Naperville Central upsets Naperville North
Blake Beehler only has 3 goals for Naperville Central this season. Fortunately for the Redhawks, they’ve all come in the playoffs.
Naperville Central continued its playoff run with a 1-0 upset of No. 1-ranked Naperville North on Saturday at the Class 3A Naperville North sectional final.
Beehler’s 65-minute goal did the trick.
“Sean Stevens was able to slide it back to me,” the senior midfielder said of the game-winner, “and I just had to find the corner. I knew it was our only chance to get ahead in the game. It sort of just all opened up for me. I still can’t believe it happened.”
“It’s unfortunate it has to happen against a team I respect a lot,” Redhawks coach Troy Adams added. “They do a lot of nice things. Getting out of this sectional may be harder than any other group you can imagine.”
Adams, a long-time Redhawks assistant and 1994 Naperville Central graduate, called Saturday’s victory the biggest against Naperville North he can remember.
“Between playing and coaching, I can’t remember a time that Central has beaten North, even if it’s a conference game on the line. If it’s a game that means something, North typically wins,” he said.
The Redhawks (17-4) advance to the Normal supersectional, where they will meet Quincy on Tuesday.
“It’s a huge win,” Pavliga said. “We lost to them last year, we lost to them this year in the regular season. We’ve been waiting to get payback forever. It’s just fantastic to finally get this win.”
The Huskies (21-1-1) had the bulk of possession in the first half, building an 8-3 edge in shots. But they seemed to be going against the run of play much of the second half until Beehler scored.
“We knew going in this was going to be a dogfight and whoever knocked one in was going to win,” said Huskies coach Jim Konrad. “Unfortunately, we didn’t. It’s been a great run, and it was fun while it lasted. I’m sorry to see these seniors go.”
After the goal the Huskies put Naperville Central goalkeeper Mike Pavliga under intense pressure, but they couldn’t crack the Redhawks’ defense.
“They were putting a lot of pressure with crosses and throws and everything, but our defense stayed strong, made sure nothing got past that line into the goal,” Pavliga said.
Pavliga got help in the 68th minute from teammate Mike West, who headed a Joe Sullivan shot off the goal line.
“We had our chances,” Konrad said. “We had two or three good ones, we just didn’t put it away. It’s just one of those things where it’s a cruel game. It was an even game, but they had the one big shot and finished it. We didn’t.”