99th-minute goal edges Naperville N.
past SCE in invite quarterfinals
Krause goal gives no. 1 Huskies 1-0 win, date with Fremd
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville North senior Morgan Krause was a little frustrated with her play and more than a little tired after playing 198 minutes over 48 hours with literally nothing to show for it.
The frustration vanished in a flash with one devastating swing of her left leg.
Krause took a pass from fellow midfielder Ashley Santos and blasted an 18-yard shot into the upper right corner of the St. Charles East net with 1:57 left in the second overtime.
That goal, the Iowa-bound Krause’s 12th of the season, was enough to lift the host Huskies to a 1-0 victory over the Saints in a Naperville Invitational quarterfinal.
Naperville North (12-0-2), ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, is now two wins away from becoming the third school in the 20-year history of the tournament to win three-straight championships.
The Huskies will take on no. 9 Fremd, which upset no. 5 Neuqua Valley 1-0, at 5 p.m. in a Friday semifinal at Memorial Stadium. No. 2 Barrington faces No. 3 New Trier in the other semifinal at 7 p.m..
“It felt good,” Krause said. “I think after playing overtime on Tuesday and then playing overtime today, we just did not want to go to PKs.
“I know I didn’t, so I was like, we’ve got to score.”
Scoring was something that had eluded the Huskies for an alarmingly long time. They were held to a 0-0 tie by Neuqua Valley on Tuesday and blanked for 98 minutes by the determined Saints (8-3-3), who proved to be their equal until the best player on the field finally got loose.
“Ashley Santos got the ball, and she took a great first touch centrally. Then I just kept running centrally, and she slotted me through,” Krause said. “I touched it with my left foot and then saw the opening for the shot, so I tried to bury it.”
Krause did and with it deep-sixed some frustration.
“First half and second half I was not playing well, and then overtime it finally happened,” Krause said.
St. Charles East had a lot to do with Krause’s frustration. The Saints backline led by seniors Tory Schumann, Allison Krauss and Morgan Kull has conceded just two goals in back-to-back losses to two unbeaten teams in Naperville North and St. Charles North.
“What more can you ask of our girls than that?” St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. “For the majority of the game I thought we were the team that was in control of it.
“You don’t normally put that out there, but at the same time I thought these girls were absolutely fantastic tonight. They had energy, the possession of the ball on the ground was fantastic, the movement was at a different level.”
But the one thing the Saints didn’t have was Krause.
“The difference today was a player of that quality with a strike with two minutes to go,” Jennison said. “You want something like that to break a deadlock in a game this tight.
“Unfortunately for us, Naperville North had it. It’s going to take one heckuva team to beat them this year.”
While the Huskies haven’t been as prolific offensively as they have been in recent years, they have been nearly impossible to score on. Goalkeeper Elizabeth Cablk has given up only three goals and now has 10 shutouts after recording five mostly routine saves against the Saints.
St. Charles East’s only legitimate scoring threat came with 11:30 left in the second half when Chantel Carranza got on the end of a long ball just inside the top of the box and sent a shot at Cablk, who blocked it with her legs.
“We had those maybe one or two chances tonight that we couldn’t convert, but that’s got to be a massive character builder for our girls,” Jennison said. “Because I can’t imagine there’s many teams playing them as well as we did tonight.
“Naperville North is absolutely quality, but it’s got to give our girls confidence going forward knowing that they can play for almost 98 minutes before an absolutely brilliant strike ended the game.
“I wish Naperville North all the best, and I hope we get to see them again soon.”
If they do it would be in the Class 3A state championship game on June 3 at North Central College. Whichever teams reach that game undoubtedly will be playing great defense and at the moment the Saints are doing just that.
“We’re just a solid backline,” Schumann said. “We have so much trust in each other, and we can count on each other to cover us.
“(Krause’s goal) was a good shot. Our goalie did the best she could. It obviously sucks, but I’m just so proud of everybody.
“We didn’t stop fighting. We gave our effort all the time.”
Speaking of effort, Naperville North has given plenty already this week with two overtime games with the prospect of two more games against ranked opponents in the next two days.
If they beat Fremd, they will have less than 17 hours to rest up for Saturday’s noon title game. Then they will return to Memorial Stadium on Tuesday for their annual tilt with Naperville Central.
“This is definitely a top tournament,” Krause said. “We’re going for the three-peat so we know it’s going to be so tough.
“This game was tough, tomorrow is going to be tough, so we just have to take it one game at a time. It will be cool to win this tournament after we just won North Shore (Invitational on April 15).”
“These kids grow up playing so much soccer, but I don’t think it’s at (this) intensity level, and they put so much into these games,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “I told them they’ve got to try to take care of themselves tonight.
“It’s a quick turnaround for a 5 o’clock game. I’m sure there will be some heavy legs. But at this point you’re in the semifinals of the best tournament in the state of Illinois and you’re hoping that the adrenaline will carry itself through.
“I think our girls have been realistic this year about working hard in every game. As long as they keep giving us that, that’s all we can ask for.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles East
GK Grace Griffin
D Hayley Popiel
D Allison Strauss
D Morgan Kull
D Tory Schumann
D Alondra Carranza
M Claire Rasmussen
M Kaitlyn Dziubinski
M Megan O’Neal
F Rose Stackhouse
F Chantel Carranza
Naperville North
GK Elizabeth Cablk
D Emily Wilhelm
D Alyssa Siebers
D Jessica Siebers
D Morgan Lockridge
M Ashley Santos
M Katelynn Buescher
M Morgan Krause
M Jeanine Valera
F Megan Benmore
F Chloe Kotrba
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Morgan Krause, sr., MF, Naperville North
past SCE in invite quarterfinals
Krause goal gives no. 1 Huskies 1-0 win, date with Fremd
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville North senior Morgan Krause was a little frustrated with her play and more than a little tired after playing 198 minutes over 48 hours with literally nothing to show for it.
The frustration vanished in a flash with one devastating swing of her left leg.
Krause took a pass from fellow midfielder Ashley Santos and blasted an 18-yard shot into the upper right corner of the St. Charles East net with 1:57 left in the second overtime.
That goal, the Iowa-bound Krause’s 12th of the season, was enough to lift the host Huskies to a 1-0 victory over the Saints in a Naperville Invitational quarterfinal.
Naperville North (12-0-2), ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, is now two wins away from becoming the third school in the 20-year history of the tournament to win three-straight championships.
The Huskies will take on no. 9 Fremd, which upset no. 5 Neuqua Valley 1-0, at 5 p.m. in a Friday semifinal at Memorial Stadium. No. 2 Barrington faces No. 3 New Trier in the other semifinal at 7 p.m..
“It felt good,” Krause said. “I think after playing overtime on Tuesday and then playing overtime today, we just did not want to go to PKs.
“I know I didn’t, so I was like, we’ve got to score.”
Scoring was something that had eluded the Huskies for an alarmingly long time. They were held to a 0-0 tie by Neuqua Valley on Tuesday and blanked for 98 minutes by the determined Saints (8-3-3), who proved to be their equal until the best player on the field finally got loose.
“Ashley Santos got the ball, and she took a great first touch centrally. Then I just kept running centrally, and she slotted me through,” Krause said. “I touched it with my left foot and then saw the opening for the shot, so I tried to bury it.”
Krause did and with it deep-sixed some frustration.
“First half and second half I was not playing well, and then overtime it finally happened,” Krause said.
St. Charles East had a lot to do with Krause’s frustration. The Saints backline led by seniors Tory Schumann, Allison Krauss and Morgan Kull has conceded just two goals in back-to-back losses to two unbeaten teams in Naperville North and St. Charles North.
“What more can you ask of our girls than that?” St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. “For the majority of the game I thought we were the team that was in control of it.
“You don’t normally put that out there, but at the same time I thought these girls were absolutely fantastic tonight. They had energy, the possession of the ball on the ground was fantastic, the movement was at a different level.”
But the one thing the Saints didn’t have was Krause.
“The difference today was a player of that quality with a strike with two minutes to go,” Jennison said. “You want something like that to break a deadlock in a game this tight.
“Unfortunately for us, Naperville North had it. It’s going to take one heckuva team to beat them this year.”
While the Huskies haven’t been as prolific offensively as they have been in recent years, they have been nearly impossible to score on. Goalkeeper Elizabeth Cablk has given up only three goals and now has 10 shutouts after recording five mostly routine saves against the Saints.
St. Charles East’s only legitimate scoring threat came with 11:30 left in the second half when Chantel Carranza got on the end of a long ball just inside the top of the box and sent a shot at Cablk, who blocked it with her legs.
“We had those maybe one or two chances tonight that we couldn’t convert, but that’s got to be a massive character builder for our girls,” Jennison said. “Because I can’t imagine there’s many teams playing them as well as we did tonight.
“Naperville North is absolutely quality, but it’s got to give our girls confidence going forward knowing that they can play for almost 98 minutes before an absolutely brilliant strike ended the game.
“I wish Naperville North all the best, and I hope we get to see them again soon.”
If they do it would be in the Class 3A state championship game on June 3 at North Central College. Whichever teams reach that game undoubtedly will be playing great defense and at the moment the Saints are doing just that.
“We’re just a solid backline,” Schumann said. “We have so much trust in each other, and we can count on each other to cover us.
“(Krause’s goal) was a good shot. Our goalie did the best she could. It obviously sucks, but I’m just so proud of everybody.
“We didn’t stop fighting. We gave our effort all the time.”
Speaking of effort, Naperville North has given plenty already this week with two overtime games with the prospect of two more games against ranked opponents in the next two days.
If they beat Fremd, they will have less than 17 hours to rest up for Saturday’s noon title game. Then they will return to Memorial Stadium on Tuesday for their annual tilt with Naperville Central.
“This is definitely a top tournament,” Krause said. “We’re going for the three-peat so we know it’s going to be so tough.
“This game was tough, tomorrow is going to be tough, so we just have to take it one game at a time. It will be cool to win this tournament after we just won North Shore (Invitational on April 15).”
“These kids grow up playing so much soccer, but I don’t think it’s at (this) intensity level, and they put so much into these games,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “I told them they’ve got to try to take care of themselves tonight.
“It’s a quick turnaround for a 5 o’clock game. I’m sure there will be some heavy legs. But at this point you’re in the semifinals of the best tournament in the state of Illinois and you’re hoping that the adrenaline will carry itself through.
“I think our girls have been realistic this year about working hard in every game. As long as they keep giving us that, that’s all we can ask for.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles East
GK Grace Griffin
D Hayley Popiel
D Allison Strauss
D Morgan Kull
D Tory Schumann
D Alondra Carranza
M Claire Rasmussen
M Kaitlyn Dziubinski
M Megan O’Neal
F Rose Stackhouse
F Chantel Carranza
Naperville North
GK Elizabeth Cablk
D Emily Wilhelm
D Alyssa Siebers
D Jessica Siebers
D Morgan Lockridge
M Ashley Santos
M Katelynn Buescher
M Morgan Krause
M Jeanine Valera
F Megan Benmore
F Chloe Kotrba
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Morgan Krause, sr., MF, Naperville North