Kerth breaks Naperville Central record
Midway through the first quarter of Naperville Central’s 8-2 win over Sandburg on Thursday, Redhawks junior Abbey Kerth surpassed the school’s single-season scoring record.
By netting her 107th and 108th goals of the season, Kerth surpassed the mark of 106 goals set in 2008 by former Redhawk Kara Wilson.
“It’s real nice individual accomplishment for her, but she’d be the first person to deflect all the praise to her teammates,” said Redhawks coach Jeff Plackett. “She’s not necessarily a shoot-first player. She sees her teammates just as well as they see her.”
Kerth tied the mark against Fremd behind a 5-goal performance on April 28.
“I trust anyone to score on our team with our balance,” Plackett said. “Given (Kerth’s) position she happens to be the leading scorer. It’s a team effort in every sense of the word.”
Ranked No. 2 in the state by Illpolo.com, the Redhawks will enter Wednesday’s Neuqua Valley sectional as the No. 1 overall seed.
The home pool:Due to its all-deep pool and spacious deck, Neuqua Valley High School will host the boys and girls sectional tournament again this week. Metea Valley#146;s pool, which opened this season, rivals the quality of Neuqua#146;s facility and will rotate hosting duties as early as next season, according to Neuqua girls coach Mac Guy. #147;(Hosting) doesn#146;t provide a huge advantage. Most of our teams are so close so there isn#146;t a lot of travel,#148; Guy said. #147;It does provide a tremendous opportunity for some of our underclassmen to watch some high quality water polo.#148;With Waubonsie Valley earning the No. 2 seed and Naperville North securing the No. 3 seed at sectionals, Neuqua Valley will host the tournament as the No. 4 seed. The Wildcats will open against fifth-seeded Metea Valley on Wednesday night. #147;Metea played us very tough in our head-to-head match-ups earlier this year,#148; Guy said. #147;We#146;re not looking past the Mustangs.#148;In two meetings this season, the Wildcats defeated the Mustangs 12-7 in the Naperville Quad tournament and 9-8 on March 22. Red Devils trying to keep momentum:Hinsdale Central enters the boys sectional on Thursday night as a No. 5 seed and will open against Waubonsie Valley. The Red Devils played against No. 13 Oak Park-River Forest on Friday night. Despite playing tough they fell 11-9 to the Huskies. Hinsdale Central outscored the Huskies in the second half, and coach Martin Bell is hopeful that the momentum will carry over to sectionals. #147;We played well, and to play such a good team to a 2-goal game is stellar,#148; Bell said. #147;It feels positive going into sectionals.#148; The game against Waubonsie should prove to be a thrilling rematch of a suspenseful clash between the two teams earlier this season. In that game Waubonsie senior Tyler Hunt scored the winning goal for the Warriors with just nine seconds left in overtime.#147;(Waubonsie) loves the ball-side drives,#148; Bell said. #147;They have Hunt and big role players that always step in. We have to find a proper balance of guarding Hunt and not allowing his teammates to step up.#148;