Redhawks capture Invite title in shootout over Huskies
By Matt Le Cren

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If you had gone to Las Vegas and placed a bet that Paige Silver would be the one to make the kick that decided the Naperville Invitational championship, you would have been met with blank stares.

Heck, few of the people who witnessed the game Saturday even realized who Silver was.

But the little-used senior midfielder made the difference, converting the decisive penalty kick to give host Naperville Central a 1-0 shootout victory over previously unbeaten Naperville North.

The amazing thing was that Silver literally came into the shootout cold, having not played at all during 100 minutes of regulation and two overtimes.

“I’m really comfortable taking PKs,” said Silver, who estimates she usually plays about 10 minutes a game. “That’s one of the only things I really enjoy doing, so even though I was a little cold on the bench I was really eager to get up in the game and contribute something.”

Silver wasn’t the first person Redhawks coach Ed Watson had in mind as a shooter, but he opted for her and two others who hadn’t played at all – senior Carly Nussbaum and junior Nikki Alore – out of a process of elimination.

“You’ve got to pick five and as girls kept stepping back and hiding behind everybody, those girls that were too cold to move got called out, like, Hey, you want to come do this?’” Watson said. “We asked for volunteers and we were running out of options and the kids who said yes were just looking to get warm.”

After Cora Climo gave Naperville North (15-1) the early advantage by converting her penalty kick, Nussbaum made hers off the fingertips of Huskies goalie Allison Hitchcock.

North’s Jen Korn and Central’s Katherine Short both converted, but North’s third shooter, Maria Grygleski, missed wide to the right and freshman Meredith Tunney proceeded to give the Redhawks (17-1-1) a 3-2 advantage.

Hunter Drendel tied it for North and that brought up Silver.

“I was a little nervous especially since the goalie seemed to be more to one side of the goal than the other,” Silver said. “But I just sort of relaxed, took my time and just knew I had to put it right in the corner.”

Down 4-3, North had to convert to stay alive but Zoe Swift’s kick struck the right post.

“I was looking to the side but it went too far,” a dejected Swift said.

The Redhawks were jubilant after extending their winning streak to 10 by knocking off the Chicago area’s top-ranked team.

“It’s great to beat North,” Silver said. “There’s always a lot of competition going back and forth. We know a lot of their players, too, so it’s really great to come [out] on top and finally show them that we’re here to play and we broke their undefeated record.”

Doing so was anything but easy. The game was a defensive struggle, with the cold wind playing a significant factor. The Huskies had a slight edge in the first half, but their only real chances were a hard 15-yard shot by Swift that was turned aside by Central goalie Jill D’Amico in the 11th minute and a header by Hunter Drendel that was cleared off the left post by Alyssa Angelo in the 16th minute.

The visitors actually played well against the wind in the second half, just as they did the previous night in scoring three second-half goals in a 4-1 semifinal win over Neuqua Valley.

But Swift and freshman Abbie Boswell were limited to just two shots apiece by Central’s terrific defensive effort. Carly Franzese hounded Boswell for much of the contest, and Swift was double-teamed most of the game and despite trying hard could rarely get free as Tunney, Angelo, and Amanda Alberts never took their eyes off of Swift.

“Our 10 girls and our keeper were aware of where she was,” Watson said. “There was probably a couple of dangerous situations where it looked like she almost had it through. The girls backed each other up consistently and then Jill made some saves when she needed to make saves.”

D’Amico made seven saves in recording her 12th shutout. That included a stop on a header by Swift with 20 seconds left in the second overtime. She also alertly came off her line in the 50th minute to pick up a long ball from Bosworth just before Swift could get a touch on it.

“The first half I think they had the better of the play and were on our half most of the time, but our defense was so strong,” D’Amico said. “Meredith stepped up and won every ball, Amanda is always stepping in there and we held Zoe.

“We just said don’t let her turn, have her play back, stay tight with her, so they did a great job with both [Boswell] and Zoe. Then second half I think we came out and had the better of the play.”

Swift agreed.

“I think we deserved to win, but then again, they did too,” Swift said. “They played a good second half and we didn’t and they possessed the ball more than we did, which was the deciding factor.”

That ability to possess the ball is one of the main reasons the Redhawks have blanked nine of their last 11 opponents and surrendered only seven goals. The adage “defense wins championships” held true again.

“It’s amazing,” D’Amico said. “Not only are we winning in our own Naperville Invitational but it’s against our archrival, so it just makes it that much better.”

That’s not to say North’s defense was poor. The Huskies, who have given up just five scores, were stellar in limiting Central to only a half dozen legitimate chances.

Goalie Allison Hitchcock notched her 11th shutout by making eight saves, the best of which was a diving denial of Short’s left-footed bullet from 19 yards out in the 75th minute, and defenders Kayla Sharples, Jen Korn, Abby Mangefrida and Brittany Weizeorick all stood out in clearing balls out of trouble and not allowing a single corner kick.

“[The Redhawks] did a great job. They defended hard on us,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “We had some chances that we didn’t put away and they had some chances that they didn’t put away. That’s the game of soccer. I think you saw two very good teams out there and you’ll see two good teams again on Thursday and again when we play [in the sectional].”

Indeed, one consolation for the Huskies is they won’t have to wait long for a rematch. After playing West Aurora on Tuesday, North hosts Central on Thursday in a game that will decide the DuPage Valley Conference championship.

“This is a tough run for the girls,” Goletz said. “It’s very good for the girls because you play Metea, Waubonsie and Neuqua all in a row and then follow it up here in the championship against Central. You’re playing four of the best teams in the state in a matter of six days and it’s kind of unrealistic to think you’re going to run the table, so hopefully we can use the loss in a positive way and get back to work and start over on Tuesday against West Aurora and kind of have that pressure off us as being undefeated.”

The Redhawks, too, know that more battles are to come.

“We have got to come back and realize that we’ve still got them on Thursday, which is probably the more important of the games because it will be for conference,” D’Amico said.

The two sides also could meet in the sectional final on May 25, so the Redhawks will take their victory in stride.

“I’m proud of the team effort,” Watson said. “We have a lot of interchangeable parts and the girls know their responsibilities. I’m pleased for them because they’re very excited.

“They feel like they’ve accomplished something and we get to enjoy it for the rest of today and tomorrow and then we’ll go back to work.”