Girls soccer: Naperville Central, Barrington settle for tie due to weather

The 29th Naperville Invite came to an abrupt end Monday night at Naperville Central’s Memorial Stadium.

Nasty weather led to close to an hour delay in the 24th minute, and when lighting lit up the skies at halftime, tournament officials called the final between Barrington and the host Redhawks.

The two sides shared the championship trophy after a 0-0 draw.

“Obviously we would have liked to play 80 minutes of soccer tonight, but Mother Nature had other ideas, so we'll just have to settle for the draw, and a share of the title,” said Redhawks coach Troy Adams.

Naperville Central won their second straight Naperville Invite title, and fifth in program history.

Barrington played in its fourth final, officially renamed the Ed Watson Naperville Invite after the long-time Redhawks coach, who retired following the 2022 school year with 456 career victories.

The Fillies (12-2-1) were co-champs in 2019 along with St. Charles North, and now have four championship trophies.

That the Fillies advanced into the final without two-time all-state junior AJ Sanchez and two other starters is a tribute to its young depth, which has stepped up to complement a terrific veteran backline and superb play between the sticks by Dominique Klujian.

“This team has been very resilient during these two weeks of tournament play, and especially of late when we came back from being a goal down to Lane Tech, and eventual won in penalty kicks,” said Fillies coach Ryan Stengren.

“Then last Saturday, in our semifinal against the No. 1 team in state (New Trier) we fought hard, and with a of heart and grit to win once again in penalty kicks to reach tonight's final.”

Stengren’s club will play rival Fremd on Wednesday at home with the MSL West division crown at stake.

The Redhawks (13-0-1) have been atop the Daily Herald Top 20 weekly poll since the beginning of the season.

The Redhawks were group play champions with victories over Minooka and Lyons Twp., scoring five goals in each game.

Emerson Burke's double, and a solo effort from Sophia Cochran were enough for the Redhawks to defeat Fremd 3-2 in its quarterfinal late last week. They then beat Libertyville 2-1.

Malia Shen scored the game-winner.

“I really like the way we came back from that long delay to play with a lot of energy, and purpose during those last 17 minutes (we) created chances, won a lot of 50-50 balls, and had the mindset and focus needed to compete at a high level from here on out,” Adams said.

The Redhawks will host Metea Valley on Tuesday, then crosstown rival Naperville North on Thursday in another important DuPage Valley Conference contest.