Neuqua throws off Huskies

Yet another dangerous throw by Naperville North's Riley Breese led to a whole lot of action in the final seconds of Tuesday night's Class 3A boys soccer sectional semifinal.

What the play did not, however, deliver was a tying goal for Naperville North (17-4-2) as the Huskies scared Neuqua Valley up until the final buzzer but came up short 2-1.

"It's always nervous. We were playing more defensively at the end and it was nervous," Neuqua Valley coach Jim Johns said after his team pulled out the victory to advance to Saturday's Naperville Central sectional championship against Downers Grove South. "He's a great thrower. The key is to try and not give up those throws, but that's not always easy."

The Wildcats (19-4-2) led 1-0 at the half on a goal by Scott Davis, then looked to be in great shape when Pat Doody scored a beautiful goal early in the second quarter for a 2-0 advantage on the Huskies, who went unbeaten while winning the DuPage Valley Conference crown this season but on Tuesday fell to the Wildcats for the second time this season.

"At the time we were just trying to put the game away," said Doody, who rifled a shot past Naperville North keeper Mike Wiest that just did sneak inside the right crossbar from 18 yards out. "It turned out to be a big goal."

That it did.

The Huskies made things interesting when Dean Gastoinitis buried a shot past Wildcats goalie Jack Turancik following a throw-in from Breese. Gastoinitis struck the ball out of the air and gave his team a big lift with 25:25 left to play.

The Wildcats defense didn't allow too many chances for Naperville North to draw even, but Breese's final throw with the clock winding down bounced around in traffic in front of the goal before the clock finally ran out on Naperville North's superb season.

"Honestly, it was just a battle," said Doody, who was part of the last-second scrum. "It was physical on both sides."

Huskies coach Jim Konrad was proud to see his team fight to the very end despite staring a 2-goal deficit in the face early in the second half.

"We had our chances we just didn't put them away," said Konrad, whose brother's top-seeded Naperville Central squad fell in three overtimes in Tuesday's other semifinal at Memorial Stadium. "I'm aggravated with the game obviously."

Konrad was upset that Davis' goal, which made the score 1-0 midway through the first quarter, stood up after the officials huddled to determine if the play should have been ruled offsides. The Naperville North coach also felt his team should have been awarded a penalty kick in the game because of a hand ball in the box, but his squad did not get the call.

"Neuqua's a great team but the officials played into the outcome," he said. "I wish we had another crack at them, but it is what it is."