Naperville Central beats Geneva for 3rd

After dropping its first two matches of the St. Charles East Invitational, Naperville Central (5-3-1) scored goals, played solid defense and claimed third place behind champion Schaumburg and runner-up St. Charles East with a 3-1 win over Geneva Saturday.

“All three games, we gave up a goal,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “I really think we’re the type of team that has to have zero on the board for the opponent. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting better. It took this tournament to settle in on our back four.”

Maddie Thompson scored two goals for the Redhawks, including the game-opener five minutes into the match.

“We hadn’t done so well in the tournament and we really needed a win to build up our confidence again,” Thompson said. “An early goal helped give us that boost to keep going hard throughout the whole game.”

Thompson scored the second goal 26 minutes into the second half and Veronica Ellis gave the Redhawks a commanding 3-0 lead when she scored 46 seconds later.

“We were a little bit off today,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “With the ACT (test) and with three back-to-back games this week, I think it took a lot out of them. We played a little flat. But we’re a young team and I think we walk away from today’s game learning some important lessons.”

Geneva (3-2-3) began a fight-back that culminated in Rachel Hinchman’s goal with 9:10 to play. Though the Vikings continued to press, they were unable to score again.

“It was nice to score,” Owens said. “We’re still working up top, changing our combinations to see what’s going to work best. That’s going to happen when you’ve got so many new faces.”