This time, Naperville draw goes unsettled
Five days after a hard-fought championship game at the Naperville Invitational, the Naperville Central and Naperville North girls soccer did it again Thursday night in Naperville.
Just like Saturday’s game, which Naperville Central won in penalty kicks, this contest also needed extra time. But Mother Nature would not oblige, as the teams scrapped to a 1-1 tie.
A 30-minute lightning warning delayed the start of overtime, and after the delay was almost over, the game was called.
The first half saw Naperville North (16-1-1) carry much of the play, but it was Naperville Central (17-1-2) that struck first. Senior midfielder Katherine Short floated a perfect pass from sophomore forward Abby Joyce over the outstretched arms of the Naperville North goalkeeper, giving the Redhawks a 1-0 lead just more than seven minutes into the game.
Joyce raced down the sideline then crossed over toward the net, which made two Huskies’ defenders run into each other and cancel each other out, allowing Joyce to find Short, who floated the ball into the top right corner.
“We knew North was going to come out strong, so we wanted to get a goal early,” Short said. “I went down the field unmarked and got a foot on it.”
Naperville North had 9 shots on goal in the first half, none better than when freshman forward Abbie Boswell fed junior forward Zoe Swift for a point-blank chance, but Naperville Central goalkeeper Jill D’Amico thwarted the opportunity.
The Huskies had a few more opportunities that came up empty and trailed 1-0 at halftime.
“We haven’t been down that early in a game before, so it was a big test for us,” Naperville North senior defender Jen Korn said. “I don’t think we responded as well as we would’ve liked, we got a little frantic, but towards the end of the half we pulled it together and it gave us momentum for the second half.”
The second half was played much more tightly, as neither team generated many scoring chances.
However, Naperville North capitalized on one of its few second-half opportunities. Swift made some shifty moves to set up Boswell for a tap-in goal to tie the game 1-1.
Swift streaked down the sideline, cut in toward the goal, then stretched it out wide at the last second, drawing D’Amico from her net. Swift then centered and found Boswell for the tying tally.
“Zoe had a great cross back to Boswell, who was positioned perfectly and put it right in,” Korn said. “In the first half we weren’t getting the ball to the forwards’ feet, letting them control it. Then we finally started to make it easier for them to play it and it led to that impressive goal.”
The teams exchanged a few more chances in the second half but remained tied after regulation ended. As the teams were set to start the first overtime, a lightning delay sent them to the locker rooms, and the game was called a little later.
“It was frustrating to not finish, but these things happen and we’ll see each other in the state tournament,” Short said.
The sentiments were the same on the Naperville North side as well.
“We felt like we were gaining momentum and we really wanted to play overtime,” Korn said. “I’m kind of really upset we didn’t get to finish, but we still have the playoffs.”