Naperville Central shuts down Stevenson to advance to 3A soccer title match

The Red Hawks simply were too much for the Patriots

"It was a tough start for us, and in the end, a tough night as well," Patriots head coach PepeJon Chavez said.

"(Naperville) is an outstanding team - they possess, defend, and attack equally well, and once we went a man down, it was a little more difficult for us to chase their lead."

The O'Reilly PK came after a hand ball in the box also sent off a Patriots defender, forcing the NSC champs to play a man down for the next 44 minutes.

Joseph LoDuca would extend the Redhawks' advantage just after the break with a clinical angled finish off a lovely helper from Chase Adams.

Nathan Kwon added another to the scoresheet at 46 minutes before O'Reilly ended the scoring 13 minutes from time.

"We just wanted to put the best effort that we could - knowing a win puts us into the state final, which has been our goal all season long," O'Reilly said.

"Our discipline tonight, especially along the back was outstanding - that's how you win games at this stage in the season," said Redhawks head coach Troy Adams.

Stevenson (21-1-3) will play reigning state champion York (20-1-3) in the third place game at 6 p.m. Saturday.