Boys soccer: Barry has Naperville North feeling good
Jack Barry rehabbed furiously after suffering a sprained ankle in Tuesday's boys soccer sectional semifinal win over Waubonsie Valley.
The Naperville North junior was questionable for Saturday's Class 3A Bolingbrook sectional championship game but decided he could gut it out.
Not only did Barry play, he caused Neuqua Valley a world of hurt, setting up two goals with long throw-ins and helping dominate the midfield as the top-seeded Huskies beat the Wildcats 3-0.
Naperville North (18-2-3) will take a 14-game unbeaten streak into Tuesday's Lewis University supersectional against undefeated Morton (25-0-1), the top-ranked team in the nation.
"I knew I was going to do everything I could to get on the field, whether I'd be 100 percent or not," Barry said. "Thanks to the training staff I was able to get a lot better and it felt pretty good today."
Barry said he didn't feel much pain, and that was especially true after the Huskies scored on the opening shot of the game.
Barry's throw-in from the right wing sailed into the 6-yard box, where Naperville North's Colin Iverson and Neuqua goalkeeper Brandon Hartsock both got a piece of it.
The ball squirted into the crease, where senior Chris Sullivan slid and knocked in a 5-yard shot at the 33:28 mark of the first half. It was Sullivan's 18th goal of the season and 49th on the varsity.
"I just saw the ball sitting there," Sullivan said. "It was just waiting to be put in, so I laid out and thankfully it found the back of the net."
Barry said that the 6-foot-4 Iverson is usually his target on throw-ins.
"Especially with this field we knew that Colin would have an edge on the keeper, so we just post him up there and I just try to put it in a spot where I know Colin can get it," Barry said. "Then Colin does his job and flicks it on."
The Huskies struck again 10 minutes later. Barry again was the instigator, this time heaving the ball from the left side into the box to Will Ritzmann, who powered a header past Hartsock for a 2-0 lead.
That was more than enough offense for the Huskies, who dominated in the midfield thanks to players like Barry, Sullivan and senior Jack Bromagen, who scored the final goal when he volleyed home a deflected corner kick from Sullivan six minutes into the second half.
Sullivan, who has scored five goals in the past three playoff games, gave credit to Barry.
"Even with a sprained ankle, we'll put him on the field if he can't even walk just because that's how dangerous he is," Sullivan said. "That and he wins every ball in the air.
"He's just a workhorse. He plays with so much heart and I know a lot of kids look up to him for that and he leads by example."
Goalkeeper Tommy Welch had to make only two saves as the Huskies shut out the Wildcats (13-6-4) for the second time this season.
"Kudos to them," Neuqua coach Arnoldo Gonzalez said. "Their midfield shut us down.
"The first goal was early on so that kind of gets in your head. You know you're going to play an uphill battle after that."