Girls soccer: Metea Valley enjoys different outcome vs. Naperville North
Metea Valley was long overdue to get back at Naperville North.
The Mustangs, who hadn't beaten the Huskies in their previous five meetings, including season-ending sectional title games the past two seasons, and hadn't scored against them since beating them during the regular season in 2014, picked up a 1-0 victory on Thursday in Aurora.
"Well (Naperville North) does a good job year after year of getting shutouts so it's nice to get one on our end for a change for sure," Mustangs coach Chris Whaley said. "We've always had tight games with them - at least I know they've been that way for the four years I've here. It's fun and it's really good soccer."
Metea Valley (5-2-0, 1-1-0 DuPage Valley Conference) finally found the net against the Huskies with just less than 30 minutes remaining in the game when junior defender Morgan McCrary lined in a shot from 25 yards away.
"Maeve (Riordan) has trouble passing the ball sometimes," McCrary joked. "So I screamed for it and saw the corner and placed it in."
It was an opportunity that you can't afford to miss in a tight game against a great program, and McCrary definitely delivered.
"We made an uncharacteristic foul 45 yards away from the goal with no danger and the ball gets whipped in on the restart," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. "We don't clear it, and give (McCrary) credit because she pounced on it and hit a great shot in the lower corner from 25 yards out, and in a game against a team like this, one shot or one bounce can get you and unfortunately tonight it went the other way."
The teams had better scoring opportunities in the first half while they had to battle worsening conditions in the second half, including a mix of sleet and snow.
"It was back and forth a little bit in the first half," Whaley said. "There were some momentum swings where they had their moments and we had our moments, but the opportunities were somewhat limited."
Recognizing the rivalry's history, McCrary didn't sound overly ecstatic about the victory, and she explained her reasoning as her teammates cheered her on afterward.
"It's just going in with a clear head," she said. "These games are kind of just practice for the playoffs, and I think that whatever happens we're not focused on the wins or losses, it's more important how we're playing."
Naperville North (3-1-2, 2-1-0) lost its first DVC game since a 2-0 defeat against Waubonsie Valley on May 4.
"I don't think you're going to win the conference with two losses," Goletz said. "So it puts us behind the eight ball. Obviously, we need to take care of business if we want to have our name in the running to win that thing."