Girls lacrosse: Naperville North’s offense clicks in DVC championship win over Valley co-op
Naperville North’s girls lacrosse team has scored more than any other team in the DuPage Valley Conference this season. It made sense to showcase that in the conference championship game against host Valley co-op.
Even with a Valley scoring barrage over the final two minutes, the Huskies claimed the DVC title with an 18-14 victory Wednesday at Metea Valley in Aurora.
“Part of our team's style is to have at least three threats rather than just one big threat,” said Naperville North coach Jessica Hogan. “And if you scout us, you'll know who handles the ball, but we want to make sure that everyone is contributing that's out on the field.”
Making good on that desire, the Huskies (10-5, 4-0) set the tone early with three goals in the first three minutes. The common denominator at that time was junior attack Merian Giese, who began a 10-point night by assisting on back-to-back goals to freshman midfielder Michelle Lee and then scored herself off an assist from senior attack Clara Martel.
Valley (6-7, 2-2) got consecutive goals from junior midfielder Katie Madden and sophomore midfielder Ella Guzaski. The Huskies responded with scores from junior Molly Groves and freshman Riley Wattles to go up 5-3 to end the first quarter.
Giese picked up where she left off in the second quarter by assisting on back-to-back goals by senior midfielder Bridget Battaglia. She also scored twice and got two more assists ahead of Naperville North’s 11-7 lead at halftime, before which Riley Wattles scored again.
“We have really good team bonding,” Giese said. “And I think they trust me a lot, which feels great. And I just want to give them those opportunities.”
Huskies senior attack Rachel Williamson opened the third-quarter scoring on a free shot before assisting on Lee’s third tally. Freshman Reese Battaglia then scored consecutive goals, extending the lead to 15-7.
“That's one thing that we've been trying to work on: Where we've really been a second-half team,” Hogan said. “As we're preparing for the postseason, we've really been trying to make sure that everybody gets on the field so that we can make chemistry happen.”
Valley called a timeout, which composed them enough to result in goals from senior captain Sydney Shield and junior attack Mia Goldman before the quarter ended.
The fourth quarter saw Giese and Bridget Battaglia both pick up their fourth goals for the Huskies. That was before the Valley’s late scoring onslaught, which featured two from Guzaski to bring her total to eight and the second goal each from Shield and Goldman.
“I think we have a lot to walk off (the field to be) proud of,” said Guzaski. “But we also have a lot to improve on, and we're just gonna keep working on those skills.”
In the earlier third-place game, junior midfielder Olivia Beaman scored a sudden-victory goal to give Neuqua Valley (8-6, 1-3) a 7-6 win over Naperville Central (5-8, 0-4).