Girls soccer: 'Best game' isn't enough for Naperville North
The postgame huddle was the right time for Naperville North to start moving on.
But not before the Huskies gave themselves a little credit, too.
Knocked out of the Naperville Invitational in the quarterfinals for the first time in several years, the Huskies appeared disappointed but determined. The Huskies lost to New Trier 1-0 Thursday night in Naperville.
They will meet Benet at 7 p.m. Friday when the girls soccer tournament continues.
"I think the bounceback is the most important thing," Huskies senior Taylor Klaiber said. "Obviously, this is a setback. But if we can continue to build off of that, we played an amazing game. That's the best game we played all season, so if we can continue to build off of that and just keep getting better, we'll be really good later on."
The Huskies (7-4) were neck and neck with the Trevians (13-1-5) throughout the game, with the stats even.
"The kids got sad faces because obviously they expect to win every game," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said, "and that's a great part of this program. But I told them that all I can ask for is the effort they gave us tonight. It wasn't enough tonight, but on other nights that effort obviously is good enough to beat a lot of great teams in the state."
New Trier got the game's only goal in the 34th minute. New Trier forward Emma Weaver collected a long pass out of the back and dribbled about 40 yards before calmly slotting a perfectly placed shot to the far post.
"Lilly Frentzel played the ball in the air and I saw it and it was going to the outside back, so I pressured the outside back and luckily I got that touch past her and I was 1-on-3 with the goalkeeper and then I toe-poked it with my foot to the far corner," Weaver said.
"It was really tough," Klaiber added. "We knew coming into the game that in the middle of the field they were going to be super good at balls in the air and that they were going to look to play long to Emma, because obviously she's a fantastic player.
"But I think the most important thing for us was just to continue battling the whole game. And you could tell throughout the game that we were in it. We weren't taken out of it by them. And we still had just as many chances as them."
The Huskies earned the Trevians' respect as well.
"They're a good Naperville North team," Weaver said. "We knew that coming in. We just had to battle, and I think as a team we worked well together."