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Naperville North blanks Oswego
Updated: May 17, 2011 10:34PM
Naperville North opened its quest for a state berth with a promising start to the postseason, defeating Oswego 3-0 Tuesday.
The Naperville North Class 3A Regional win gave the second-seeded Huskies (14-5-1) home-field advantage but much more importantly, a morale boost. Needless to say, Naperville North didn’t take the 15th-seeded Panthers (9-8-3) lightly.
The Huskies jumped on top early courtesy of sophomore midfielder Emily Bromegen’s goal in the 15th minute. She corralled a loose ball off a throw-in by senior defender Kirsten Anderson. The ball ricocheted off two Oswego players before Bromegen deposited it into the net.
The first goal was big but equally important were the add-on goals Naperville North would score.
Senior forward Alex Wernette set up junior forward Hunter Drendel to make it 2-0 with 7:52 left in the first half.
“We really needed the (first) goal to get us going,” Drendel said. “We wanted to pretty much continue the scoring as the game went on. It worked out.”
Said Wernette: “We’re one of those teams where once you get the first goal it kind of opens up the flood gates and gets our momentum going. I think it was really nice to come out and get the first goal. It helps our momentum a lot.”
The score stuck right there until Huskies senior defender Jamie Meno placed a free kick directly at sophomore midfielder Christa Szalach, who headed the ball in for a goal. That final score came in the 61st minute of play.
Senior Abby Green made two saves for the Huskies, while counterpart Amy Annala saved nine for Oswego.
The Panthers did not register a shot on goal in the first half.
“We had a difficult time getting across the field but it was a tough team,” Oswego coach Jamie Bartkowiak said. “Naperville North’s a really good team. It was probably the best team we’ve seen all season. We’re dealing with a bit of a wind today, turf, which we haven’t played on in a while. But I was proud of what they did today.”
Naperville North coach Brent Terada said he was proud of his senior class for its leadership in urging the nine freshmen and sophomores to focus on facing the Panthers.
“I give the seniors a lot of lot of credit,” he said. “They made sure that our girls were focused. And with the young group that we have, getting (our) group (of underclassmen) focused is a pretty big task. That falls on our seniors and they did an awesome job of it.”
Five Huskies starters were underclassmen.
Naperville North plays Metea Valley (12-9-1) in the regional final match Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Mustangs won 2-1 in overtime Tuesday against Lockport.
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