Joe Sullivan saves Naperville North with OT goal

Updated: October 25, 2011 9:19PM

Naperville North had scored 61 goals this season before its Class 3A sectional semifinal against East Aurora Tuesday, but the Huskies were still seeking a truly memorable score, one that won’t soon be forgotten.

They got it when Joe Sullivan tallied a goal in overtime to give the host Huskies a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the upset-minded Tomcats.

Sullivan’s strike, which came with 4:47 left in the extra session, allowed No. 1-ranked Naperville North (21-0-1) to extend its winning streak to 20 games after coming within 12 minutes of elimination.

Kyle Lindberg started the decisive play with a back-heel pass to Connor Sharples at midfield. Sharples sent the ball ahead to Evan Trychta on the right wing, where the UIC recruit had one defender to beat. Instead of taking on the defender, Trychta slid a pass into the box to the unguarded Sullivan streaking in on the back post and Sullivan buried the eight-yard shot.

“It set up nice because Kyle played a great back-heel,” Sullivan said. “We’ve been trying to get that kind of fancy goal all year, so it was nice that it finally worked out. Connor played a great ball to Evan and Evan just found me. I was wide-open, not much of a hard finish.”

Naperville North coach Jim Konrad, whose career was extended by at least one more match, said Sullivan’s play was harder than it looked.

“You could see it develop,” said Konrad, who is retiring after the season. “All of a sudden Evan’s got it and there’s one defender and I was like, ‘is Evan going to finish it or pass it?’ He hit a hot ball and Joey did well to settle it. Sullivan lives for that.”

For the longest time, there was serious doubt whether the Huskies would prevail. No. 9 East Aurora (15-5-4) grabbed a 1-0 lead when Juan Bustamante was tripped in the penalty area and David Reynoso converted the penalty kick with 17:42 left in the first half.

The Tomcats packed it in defensively after that and were outshot 19-0 by the Huskies in the second half. After missing nearly a dozen scoring chances, Naperville North tied it with 11:18 remaining in regulation when Trychta’s 45-yard free kick was headed home by defender Lee Grander.

“I had so many [missed] opportunities and I didn’t want to let the team down and that goal just topped it off,” Grander said. “We kept knocking at the door and we were trying to stay positive, but it’s tough when we’re not able to score all the time. We’d been scoring goal after goal during the regular season.”

Grander, a 6-3 senior, also prevented a goal in the eighth minute with a non-goalie save, blocking a shot by Danny Miranda to keep the game scoreless.

“That was so clutch,” Sullivan said. “That kept us in the game. Lee scored a goal, he saved a goal. He’s been like that the whole year.”

The top-seeded Huskies had trailed only twice previously this season, but Konrad had confidence his squad could rally.

“They’re a tough group,” Konrad said. “They [went] through the ringer emotionally last year. They’ve been through a lot so they have a little thicker skin than most teams do and they have the confidence that they can battle back.

“I give East Aurora credit. They were tough.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.