Redhawks edge Huskies in 2 OT to win regional title

By Eddie Burns

Restarts are good to the Redhawks.

This theme has carried throughout Naperville Central's regular season and it continued during Friday's Class 3A regional championship between rivals Naperville Central and Naperville North.

All season long Alex Coon has excelled as the restart specialist for the Redhawks, but she deferred to teammate Taylor Heatherly on this particular night.

Heatherly usually takes the restarts beyond 35 yards and out, but they've not come easy to her this season because Heatherly has an issue at keeping the ball down, so as to keep her attempt a dangerous one on the opposing net.

But Heatherly looked like a pro when she lined up from 44 yards out and ripped a shot toward the North goal.

Her shot caught the underside of the crossbar and bounced down into the Huskies' goal past goalie Ellie Flessner to give No. 4 seed Central a hard-fought 1-0 win in double overtime against rival and No. 5 seed North on Friday afternoon at North.

The victory gives the Redhawks the Class 3A regional championship and advances Central to the sectional semifinals where the Redhawks (16-2-5) will meet top-seed Waubonsie Valley at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Central's Memorial Stadium.

"For my entire high school career, I've always hit balls like that over the goal and so my only thought was, 'I don't care where it goes, just don't hit it over because I knew coach (Ed) Watson would yell at me,'" said Heatherly, who also picked up her first goal of the season in the process.

"(Watson) said that North's goalie (Ellie Flessner) was looking into the sun, so I just really tried to focus on getting over the ball and it worked out and I got kind of lucky."

Watson said Heatherly placed the ball in a perfect spot.

"That ball was a keeper nightmare," Watson said. "It stayed at the top of the bar and she hits the ball so hard that I wouldn't want to be the goalkeeper making the decision with the sun of what to do, 'Am I trying to catch this ball or am I trying to bat this ball?'"

The winning play capped a wild beginning to the second 10-minute overtime period.

North's Rycke Guiney had the Huskies' best scoring chance of the second overtime when she sent a restart from 28 yards out, but Central goalie Jill D'Amico was there for the stop.

On the ensuing trip up field, the Redhawks received their restart opportunity when Guiney was called for a foul on Central's Krissy Many and Heatherly ended the match on the ensuing free kick in the 94th minute.

"If you go out, you want to go out playing your best and working and being true to who you are and that is what we did," said North coach Brent Terada, whose team finished 13-7-2.

"It is disappointing with the result, but at the same time, I'm proud of how we responded, worked and battled."

Terada credited Heatherly with her shot placement.

"The shot from distance is a tough ball to handle, but she consistently hits the ball like that – that goal was not a fluke," Terada said.

"You don't feel real bad about it, like it was a lucky hit because it wasn't. If you give her 20 of those -- she will hit 15 or 16 in the exact same spot – she is that kind of player and that is why she is one of the best players in the state."

The match featured a little bit of everything, including a 30-minute weather delay with 20 minutes remaining in regulation.

Neither side could hold the middle of the field and as a result, it created a lot of back and forth action. There weren't a lot of shots directly on either goalie but each team had its moments.

"That is the way it is going to be when we get together," Watson said.

The players expected a fierce battle and they got it on both ends of the field.

"We knew they would come out strong – they are a great team because they are always hustling and always moving," said Heatherly about North.

"They always give us a big game. We just battled back and knew we had to be on top of our game to beat them and that is what happened."

Central's Gina Maddi appeared to give the Redhawks an early lead, but her shot from inside the 6-yard goal box glanced off the crossbar and post in the fourth minute.

North's best chance came in the 35th minute when Guiney crossed a corner kick into the Central penalty area where freshman Zoe Swift managed to get a head on the attempt.

Swift's flick beat D'Amico, but Central's Sally Stocchero was guarding the goal line and managed to clear the attempt.

The Huskies also had another dangerous chance when Jamie Meno sent a restart from near midfield toward the Central goal in the 77th minute, but teammate Adrienne Schertz, who had snuck in behind the Redhawks' defense barely missed getting her head on the potential go-ahead goal.

"Schertz couldn't have missed that by a foot or so," Terada said. "It was a great ball in, but that is the way the game of soccer is. We simply couldn't connect."

Watson was thrilled to get the victory, but gave credit to Terada and his program.

"I'm very happy for our kids and I'd be very remiss to say that I'm very disappointed for the North kids because a team of that caliber does not deserve to go out in the regional final – especially when you see all of the other lopsided regional finals all over the state," Watson said.

"It is too bad because they are a good team. Their seniors -- especially Rycke Guiney -- played great today and she made them work."

The Redhawks have not allowed a goal in seven straight matches. Andrew was the last team to score on Central in late April.

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