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Girls soccer: Naperville North doesn't get the bounce

Sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way.

It didn't for Naperville North during Friday's Class 3A semifinal against Barrington, ending the Huskies' dreams of playing for a state title.

The defending state champion Fillies earned the opportunity to play for another one as they eked out a 1-0 victory and will have a rematch against New Trier.

The Huskies will play for third place against Andrew at 5 p.m. Saturday

"It's a good life lesson," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. "You can do everything right for 80 minutes, which our kids did, and (Barrington) got a break and they jumped on it. It's a credit to them. They're very good and we're very good and sometimes that bounce has gone our way and tonight it didn't."

It did on April 27 when the Huskies beat the Fillies 1-0 in the Naperville Invitational semifinals as Shaina Dudas pounced on a defender's block to score early in the first five minutes. This time it went the Fillies way and they scored in the final five minutes.

Barrington (20-3-2) scored with just 4:41 remaining when Rebecca Shomaker took the ball down the left side and kicked a hard ground shot that Naperville North goalkeeper Maddie Hausmann redirected with a diving save, but the ball remained loose. Michayala Herr recovered it and fired in her own shot.

"I don't even know what happened," Herr said. "I was there, I saw it and I kicked it."

Herr acknowledged that Shomaker had put a lot into the initial shot so she was anticipating an opportunity to follow it.

"I knew it was a really hard shot," Herr said. "I thought that this goalie is going to have to make a great save to keep her hands on that so I was just following it up because it was a really hard shot."

Accepting the loss is obviously going to be hard for the Huskies, who did as much as they could to advance to the state final.

The Huskies (20-4-4) outshot the Fillies 4-3 and while they surrendered 10 corner kicks, they responded to each of them with stellar defense to negate those chances.

"I don't think either team distinguished themselves tonight," Goletz said. "They may have had more restarts, but we did a fantastic job and know they play for restarts and defended them. Sometimes it just doesn't go your way and tonight was one of those days."

Dudas, Leah Shumate and Hannah Martin were involved in Naperville North's best scoring threats, including its best one late in the second half when Martin made a nice move before turning and shooting from about 15 yards away but right at Barrington goalkeeper Samantha Schmitz.

But none of them bounced the Huskies' way. Now, they'll look to regroup and go out with a final victory.

"I'm forever indebted to this group for giving us another chance to win a trophy even though it's not the one we wanted," Goletz said. "We're still going to play (Saturday). We want to celebrate this group for the accomplishments they've had and to enjoy the day and bring another trophy back to Naperville North."

  Naperville North goalkeeper Madison Hausmann gets between the Barrington offense led by Michala Herr (7) in the front of the net during the Class 3A girls soccer semifinal state match at North Central College. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Naperville North goalkeeper Madison Hausmann gets between the Barrington offense led by Michala Herr (7) and Emily Dunkel (8) during the Class 3A girls soccer semifinal state match at North Central College. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Naperville North goalkeeper Madison Hausmann fights her way through the Barrington offense in the front of the net during the Class 3A girls soccer semifinal state match at North Central College. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Naperville North's Aleah Robert, left, battles Barrington's Madi Rosen (19) in the front of the net during the Class 3A girls soccer semifinal state match at North Central College. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Naperville North's Megan Benmore (6) battles Barrington's Madi Rosen, right, during the Class 3A girls state soccer semifinal match at North Central College. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Barrington's Michayla Herr (7) scores the game winning goal for a 1-0 win over Naperville North during the Class 3A girls state soccer semifinal match at North Central College. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
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