Boswell sets the pace for Naperville North

Cold, wet weather has slowed many athletes and high school sports teams this spring.

It’s done nothing to sidetrack Naperville North sophomore soccer player Abbie Boswell, though.

Boswell scored 2 goals for the third consecutive game this season to lead the Huskies to a 3-0 victory over visiting Glenbard East in Wednesday’s DuPage Valley Conference contest.

“It’s always awesome to get ahead early,” Boswell said. “I just got in a good spot and it was great to get a quick shot like that.”

It also never hurts when you’re the defending Class 3A champions, playing at home and you jump on a team just minutes into play, especially when it’s windy and cold.

“We came out flat and then Boswell puts them on the board right away,” Glenbard East coach Kent Overbey said. “We didn’t have a good effort coming out, and you can’t make mistakes or not be ready to play against them.”

Glenbard East (5-3-2, 0-2-1) found itself fighting harder to keep the Huskies from extending their lead then it fronted much of a scoring attack on its own. Making matters worse, the Huskies extended their lead to 2-0 with less than eight minutes left before the half on another Boswell goal, this one initiated by a Jillian Van Kampen corner kick.

“Before the game we had talked about scoring early and allowing us to relax a bit,” Van Kampen said. “Abbie helped us do that right away, but it took awhile to get that second one. Then they had to chase us the rest of the game, which is what we wanted to make them do.”

Naperville North senior Christa Szalach added an insurance goal close to midway through the second half as the Huskies were busy most of the evening dominating possession and creating plenty of scoring chances.

“Collectively, this was our best game by far as a group,” Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. “That says a lot, especially on a tough night like this against a much-improved Glenbard East team.”

Naperville North (4-0-1, 3-0-0) will try to use this success during the remainder of the week. The Huskies are scheduled to play the next three days, including at Waubonsie Valley on Friday.