Naperville Central wins in PKs
Naperville North and Naperville Central couldn’t settle things in regulation and two overtimes during Saturday afternoon’s championship game in the 15th annual Naperville Invitational.
An exciting 100 minutes of back-and-forth scoreless soccer was ultimately decided on penalty kicks.
Naperville Central senior Paige Silver converted her penalty kick in the fourth round to put the Redhawks ahead 4-3. Naperville North’s final PK attempt clanked off the right post to gave Naperville Central the 1-0 victory.
Naperville Central improved to 17-1-1 with the win. It was the Redhawks’ first title since 2006 in the strongest regular-season tournament in the state. The Huskies dropped to 15-1-0.
“I’m really comfortable taking PKs like that. It’s one of the only things I really enjoy doing,” Silver said. “So even though I was a little cold on the bench, I was eager to get up and contribute something.”
Carly Nussbaum, Katherine Short and freshman Meredith Tunney all converted their attempts for the Redhawks before Silver delivered.
“I was a little nervous, especially since the goalie seemed to be more to one side of the goal than the other,” Silver said. “I sort of relaxed, took my time and knew I had to put it right in the corner.”
And just like that the Huskies’ perfect season was an afterthought.
“It was kind of unrealistic to think you’re going to run the table,” Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. “Hopefully, we can use the loss in a positive way.”
One way could be in a potential future postseason shootout.
“It was a great game and playoff atmosphere,” Goletz said. “It goes to the shootout and that’s how you advance. Credit them for making them and credit our girls for stepping up and trying to make them.”
The Redhawks, who didn’t have a corner kick all game, had a few solid opportunities over the final 10 minutes of regulation to score the game’s first goal. Meredith McEniff, Abby Joyce and Short all had chances during that time frame but either misfired or were rejected by Naperville North goalkeeper Allison Hitchcock.
The Huskies had their share of scoring chances, with Abbie Boswell, Cora Climo, Hunter Drendel, Jen Korn and Zoe Swift leading the way. They nearly won the game with 28 seconds left in the second overtime, but Maria Grygleski’s header was safely snagged by Naperville Central goalkeeper Jill D’Amico.
“I’m just pleased for them because they’re very excited,” Redhawks coach Ed Watson said. “They feel like they’ve accomplished something and you know what? They get to enjoy it for the rest of today and tomorrow.”
It won’t be long before the teams meet again. They’ll square off in DuPage Valley Conference action on Thursday at Naperville North.