Trychta comes through for Huskies

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:14PM

Naperville North had to play Thursday without star midfielder Kyle Lindberg, who was serving a one-game suspension after being ejected in Saturday's regional championship game victory over West Chicago.

But the Huskies' other main star, junior forward Evan Trychta, came through for the host team, converting two penalty kicks in the first half to propel his team to a 2-1 victory over Benet in a Class 3A sectional semifinal.

Trychta, who had not attempted a penalty kick in regulation this season, made his first attempt with 17:25 remaining in the first half, beating Benet goalie Kyle DalSanto to his right. The second came at the 8:38 mark and Trychta drove it into the middle of the net as DalSanto dove to his right.

"You just have to have confidence when you go [take a] PK," Trychta said. "I was more nervous the first time. The second time I was like, "Alright, I'm just going to drill it.'"

Benet (12-9-1) could not solve the Huskies' formidable defense until late in the game, though it wasn't for lack of effort by Sean Mogan. The West Point recruit hit the crossbar on a 23-yard free kick with 4:57 remaining before intermission.

Mogan did get the Redwings on the board by making a penalty kick with 6:37 to go in the second half and had one last chance to tie it in the final seconds, but his 29-yard free kick was blocked.

"He's an excellent player," Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. "If they had the ball we had someone who was trying to trail him, and I think they did a pretty good job on him."

The Huskies defense, which is led by Lee Grander and Jimmy Butler – will have its hands full in Saturday's sectional title game against top-seeded Neuqua Valley, which beat East Aurora 3-0 in the other semifinal.

Naperville North (19-2-2) has won seven straight and has a 16-game unbeaten (14-0-2) streak on the line. The Huskies lost 1-0 to Neuqua Valley at home on Aug. 31. The Wildcats (16-3-3) have lost just once to an Illinois opponent.

"Piece of cake – I wouldn't be surprised if we win by three or four," Konrad quipped when asked about the matchup. "No, now we're supposed to lose. They are a great team and we're going to have to play perfect and get a little bit lucky to beat them."

"We know they're a great team," Trychta said. "We feel like we've improved a lot, though."

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