Boys soccer: Insurance goal helps Naperville Central advance past Batavia

Having seen Batavia narrowly miss tying Wednesday's boys soccer regional semifinal, Naperville Central senior Owen Jarrell couldn't miss a chance to put the game out of reach.

"Insurance, for sure," said Jarrell, who scored the Redhawks' second goal of the game in the 68th minute. "Being able to have two (goals) under our belt. We knew that we kind of had the game secured at that point."

Second-seeded Naperville Central overcame No. 18 Batavia 2-0 at Naperville Central.

Jarrell's goal, his seventh of the season, came on a header off a cross from Benjamin Tietjen from the right wing.

"I saw him get the ball, pick his head up and I knew he could hit a ball far post, so I just faded back, put my head on it," Jarrell said of the cross. "It was a pretty simple finish."

The goal was important because Batavia almost scored the equalizer in the 43rd minute. A Dylan Knapp shot from distance hit the crossbar and fell to a teammate a few feet in front of the net. Naperville Central defender Mitch Becker saved the second shot off the line. "That was a great opportunity, I think on frame," Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. "Unfortunate not to go in. I think that was our chance to tie it up there.

"I think if it goes 1-1 it totally changes the game for us and for them. How they're playing, how we're playing, what we planned on doing. If we tied it up it would've been different moving down the line. But obviously we needed that goal so we started pressing up a little more, and that opened up their middle, which is their strength. And they created more opportunities from that."

Jarrell and his teammates got the message.

"It was a pretty good scare at the beginning (of the second half), but I think we held it down after that," he said.

Naperville Central (9-6-5) scored its first goal in the 32nd minute, Roman Krupka tapping in a Jarrell cross from the left side for his fifth goal of the year.

"Both of the goals we scored came on situations that we've walked through at practice, that we tried to do and create those simulations, so I think it reinforces to the kids, practice has value," Redhawks coach Troy Adams said. "You do the things right in practice and if you replicate it in the game, you're in good shape."

The Redhawks will play Plainfield North at 3 p.m. Saturday in the regional final.

"We guaranteed ourselves 80 more minutes and we've got to make the most of it," Jarrell said.