Boys soccer: LoDuca's blast lifts Naperville Central over Naperville North
Taking risks can make you braver, stronger and more confident.
As Naperville Central senior Joey LoDuca learned during Saturday afternoon's Class 3A Bolingbrook sectional championship game against Naperville North, they also can make you a sectional champ.
LoDuca took a risk as he fired in the go-ahead goal from about 30 yards away with 33:17 remaining and the top-seeded Redhawks blanked the second-seeded Huskies in the second half to earn their first sectional title since 2015 with a 3-2 victory.
Naperville Central (23-3-1) advances to Tuesday's supersectional against Hinsdale Central (17-4-1). The Redhawks previously defeated the Red Devils, 3-1, on Sept. 23.
"It was just a risk and I took it, and it rewarded us," LoDuca said. "It was just in the moment. Somebody played me a nice ball and I just saw an open shot so I took it."
Naperville North (17-4-4), which was appearing in its eighth consecutive sectional title, seized momentum after falling behind early on a Sean O'Reilly goal just a couple minutes into the action.
The Huskies responded with a goal from Jaxon Stokes almost midway through the half to tie the game and then took a 2-1 lead on a goal from Noah Radeke with 15 minutes remaining.
"They had the majority of the possession and everything going their way after scoring their first goal so we had to stay disciplined," O'Reilly said. "(A) 2-1 (score) at the half was probably the best we could've had there with the way they were playing."
With the slight breeze at its back in the second half, the Redhawks tied the game barely three minutes into the return to action when Adams took a cross from LoDuca and buried his shot to make it 2-2 with 37:04 left.
"I kind of saw that the ball was crossed and didn't think (Nathan) Kwon would be able to get a good angle on it, so I decided to curl back," Adams said. "The defender overcommitted so I took a touch in and kind of crossed it back of my body at that front post and Reed (goalkeeper Reed Goss) couldn't get it."
While the Huskies seemed to be in control of the match for a good chunk of the first half, it was the Redhawks who came out and dictated the majority of the second half.
"They kind of made us look (bad) for the second 20 minutes of the first half," Adams said. "It's the work rate. We outworked them for the entire second half, in my opinion, and that led to both of the goals. It's always about the work rate when two teams aren't very apart technically and skill-wise. I think we outworked them for the majority of the game."
It took some time for the Huskies to threaten in the second half, but they finally found their way and created some chances, beginning with a shot from Stokes from in close that sailed off target with 16 minutes left.
Hindo Allie played ball across the box to Alex Barger with under three minutes left, but Naperville North's attempt at netting the equalizer didn't come to fruition, nor did a ball that Barger tried to pounce on in the box with a little over a minute remaining or a couple corner kick tries along the way.
Similar to a 2-1 loss to the Redhawks during their DVC game in September, the Huskies just came up short against a Redhawks team it had beaten eight straight times coming into this year.
"Obviously I love (Naperville Central coach) Troy (Adams) and we're close friends and I'm happy for him in a sense," Huskies coach Jim Konrad said.
"I'm obviously sad for my son (senior Ryan Konrad) and myself and the boys that worked so hard. But that's the nature of sports, where not everybody walks off the last time feeling happy. (Naperville) Central is a fantastic team and we fought them for the full 80 minutes and had a chance with a minute left to almost equalize it."