Brenner gets first career goal as Redhawks roll past Lockport

By Curt Herron

Hannah Brenner had been trying to collect the first goal of her career but scores don't come easily for defenders.

With time running out in the season, the Naperville Central senior finally got her opportunity on Saturday and made the most of it.

Brenner's goal during the opening minutes of the Redhawks' nonconference match at Lockport kicked off a scoring frenzy by her teammates.

Central collected eight goals during the first half, resulting in a 60-minute match which it claimed by an 8-0 score over the Porters.

Katherine Short set up Brenner's goal just 4:20 into the match and Short would later add a score of her own.

Four other Redhawks would also find the net, led by Gina Maddi, who finished with a hat trick as well as an assist.

Nicole Ramburg, Autumn Muckenhurn and Hillary Scott also collected goals in a match where coach Ed Watson was able to substitute liberally.

Others beside Short and Maddi who added assists were Haley Hosper, Lauren Brennan, Krissy Many, Ashley Tegge, Taylor Heatherly and Scott.

Meanwhile, Redhawks keeper Jill D'Amico didn't need to make any saves to record her 11th shutout. Taylor McLain only had to make one stop.

The eight-goal outburst was a season-high for the Redhawks, who had scored six goals apiece against Whitney Young and West Aurora.

With the victory, Central (13-2-5) improved to 5-0-1 since suffering a 1-0 defeat to Downers Grove South on April 23.

Now the Redhawks set their sights on Tuesday's home regular-season finale against Glenbard North, which will kick off at 7 p.m.

Beside being its senior night, Central can earn at least a share of the DuPage Valley Conference title with a win over the Panthers.

Wheaton Warrenville South will share the DVC championship with the Redhawks if it defeats West Aurora on the same evening.

Click to hear coach Ed Watson interview

On an afternoon where blustery winds figured to make scoring difficult, you wouldn't have known it by how the Redhawks performed.

Regardless of who seemed to be on the field, Central was attacking Lockport's net and made the most of the majority of its chances.

The first good opportunity was Brenner's score, which set the tone for the match less than five minutes in.

Click to hear Hannah Brenner interview

Just over 11 minutes into the contest, Maddi connected for the first time, following an assist from Scott.

The Redhawks took a 3-0 lead about six minutes after that when Ramburg scored on a play set up by a pass from Hosper.

Muckenhurn got into the scoring act with just over 14 minutes left before the break after Brennan sent a pass in her direction.

About two and a half minutes after that, Short gave the Redhawks a 4-0 lead, thanks to an assist from Many.

Maddi collected her second score with just under six minutes remaining in the half following an assist from Tegge.

Scott increased Central's advantage to 6-0 with a little more than three minutes to go as Heatherly and Maddi had assists.

And finally Maddi closed the scoring with just over half a minute left before the break on the Redhawks' lone unassisted goal.

With Central holding an 8-0 advantage, the final half lasted only 20 minutes and featured no real drama from either side.

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