Girls soccer: Naperville North extends streaks to win Naperville Invitational

There was no doubting the significance of Saturday's Naperville Invitational championship to the Naperville North girls soccer players.

The Huskies (13-1) secured their 13th consecutive victory with a 3-0 defeat of cross-town rival and tourney host Naperville Central to conclude the state's top regular-season tournament. It also was the 10th consecutive shutout for the Huskies and junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Cablk, who made 2 saves in the game.

"It was so important to us," Cablk said. "Ten straight shutouts is an amazing accomplishment, and I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to get that done for my team. ... We've had an insane week. We started off with Neuqua (Valley) on Tuesday, then the quarters (Thursday against Geneva) and semis (Friday against Barrington). Today we're all pretty tired, but it shows that we could grind it out and play against some of the best teams in the state."

Not for the first time this season, the Huskies impressed their coach.

"I always say, there's no doubt this is the best tournament in the state," Huskies coach Steve Goletz added. "We just played about everybody you could think of or we didn't get a chance to because somebody else knocked them out."

The Huskies took the suspense out of the game early, with senior midfielder Maddie Krejci scoring twice in the game's first 14 minutes, dribbling through three defenders before getting her shot off on the first goal. Kelly Sylvester added another goal in the 26th minute.

"We talked about trying to get an early goal and making them try to chase the game," Goletz said, "and (Krejci) had an incredible individual effort on the first goal and just kept going and going and great finish. She's been pretty good the last couple of games. She's been great all season, but she's been really good (lately)."

It was the second consecutive Naperville Invitational championship for the Huskies.

"We didn't do well to defend the first two (goals), but that's a good player also making you play," Redhawks coach Ed Watson added.

Krejci, a University of Tennessee recruit, has 10 goals on the season.

It might have been worse for the Redhawks (10-4-3) if not for junior goalkeeper Kinzly Dressler's 18th-minute save of a Huskies penalty kick.

The Redhawks get another shot at the Huskies on Tuesday when they meet in DuPage Valley Conference play. They also could see each other in the Class 3A Metea Valley sectional final.

Follow Orrin on Twitter @Orrin_Schwarz