Boys soccer: Naperville North’s Radeke battles back from injury, repeats DuPage County Captain honors
At 6-foot-3 and 175 pounds, Naperville North senior Noah Radeke is a towering presence on the soccer field.
His size definitely helps him, but it’s the combination of such a blessing with his other strengths that transformed him into truly something special in the orange and blue.
A year after helping the Huskies take third place in the state in Class 3A, Radeke helped the Huskies win the DuPage Valley Conference, the Best of the West tournament and another regional title. The Huskies won their first dozen games and allowed just 13 goals all season while Radeke found the back of the net on 20 occasions.
He has been named the Captain of the 2024 Daily Herald DuPage County boys soccer All-Area team.
“I think what makes him so special is his combination of size and quick feet,” Huskies coach Jim Konrad said. “He is so good in tight spaces using his body to shield the ball and using crevices to get through. He’s so hard to catch and he’s so composed. His composure scoring goals really stands out.”
Radeke also distributed 11 assists in his final season. He scored 20 goals last year while also contributing with 20 assists despite finishing the season while playing on a torn lateral collateral ligament (LCL) in his left leg.
“Noah’s season last year was incredible so topping that would be hard,” senior Connor Hanrahan said. “However, I believe he did because of how much better his overall game became. Noah was able to hold the ball for us in any circumstance versus any team.”
Returning to where he left off last season may have be challenging for Radeke, but he persevered and found a way to do it.
“Playing with great players really helped me and allowed me to get the ball off quickly, or sometimes I may have held onto it to find the next option,” he said. “I just had to continue to work and battle throughout the season. It was definitely a harder task as we get everyone’s best shot especially this year with the team we had.”
His offensive stats don’t tell his whole story either.
“We knew we could get goals and assists out of Noah when we needed, but besides those stats, Noah brought so much more to our team,” Hanrahan said. “He won every header on offense and defense which helped us so much in high pressure situations to have Noah go up in the air and win long throw headers to keep us in the lead.”
You’d be hard pressed to find soccer players around the state that matched Radeke’s work-rate.
“One thing that goes unsaid is his willingness to come back and defend,” Konrad said. “Against long throws and he’d come back and win everything in the air. Some players are prima donnas scoring goals up there and working little defensively and he’s the opposite. He grinds and plays hard and is trying to do more. His physical ability to win ball defensively was a huge asset.”
Defenses couldn’t stop Radeke nor could adversity.
“This year coming back from injury wasn’t too easy especially after the season I had last year,” he said. “I had to work hard to get back to where I was and it was helpful having teammates and coaches who pushed me to be the best I can. I feel that since I was the senior and captain of the team I had to take responsibilities and become more of a leader to my teammates.”
He’s currently exploring his options to play in college.