Climo's goal lifts Naperville North past Barrington

Barrington wanted to see how it would fare against a top team. Naperville North gave the Fillies their answer.

Naperville North got a second-half goal from freshman Cora Climo to take a 1-0 nonconference victory Thursday in Naperville.

"You never want to lose a game," Barrington coach Ryan Stengren said, "but there are some positives that we can find."

"We are very fortunate, very fortunate," said Naperville North coach Brent Terada, whose 12th-ranked team is the only Illinois squad in the coaches association's national top 20. "That game could have gone either way. We were lucky to walk away with a win there."

Both teams looked at early-season form.

"It was a good measuring stick for us," Stengren said. "It felt like a playoff game at times, but sloppy at times like a first or second game should be. We're definitely not happy with the result. We're happy with the effort, but we're still at the point where we're in our preseason phase and we want to be a lot better with our quality of play."

The teams played an even first half, but Naperville North had the clear edge in the second, outshooting the Fillies (1-1) by a 10-2 margin.

"It's a testament to our girls," Terada said. "We can get everyone in off our bench and know that they can contribute and maintain the level that we're at. We're just a real deep team. We'll probably see that quite a bit."

"The second half we played a lot better," added Climo, one of six freshmen to play for the Huskies (2-0). "We started to settle down and play to feet. We talked at halftime that we wanted to go in hard and bring it all."

Climo's first varsity goal came in the 62nd minute from a tough angle near the right sideline, about 16 yards from the touchline.

"I just made the run upline toward the corner and Rycke (Guiney) played a nice ball and I just shot it," she said, adding if it didn't go in she hoped a teammate might be there to knock it in.

From where both coaches stood it looked like a cross.

"It was fortunate," Terada said. "It was absolutely a cross. The wind took it, and we got lucky. Every once in a while that happens. We'll take it. We know it's not pretty, but we'll take it."

Meanwhile, the Huskies defense held tough, needing goalkeeper Ellie Flessner to make just 1 save for the shutout.

"They stayed organized," Terada said of his back line. "They kept everything in front of them. That's what we've been stressing all year. ... We had great leadership. Emily Janecek and Kristina Dolak really held a younger group together."