last year's state tournament where he won two and lost two. His goal is to get deep into Friday's second-day matches in the championship draw.

He's optimistic because he's bigger and stronger this year, thanks to an off-season workout and weight-training program.

"The added strength and weight help me stay fresh during the longer matches," Boguslawski said. "I've had a number of three-set matches and I think I was stronger at the end than my opponent in many of them."

Boguslawski will attend DePaul where he hopes to play varsity tennis.

At the end of the day, Bartlett and St. Charles North led the team standings at Lake Park with 16 points, followed by Wheaton Academy with 14.

-- Neil Shalin