Experience prevails for Naperville North

Updated: September 10, 2011 11:17PM

The visiting Warriors moved the ball with precision and ease throughout the majority of the opening 40 minutes and potentially could have led by more than the 1-0 intermission advantage. But the 18 seniors on the North roster responded to their halftime talking-to and got an equalizer 10:49 into the second half, a go-ahead goal with just over 10 minutes remaining and an insurance tally with just under four minutes remaining to improve to 7-0-1.

For Waubonsie Valley, a season-opening victory has now been followed by five defeats.

Five minutes into the match, it took a Naperville North defender’s clearing blast to avoid a Warrior goal. But with 15:29 left before the half, Waubonsie Valley couldn’t be denied as Timmy Miller’s stellar pass was slotted home by Tyler Yanisch.

“We may have come out a little overconfident,” North quad-captain Kyle Lindberg admitted. “We started slow and they put away a great chance. Coach (Jim) Konrad got on us at halftime and reminded us to focus on hard work as opposed to playing pretty.”

When asked if the composure is based more on experience or confidence, Konrad saw the plus and the minus.

“It might mean we can be a little too cocky. But with 18 seniors, they do have the confidence to believe in themselves and believe they can come back in any situation,” Konrad said. “That can be good because in any season, there are always people who are going to take a lead on you. And come tournament time, you hope that’s the case, but the danger is getting too complacent.”

North’s Lindberg and Joe Sullivan executed a classic give-and-go so that Lindberg could put the ball away from 12 yards out on the right side.

“I played the ball to Joe and their defense crowded him, so he threaded a great pass for an easy finish. I thought the keeper was coming out, but then backed in so I just put it away and any time we score, it just seems to boost our confidence that much higher.”

The Huskies began to dominate play with the bulk of a 19-7 advantage for overall attempts and a 13-5 edge in shots on goal occurring over the final 40 minutes. A Waubonsie Valley foul within the penalty box allowed North’s Evan Trychta to convert a penalty kick for his third goal of the season after missing the initial four matches.

Before Waubonsie Valley could come up with an equalizer, North’s Madisen Gonzalez fed Sullivan for a three-yard finish near the right post.

“Thankfully “Maddy” heard me and all I had to do was poke it home because I was so close,” Sullivan said in regard to his fifth goal of the year. “Every win feels good and I’m happy I got to contribute an assist and a goal. On Kyle’s goal I was able to turn my defender and take the ball to the left and from the corner of my eye I saw Kyle had his guy sealed. He really did all the hard work on that goal.”

Konrad had no trouble thinking of players to single out when it came to hustle and work ethic starting with Sullivan who was “fantastic. As well as Joe played, Gonzalez works his tail off for 80 minutes and fights for the ball the whole game and never seems to get enough credit. And today there was no doubt Lee (Grander) and Neil (Wiaranowski) really came to play on defense.”

“I’m very happy with the way we played, especially in the first half. That’s probably been our best half soccer-wise and attitude-wise. I think we frustrated the heck out of them in that first half,” veteran Warrior coach Angelo DiBernardo said. “But then we allowed ourselves to get into a physical match and they frustrated us. Some of the calls were also frustrating. Once again, hopefully we’re learning how important the mental aspect of the game is and we just have to keep fighting through.”

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