Naperville North blanks Kaneland

Jacob Ryu hadn't thought about what it would be like to score a goal for Naperville North, but now he knows.

The junior, who played on the JV1 squad during the 2019 season, scored his first varsity goal, which proved to be all the scoring the Huskies would need during a 6-0 blanking of visiting Kaneland in nonconference action on Thursday.

Ryu also added a pair of assists.

"It was definitely an in the moment thing that I honestly didn't expect," he said. "It just happened and I just found my way into the goal."

After peppering Kaneland goalkeeper Jack Rissman with a handful of shot attempts in the opening minutes, the Huskies broke through just 8:12 into the action after Ryu received the ball from sophomore Alex Barger.

Naperville North (2-0) controlled the play from start to finish while Kaneland (0-1) spent the majority of the evening chasing the Huskies.

"I think the biggest thing was we were finally on the field," Kaneland senior Braden Nigg said. "Playing a good team like (Naperville North) sets a high standard right away and helps set us up for conference and that's what we're looking for as the big push."

The Huskies were able to break the game open by halftime, especially when Barger scored just as the clock was registering 0:00 to make it 4-0.

"Jacob (Ryu) slipped me a ball through and I took a touch and just placed it and found my way," Barger said. "We're putting in a lot of hard work in practice and putting a lot of hard work in games and I think we're getting the job done pretty well."

Adam Zielke and Nikhil Javeri also added goals in the first half for the Huskies. While their names like many on the Naperville North roster may be new or are lesser known, they're making names for themselves already.

"I'm definitely seeing the growth of some of my buddies who were at the lower levels last year," Barger said. "Now they're getting themselves out there and getting it done."

Radeke ran cross country last season after breaking his collarbone, Ryu was getting his minutes playing JV ball while Barger's been a special talent since he entered high school. Now they're teaming up in this truncated season to continue the history of success that Huskies are known for with DVC titles every year since 2014.

"Jacob (Ryu) was good last year, but he took great strides this off-season so he's been a dominant kid so far," Huskies coach Jim Konrad said. "Cam (Radeke) was a special player and would've helped us out a ton last year and obviously Barger is a special player. He's already a great one, but I see great things ahead of him. I think (those three) up top are going to be tough for teams to handle."

Bryan Higgs also scored for the Huskies and Pablo Olano had an assist.