Girls soccer: Naperville North finds run to state championship game worth celebrating

After watching her brother and sister play high school soccer at Naperville North, Emily Buescher began dreaming about playing for the Huskies as well.

The senior finished her phenomenal run as one of the leaders of the program on Saturday night in the Class 3A title game against O’Fallon, but the Huskies couldn’t find a way to score and dropped a heartbreaker 1-0 in overtime.

Naperville North (17-6-3) was shooting for its fifth state title and first since 2019 while O’Fallon (23-1-1) snagged its third state title trophy since 2021.

“We talked at the banquet about the fact that I had always dreamed of playing for (Steve) Goletz and (Jim) Konrad just because, you know, I got to watch my brother go through this program and I got to watch my sister go through this program,” Buescher said. “And I think a really big thing is you want to work for them and you know a big reason why this program is so special is the lasting impact that they have on every player. I got to play with all the kids that I grew up with, you know.

“If you look at 80 to 90% of this team, they are all kids that I played with at some point when we were little, so I think it's so incredibly special that we would just get to come back as a family.”

After a scoreless regulation, it appeared the teams would remain that way and go into a second and final overtime, but O’Fallon senior Allie Tredway had other ideas.

Tredway received a pass from Taegan Benson and made a move in the box before sending her shot to the back of the net with 5.7 seconds before the opening OT ended.

“So I knew I was like at the center of the field and my back was to the goal, so I didn't know, like how far out I was, but I knew I could get around the defender,” Tredway said. “I was able to turn and just hit a shot and it just luckily went right through the keeper's hands up top.”

The Huskies put four shots on frame.

“Watching game film we knew we were going to have to be really, really good to give O’Fallon a run,” Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. “And then we came out and took it to them in the first 20 minutes of the game.”

It took a special group to run with O’Fallon until the end.

“That’s because of how great these kids are and how they want to fight,” Goletz said. “They’re willing to check their ego at the door and do whatever we ask them to do and work so hard for each other. And hard work matters. We say that all the time in our program, and if you can consistently work hard and not make excuses, great things happen for you.”

Claire DeCook put a couple of shots on frame, a day after scoring twice to lead the Huskies past Lane Tech in the semifinals.

“You just lock in for playoffs and I just really like winning when it matters,” she said. “I mean, obviously that (stinks) to say right now because we obviously lost, but I just honestly learn from everything. I feel like our team's gonna respond to this next year. I mean, we lost to Neuqua Valley in the DVC but then we beat them (in the postseason) to move on and that’s all that matters.”

O’Fallon senior defender Kaylin Culver said a collaborative effort allowed the Panthers to keep DeCook out of the scoring column,

“We always know that when we defend together as a team and have each other’s backs we’re at our best,” she said. “We know we can’t do it all by ourselves so we’re doing it together for our team.”

The loss stings but the run is worthy of celebration. The Huskies are the state runner-up.

“I’m just so happy, so proud of where we started to where we finished,” Goletz said. “How much these kids care about this program and how much they pushed it forward. And I told the kids in the huddle that it wasn't the trophy that we wanted, but if people that were in the stands and the people that are coming back next year on our team aren't motivated and don't respect what this group did and how they played, and how they went about their day, well, then I don't know what gets people excited because they just absolutely left it all out there tonight. They were incredible.”