Chicagoland Soccer

Mustangs edged by unbeaten Huskies on senior night

By Chris Walker

Naperville North senior defender Jen Korn had to compliment teammate Zoe Swift after Tuesday's 1-0 nonconference victory over Metea Valley in Aurora.

After learning that Swift's game-winning score was also her 14th goal of the season, Korn chimed in, "Way to go Zoe! I know how many I've scored because it's just so few."

Korn may not tally many goals, but she also ensures that opponents don't score very often. Korn and the rest of the Huskies defense was in top form on Tuesday, shutting out the Mustangs for their ninth shutout of the season.

"We can trust the defense," Swift said. "Even if we're not scoring, we know they're going to get the ball up to us. We have a lot of confidence in our defense and work well as a team."

The biggest task for Korn and the Huskies defense was to limit opportunities for the Mustangs' Tina Tomaras. They were able to do it by limiting their open space.

"We knew she could shoot from distance so we tried to close down space and step up on every player," Korn said. "We pressured hard and didn't let them play with the ball."

Perhaps the best scoring chance all evening for the Mustangs came with 21:53 remaining in the first half. Tomaras found a rare opportunity and would've put the Mustangs ahead if not for a head-first diving save from keeper Allison Hitchcock.

"I think a lot of times the offense gets a lot of recognition, but I think we have a very solid defensive line," Korn said. "It's all four of us. I know that I can trust them if I step up because I trust three people behind me if I mess up."

That back line included Anna Prescott, Kayla Sharples and Jill Van Kampen, all of whom provided protection for Hitchcock, who recorded the shutout.

The Huskies got the only goal they would need with 21:10 remaining in the first half. A through ball from Abbie Boswell found the foot of Swift, who sent it off the hand of junior keeper Megan Geldernick and proceeded to find the back of the net.

"She was reading that I was going to go right so I forced herself more right," Swift said. "I put it left and she just got a hand on it and it slipped in."

Geldernick made several nice saves before Swift's goal, as well as afterward, but simply couldn't come up with one in the 19th minute.

"It was an awkward spot to save the ball," she said. "(Swift's) a very good forward and knows where to place the ball. I would've liked to have made the save, I was there, but I just needed to get my footwork down and move to get my hands there."

Swift's goal was a big relief for the Huskies, who had created plenty of chances early in the match but simply couldn't muster one past Geldernick.

"We knew going into this game we'd have to get as many shots off as possible because (Geldernick) is going to save a lot of shots," Korn said. "We were just fortunate to be able to get one in."

Christa Szalach had a pair of scoring chances later in the first half but misfired on one occasion and had Geldernick save the other, while Swift had a header that drifted wide right.

They added more opportunities in the second half, nearly scoring an insurance goal with 32:48 left when Boswell's shot caromed off the far post.

"At the start of the night they didn't fall like we wanted them to," Swift said. "We got that one goal, but wanted another one, but they just weren't falling. It's just technical stuff that didn't happen."

Scoring didn't happen for the hosts, either. Stymied by the Huskies defense, they also hurt themselves due to their struggles on the attack.

"We emphasized yesterday in practice on possessions and finding the target's feet," Metea Valley coach Pat Feulner said. "We played pretty well through the middle but when we got it in the attacking third, it was almost like we froze."

Even on the occasions where the Mustangs moved the ball fairly well into the attacking third, they seemingly became flustered and turned the ball over.

"I guess it was a little bit about them being worried of getting countered," Feulner said. "I thought we did a better job in the second half, but we just have to finish."

North (13-0-0) continues to handle perfection well, at least in regard to owning a win-loss record without a blemish. The Huskies have only allowed four goals all spring and seemingly are unfazed when taking their perfect record on the field.

"We don't think about it until after the game and then it's like 'We're 13-0 or whatever,'" Swift said. "When we go into the game we kind of go into it thinking we're the underdog.

"(Coach Steve) Goletz told us as soon as we think we're better than we are, then we're going to start losing games, so we have to listen to him."

Metea (13-3-0) has now dropped two straight games, but it's not like either of these were cupcakes, but more like the creme de la creme of girls high school soccer in Illinois.

The Mustangs also dropped a 1-0 decision to Loyola Academy over the weekend. Their other loss, also a 1-0 match, came against Waubonsie Valley on March 31.

"We're disappointed that we lost to a team that in the long run we could've beat, but it's also the No. 1 team in the state and we played with them the whole game," Geldernick said. "We had chances, now we need to clean up those opportunities and can definitely come back and beat them."

Celebrating Senior Night for the first time in the young Metea program's history, the Mustangs honored seniors Holly Krol, Alex McKay, Bianca Mulaikal, Hannah Thayer and Tomaras.

"The girls were a little upset because they wanted to send the seniors off by winning tonight," Feulner said. "It's kind of fun coming from St. Charles where you have tradition and seniors and stuff. All five of these kids are good kids so hopefully we'll be back here for regionals and can send them off with a little bit of a better result."