Naperville North shows why it’s ranked No. 1

It’s not easy playing the No. 1-ranked girls soccer team in the state.

Top-ranked Naperville North (9-0, 4-0) scored four goals in the first 11 minutes of Thursday’s DuPage Valley Conference match in Naperville and defeated West Chicago 4-0.

“The intimidation part,” West Chicago coach J. Cesar Gomez said. “They think too much about it. We didn’t play for 10 minutes and they scored four on us. The corner kick we gave up was easy stuff. But this is soccer. Then we realize they don’t have horns. They don’t have anything really big (on their heads). Just kids like us. They’re very athletic. They go through people. That’s their strong point.”

The Huskies’ strong point Thursday was the way they moved the ball, sending it out to the wings, then in for open looks at the West Chicago net.

“One thing we always stress is to come out and start fast and set the tone in favor of us, and I think we did a good job of that,” said coach Steve Goletz, whose Huskies are No. 3 nationally, according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. “We most definitely started strong, and a couple of the goals I thought were really, really nice goals. Some of the best goals we’ve scored all year in terms of getting it from the back out wide, checking forward, weak-side forward making a run, ball in.

“They were picture-perfect goals for us. Obviously, I think that sets a tone for the team.”

Senior Zoe Swift opened the scoring in the third minute, with an assist from Abby Boswell. A Boswell through ball a minute later found Hunter Drendel going to goal from the left wing, and Drendel slid the ball into the net for the Huskies’ second goal in as many shots.

The score went to 3-0 in the eighth minute when Cora Climo’s chip into the penalty area found Boswell, who calmly trapped the ball and tapped it into the net. In the 11th minute Climo scored directly off a corner kick.

“Hunter Drendel played really well today,” Goletz said. “And everybody knows that we have two forwards, Abby and Zoe, who are very dangerous. But when we can get our outside mids in Hunter and Cora involved in the game, it’s tough. It’s just another dimension of our attack.”

After a tough first 11 minutes, West Chicago (4-6-1, 2-1) pulled together and started possessing the ball better, pushing toward the Naperville North penalty area.

“We concentrate a lot on possessing the ball,” Gomez said. “I thought we did that. But it’s hard to go through five defenders. ...

“Hopefully, we learn something from it. As a coach you always want them to learn something from it. Does it translate? I don’t know. We’ll test it out on Saturday against Hinsdale (Central).”