Naperville North advances to semifinal
Naperville North is accustomed to winning girls soccer games, and that trend continues to exist this spring.
The Huskies kept to their victorious ways, earning a hard-fought 1-0 decision over Plainfield North during Thursday's Naperville Invitational game in Naperville.
Naperville North (10-1-0) advances to Friday's semifinal against New Trier at Naperville Central.
"It was a great game," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. "I thought (Plainfield North's) center backs were probably the best kids we've seen all year. They really gave our forwards all they could handle."
They couldn't nullify a penalty kick late in the first half, which proved to be the difference. Abbie Boswell delivered with 8:43 remaining before halftime.
"I'm not going to say it wasn't a good call because I was on the other end of the field," Plainfield North coach Jane Crowe said. "When you get the ball in the box, you're going to get opportunities to be dangerous."
The Huskies handcuffed the Tigers for the majority of the evening, dominating possession thanks especially to the tireless work of midfielders, Morgan Lockridge and Olivia Stapleton.
"Jen Fortman has done such a great job of leading that back line with the young sophomores," Goletz said. "And they've been phenomenal in the midfield. They've been great."
The Huskies have only surrendered 3 goals all season.
"We started off slowly, but I think after a couple games we've gotten our rhythm back," Fortman said. "Once we play to our feet and play out wide we can get the job done."
Plainfield North (12-2-2) never would go away. The Tigers kept on the prowl in the second half and continued attacking but never delivered.
"With two top-level teams like this, you kind of knew it would go to the final buzzer," Goletz said. "We had our chances and they did a great job of lining up in the box, but Abbie still did a nice job of burying it."
The Huskies wouldn't want anyone other than Boswell to finish off a team.
"Our forwards do such a great job," Fortman said. "We got it to her and she buried it and now we look ahead to our next one."