Huskies are queens
of Naperville Invitational
Naperville N. avenges loss to Barrington with 2-0 title victory
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Everyone knows how good Naperville North forward Abbie Boswell is.
What many don’t realize is how tough Naperville North’s defense is.
The back line of senior Jen Fortman and sophomores Morgan Krause, Ashley Santos and Emily Wilhelm have allowed just four goals this season. That has been just as big a catalyst to the Huskies’ terrific performance as Boswell’s offensive fireworks.
Both aspects were on full display Saturday at sunny and warm Memorial Stadium, where No. 3 Naperville North avenged its only loss of the season with a 2-0 win over No. 4 Barrington in the championship game of the Naperville Invitational.
It was the second time the Huskies (12-1) have won the tournament, widely regarded as the toughest in Illinois, in the past three years. Their previous title came in 2013, the year they won their second-consecutive state championship.
If Naperville North continues to play at the level it has lately, another state title could be in the cards. The Huskies beat three of the best teams in the state on consecutive days to win the tournament, beginning with a 1-0 quarterfinal win over No. 5 Plainfield North, which then had only one loss, on Thursday.
They then defeated unbeaten teams twice in a span of 18 hours, taking down No. 1 New Trier 3-1 in the semifinals Friday night before disposing of the Fillies (14-1-3), who had beaten them 1-0 in the season opener.
“I’m proud of winning this tournament,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “It’s the best tournament in the state of Illinois. There is nothing like it, and it’s only the second time we’ve been able to win it, and I’m glad that I’ve been able to get two [titles] here. It’s a great feeling.”
Junior midfielder Maddie Krecji scored her second-straight game-winning goal for the Huskies.
This time Krecji scored with 33:32 left in the first half when Boswell raced up the middle of the field as three defenders converged on her. Just as she was about to be dispossessed, Boswell poked the ball as she was falling down to Krecji on the right wing.
Krecji sped into the box and slipped a 15-yard shot past Barrington goalie Samantha Schmitz into the lower left corner of the net.
“Goletz always tells me to stay out wide and dive in when Boz gets the ball,” Krecji said. “Boz plays a perfect ball every time for me to be able to finish. It was just a great feeling.”
Goletz could not overestimate the importance of scoring first on a day when both teams were nearing exhaustion. The Huskies were playing for the third time in three days while the Fillies were playing their fourth game in four days.
“I thought it was a huge momentum shift for us,” Goletz said. “I thought we came out a little bit flat. It’s only natural. The girls are tired, you could see it in their legs, but they found a way to battle.
“Boz, as we’ve talked about so many times, garners so much attention and slipped a perfect ball at the perfect time to Krecji and that’s been Krecji all year. Kid has a chance last night against New Trier, buries it, has a chance today against Barrington, buries it. She’s been such a big-time player, and it’s just shows that this is a true team from top to bottom.”
The Huskies retained their lead through a back-and-forth first half that saw each team squeeze off six shots. They opened the second half by stunning the Fillies on an ingenious restart.
Krause was lining up a 28-yard free kick from the left wing against a four-person wall when she noticed the middle of the Barrington box was left undefended. She passed up the chance to shoot and instead rolled a pass to the right of the wall into the vacant space. There Boswell got to it first and scored on an eight-yard roller inside the left post 57 seconds into the second half.
“We’ve got to do better on defending set pieces,” Barrington coach Ryan Stengren said. “That’s a ball that’s played into space, and we had no one standing in the space. That should be identified.
“They were smart on that. We exposed the space, they played it and they win the 50-50 ball.”
The Huskies were consistent at winning 50-50 balls, especially in their own end. They became the first team to shut out Barrington this season and held star striker Jenna Szczesny to just two shots, none in the second half.
Szczesny came into the game with 28 goals, including all three in the Fillies’ 3-1 semifinal overtime win over previously unbeaten St. Charles East, but she never got the breakaways that she did against the Saints.
“Our defense is phenomenal,” Krecji said. “It’s really hard playing three games in a row. We’re very tired but we always push through and work so hard.”
Fortman said the Huskies didn’t deploy any special tactics against Szczesny.
“We kind of just played her like we do any good forward that we play against,” Fortman said. “We kind of just try and press and not give them the opportunity to turn and come at us, not give them a lot of space.”
Fortman is the only experienced player on the back line but she noted the others play on the same club team.
“They’re all phenomenal defenders,” Fortman said. “Playing all year round with them I think that helps a lot. I’m really comfortable and we all trust each other too, so we just fit well together.”
Krause and Wilhelm play on the same club team as sophomore goalie Elizabeth Cablk, who was making her first career start in place of the injured Fiona Baenziger.
In an interesting subplot, both teams had to play their backup goalies after their star seniors suffered hip pointers earlier in the tournament.
Barrington’s Hannah Luedtke was injured early in Thursday’s quarterfinal win over Naperville Central and was replaced by freshman Schmitz, while Baenziger was hurt in the semifinals against New Trier but limped through the pain and finished that game because Cablk was out of town.
Cablk returned early from a family event in Ohio and made three saves, as did Schmitz, in addition to alertly coming off her line several times to pick off dangerous crosses from Szczesny.
“She is a great goalkeeper,” Goletz said of Cablk, who was making her third appearance of the season. “We’re super fortunate to have somebody like her.
“She’s pushed Fiona and Fiona has done a great job of continuing to improve and Cablk is the reason that she’s doing that. I feel very confident having either one of them in net. There wasn’t any anxiety going into today when I knew she was going to start instead of Fiona.”
Stengren was not as relaxed about his team’s performance.
“Our mentality was not good to start the game and you combine that with not having legs, I would tell you that that a lot of people didn’t play well for us today,” Stengren said. “Jackie [Batliner], Jenna and Megan Fox were probably the only ones who were really bringing it for us today. Everyone else was a step behind, not strong enough.
“And give credit to [the Huskies]. It looked like they had a lot more energy than we did today.”
Indeed, Goletz was most impressed with the Huskies’ ability to play through their exhaustion, especially when dealing with such a fast, physical player like Szczesny.
“[The key was] our ability to be committed to each other,” Goletz said. “I told them you’re going to be tired tonight. You’ve played two such hard games back-to-back and the mental piece is can you push through and fake your body out that you’re okay, and the girls did that.
“I thought the second half was great by our back four. To hold Jenna to very limited chances, she’s a special player, and I thought our back four did such a great job on her.”
Stengren, whose team was playing in the final for just the second time, didn’t blame Szczesny.
“I don’t know if they shut her down necessarily, if you base it on yesterday but she was still getting in, we just had no one else making a play,” Stengren said. “She served three balls across and she can’t serve it to herself.”
Barrington’s best scoring chance came eight minutes after intermission when Szczesny made a long run to the left endline and sent a centering pass in front, only to see Fortman clear it before any Fillies could pounce.
“If we had a sitter on top of it, it is on the ground and inside the six and we finish, it’s 2-1 at that point,” Stengren lamented. "But we didn’t give ourselves a chance right from the get-go.
“You cannot come out against a quality team that plays as hard as they do and just let them attack you. You’re going to be on your heels and bad things are going to happen.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK:Samantha Schmitz
D: Jackie Batliner
D: Lauren Pircher
D: Kayla Keck
D: Ellie Stodola
M: Sophia Spinell
M: Anna Brodjian
M: Megan Fox
M: Kelsey Muniz
F: Jenna Szczesny
F: Kayla Schutter
Naperville North
GK: Elizabeth Cablk
D: Ashley Santos
D: Morgan Krause
D: Jen Fortman
D: Emily Wilhelm
M: Maddie Krecji
M: Olivia Stapleton
M: Allison Svoboda
F: Abbie Boswell
F: Shaina Dudas
F: Alexis Dandridge
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jen Fortman, D, Naperville North.
of Naperville Invitational
Naperville N. avenges loss to Barrington with 2-0 title victory
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Everyone knows how good Naperville North forward Abbie Boswell is.
What many don’t realize is how tough Naperville North’s defense is.
The back line of senior Jen Fortman and sophomores Morgan Krause, Ashley Santos and Emily Wilhelm have allowed just four goals this season. That has been just as big a catalyst to the Huskies’ terrific performance as Boswell’s offensive fireworks.
Both aspects were on full display Saturday at sunny and warm Memorial Stadium, where No. 3 Naperville North avenged its only loss of the season with a 2-0 win over No. 4 Barrington in the championship game of the Naperville Invitational.
It was the second time the Huskies (12-1) have won the tournament, widely regarded as the toughest in Illinois, in the past three years. Their previous title came in 2013, the year they won their second-consecutive state championship.
If Naperville North continues to play at the level it has lately, another state title could be in the cards. The Huskies beat three of the best teams in the state on consecutive days to win the tournament, beginning with a 1-0 quarterfinal win over No. 5 Plainfield North, which then had only one loss, on Thursday.
They then defeated unbeaten teams twice in a span of 18 hours, taking down No. 1 New Trier 3-1 in the semifinals Friday night before disposing of the Fillies (14-1-3), who had beaten them 1-0 in the season opener.
“I’m proud of winning this tournament,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “It’s the best tournament in the state of Illinois. There is nothing like it, and it’s only the second time we’ve been able to win it, and I’m glad that I’ve been able to get two [titles] here. It’s a great feeling.”
Junior midfielder Maddie Krecji scored her second-straight game-winning goal for the Huskies.
This time Krecji scored with 33:32 left in the first half when Boswell raced up the middle of the field as three defenders converged on her. Just as she was about to be dispossessed, Boswell poked the ball as she was falling down to Krecji on the right wing.
Krecji sped into the box and slipped a 15-yard shot past Barrington goalie Samantha Schmitz into the lower left corner of the net.
“Goletz always tells me to stay out wide and dive in when Boz gets the ball,” Krecji said. “Boz plays a perfect ball every time for me to be able to finish. It was just a great feeling.”
Goletz could not overestimate the importance of scoring first on a day when both teams were nearing exhaustion. The Huskies were playing for the third time in three days while the Fillies were playing their fourth game in four days.
“I thought it was a huge momentum shift for us,” Goletz said. “I thought we came out a little bit flat. It’s only natural. The girls are tired, you could see it in their legs, but they found a way to battle.
“Boz, as we’ve talked about so many times, garners so much attention and slipped a perfect ball at the perfect time to Krecji and that’s been Krecji all year. Kid has a chance last night against New Trier, buries it, has a chance today against Barrington, buries it. She’s been such a big-time player, and it’s just shows that this is a true team from top to bottom.”
The Huskies retained their lead through a back-and-forth first half that saw each team squeeze off six shots. They opened the second half by stunning the Fillies on an ingenious restart.
Krause was lining up a 28-yard free kick from the left wing against a four-person wall when she noticed the middle of the Barrington box was left undefended. She passed up the chance to shoot and instead rolled a pass to the right of the wall into the vacant space. There Boswell got to it first and scored on an eight-yard roller inside the left post 57 seconds into the second half.
“We’ve got to do better on defending set pieces,” Barrington coach Ryan Stengren said. “That’s a ball that’s played into space, and we had no one standing in the space. That should be identified.
“They were smart on that. We exposed the space, they played it and they win the 50-50 ball.”
The Huskies were consistent at winning 50-50 balls, especially in their own end. They became the first team to shut out Barrington this season and held star striker Jenna Szczesny to just two shots, none in the second half.
Szczesny came into the game with 28 goals, including all three in the Fillies’ 3-1 semifinal overtime win over previously unbeaten St. Charles East, but she never got the breakaways that she did against the Saints.
“Our defense is phenomenal,” Krecji said. “It’s really hard playing three games in a row. We’re very tired but we always push through and work so hard.”
Fortman said the Huskies didn’t deploy any special tactics against Szczesny.
“We kind of just played her like we do any good forward that we play against,” Fortman said. “We kind of just try and press and not give them the opportunity to turn and come at us, not give them a lot of space.”
Fortman is the only experienced player on the back line but she noted the others play on the same club team.
“They’re all phenomenal defenders,” Fortman said. “Playing all year round with them I think that helps a lot. I’m really comfortable and we all trust each other too, so we just fit well together.”
Krause and Wilhelm play on the same club team as sophomore goalie Elizabeth Cablk, who was making her first career start in place of the injured Fiona Baenziger.
In an interesting subplot, both teams had to play their backup goalies after their star seniors suffered hip pointers earlier in the tournament.
Barrington’s Hannah Luedtke was injured early in Thursday’s quarterfinal win over Naperville Central and was replaced by freshman Schmitz, while Baenziger was hurt in the semifinals against New Trier but limped through the pain and finished that game because Cablk was out of town.
Cablk returned early from a family event in Ohio and made three saves, as did Schmitz, in addition to alertly coming off her line several times to pick off dangerous crosses from Szczesny.
“She is a great goalkeeper,” Goletz said of Cablk, who was making her third appearance of the season. “We’re super fortunate to have somebody like her.
“She’s pushed Fiona and Fiona has done a great job of continuing to improve and Cablk is the reason that she’s doing that. I feel very confident having either one of them in net. There wasn’t any anxiety going into today when I knew she was going to start instead of Fiona.”
Stengren was not as relaxed about his team’s performance.
“Our mentality was not good to start the game and you combine that with not having legs, I would tell you that that a lot of people didn’t play well for us today,” Stengren said. “Jackie [Batliner], Jenna and Megan Fox were probably the only ones who were really bringing it for us today. Everyone else was a step behind, not strong enough.
“And give credit to [the Huskies]. It looked like they had a lot more energy than we did today.”
Indeed, Goletz was most impressed with the Huskies’ ability to play through their exhaustion, especially when dealing with such a fast, physical player like Szczesny.
“[The key was] our ability to be committed to each other,” Goletz said. “I told them you’re going to be tired tonight. You’ve played two such hard games back-to-back and the mental piece is can you push through and fake your body out that you’re okay, and the girls did that.
“I thought the second half was great by our back four. To hold Jenna to very limited chances, she’s a special player, and I thought our back four did such a great job on her.”
Stengren, whose team was playing in the final for just the second time, didn’t blame Szczesny.
“I don’t know if they shut her down necessarily, if you base it on yesterday but she was still getting in, we just had no one else making a play,” Stengren said. “She served three balls across and she can’t serve it to herself.”
Barrington’s best scoring chance came eight minutes after intermission when Szczesny made a long run to the left endline and sent a centering pass in front, only to see Fortman clear it before any Fillies could pounce.
“If we had a sitter on top of it, it is on the ground and inside the six and we finish, it’s 2-1 at that point,” Stengren lamented. "But we didn’t give ourselves a chance right from the get-go.
“You cannot come out against a quality team that plays as hard as they do and just let them attack you. You’re going to be on your heels and bad things are going to happen.”
Starting lineups
Barrington
GK:Samantha Schmitz
D: Jackie Batliner
D: Lauren Pircher
D: Kayla Keck
D: Ellie Stodola
M: Sophia Spinell
M: Anna Brodjian
M: Megan Fox
M: Kelsey Muniz
F: Jenna Szczesny
F: Kayla Schutter
Naperville North
GK: Elizabeth Cablk
D: Ashley Santos
D: Morgan Krause
D: Jen Fortman
D: Emily Wilhelm
M: Maddie Krecji
M: Olivia Stapleton
M: Allison Svoboda
F: Abbie Boswell
F: Shaina Dudas
F: Alexis Dandridge
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jen Fortman, D, Naperville North.