Girls Soccer: Naperville Central, Naperville North play to draw in rematch

Updated: May 3, 2012 9:45PM

Naperville Central and Naperville North play soccer like a modernist writer whose books lack easy interpretation or a clean resolution.

Five days after Naperville Central prevailed 1-0 on penalty kicks to capture the Naperville Invite, No. 2 Naperville Central and No. 3 Naperville North failed to decide the rematch.

With the DuPage Valley conference title hanging in the balance, the highly-anticipated game was called at 1-1 after regulation Thursday night at Naperville North after persistent lightning in the area halted play.

Just as the teams were preparing to return to the field for overtime, officials instituted a lightning delay. After a 40-minute interruption, the game was formally called and declared a tie. After 180 minutes of play over the two games, the cumulative score remains just 1-1.

Naperville North (16-1-1, 5-0-1 DVC) was the early aggressor, though it was the Redhawks who struck first. After Naperville Central senior keeper Jill D’Amico repelled a barrage of North shots at the start of the game, the Redhawks scored as senior midfielder Katherine Short lofted a ball past North keeper Allison Hitchcock in the seventh minute.

Sophomore forward Abby Joyce created the score by advancing the ball down the left sideline before making a beautiful cross that Short put away. “Abby’s had a ton of assists for us the whole year, and she made a great ball,” Short said. “I was surprised I was that open, that nobody was marking me, and I was able to get a foot on the ball.” It was Short’s team-high 10th goal of the year.

Just as they managed last Saturday, Naperville Central (17-1-2, 5-0-1) continually stymied North’s scoring forays. The Jacksonville-recruit D’Amico registered seven saves in the first half. Most important, she stared down North star junior forward Zoe Swift late in the 30th minute.

Barreling down the right side, Swift appeared to have a direct line until D’Amico flared out and forced Swift’s shot to go wide. “After Saturday, I told the kids [Naperville Central] had the momentum to start the game and we had to do something to change the momentum,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said.

“These are two great teams, and they play hard and we play hard,” he said. “I thought in the first half there were times we controlled play and also there were times when they really came at us.”

The Huskies broke through in the 55th minute as freshman forward Abbie Boswell scored on a cross from Swift to knot the score at 1-1. “That was a good goal,” Short said.

Naperville North star senior defender Jen Korn said the goal finally loosed the Huskies up. “Quite frankly, I was not very happy with how we responded after they scored the first goal. I thought after the score, it unleashed us and we were a completely different team. Zoe made a great cross because Jill D’Amico is a great goalie and you can’t cross the ball anywhere near her.

“It was disappointing we couldn’t finish because we really thought as the game wore on, we were getting more and more momentum. Especially for me, as a senior, you want that DVC title.”

Naperville North and Naperville Central are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in a talent-laden Class 3A Naperville North sectional that features five of the Sun-Times’ top-10 ranked teams. “We want to decide it, but fortunately, there’s still the playoffs,” Korn said.

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