Neuqua Valley and Naperville North
battle to scoreless tie
Teams on track to tie for DVC title
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – One of the most anticipated games of the regular season ended with nothing decided.
Host Naperville North, Chicagoland Soccer’s top-ranked team, and no. 5 Neuqua Valley battled for 100 minutes Tuesday night but in the end the only winners were both defenses, which now have combined for 15 shutouts in 24 games.
The double-overtime 0-0 draw left a lot up in the air. Naperville North (11-0-2, 4-0-1) and Neuqua Valley (6-2-3, 3-0-1) appear likely to share the DuPage Valley Conference title, yet they might play twice more this spring.
“We knew this game was going to be for the DVC championship,” Naperville North goalkeeper Elizabeth Cablk said. “It wasn’t always going to be pretty at times, but it was going to be a tough, physical grind, and they show us that every year. Neuqua is always one of the toughest teams we play.”
Though the Huskies had the edge in the run of play and outshot the Wildcats 15-8, the visitors were the more dangerous team in the overtime sessions and barely missed getting a golden goal when a shot hit the crossbar with 6:50 left in the second overtime.
The Huskies earlier had drawn iron when a 53-yard free kick by Morgan Lockridge one-hopped the crossbar with 28:35 left in the second half.
The goalies and defenders played starring roles on both sides. The Illinois-bound Cablk had to make only one save to record her third-straight shutout and ninth overall, but she also came off the line twice to punch away dangerous balls.
That included a 21-yard free kick from Erin Sweda that would have led to a back-post volley had Cablk not directed it safely wide of the right post with 2:15 to go in the first half.
Cablk’s less-heralded counterpart, Yanel Ortiz, came up with six saves to earn Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. The junior now has six shutouts, including four straight during the Wildcats’ current seven-game unbeaten streak.
“Yanel made a nice save in the second half,” Neuqua coach Joe Moreau said. “She tipped that one wide to give them a corner.”
Ortiz also rushed off her line to boot away a lead pass intended for North star Morgan Krause. The Iowa-bound Krause leveled Ortiz just after the ball was gone.
“I’m definitely more comfortable because last year was more getting to know how everything worked,” Ortiz said. “Now this year I felt like I jumped right into it.
“I didn’t have to take two or three games to get used to it. First game I was already ready.”
Now Ortiz is copacetic with fullbacks Kailey Serna, Nicole Mondi, Veda Tappin and Jenna Lafferty.
“They give me feedback about what I need to do better, and I always try to do that,” Ortiz said.
Despite some anxious moments and being under near constant pressure at times in the second half, Ortiz and her teammates became just the second team to hold North scoreless this year.
“They had a fast girl up there, I think it was (Caroline Weiss) so we always wanted a person on her, and I just told Kailey Serna to be on her and to Nicole Mondi to drop back a bit,” Ortiz said. “They did that, and it worked out.”
Moreau, whose team lost to the Huskies 2-0 last year, was pleased with the effort.
“It wasn’t the prettiest of soccer, but it was two teams really battling hard,” Moreau said. “They took us out of our game a little bit, and we started to play balls in the air, and we’re not going to be as successful on balls in the air as we are on the ground.
“Second overtime, the ball is on the ground, and we’re more successful.”
But not successful enough to dent the back of North’s net. The Huskies have given up only three goals so far.
“Our backline has been phenomenal this season, and I thought our outside backs, Liz Siebers and Emily Wilhelm, did a fantastic job of containing their wide mids, because that’s what (the Wildcats) love to do,” Cablk said. “They love to get wide, get endline and get crosses in.
“I thought Emily Wilhelm played such a fantastic game getting inside especially on the one play with (Ryan) Gareis on the weak side. Emily had perfect position on the inside and if Emily wasn’t there, that’s a goal on the back post.”
As former Naperville North coach Al Harris was known to say, you can’t lose if you don’t give up any goals and current boss Steve Goletz has supreme confidence in his defense.
“I think the back four tonight was outstanding,” Goletz said. “Neuqua has got the most talented kids I’ve seen in the attack individually. When they put that together they’re pretty scary.
“I thought our back four did a nice job of eliminating as many chances as they could. You’re never going to eliminate all of the chances, and I think Cablk came out when she needed to. (There is) still a lot of work left to be done but proud of the effort and proud of the shutout against a great team.”
While Naperville North is a great team, perhaps the deepest in the state, the offense isn’t the most prolific. The Huskies have been held to two or fewer goals eight times, but they aren’t too worried about it.
“I thought everyone in our forward and midfield lines battled really hard,” Cablk said. “We were just missing some of the missing individual pieces, but overall we’re proud of our performance and we’re glad to come out with a tie.”
Goletz agreed.
“Everybody had their chances,” Goletz said. “Second half we had some great chances; we just didn’t finish.
“Obviously you can’t say you’re super happy when you don’t score a goal, but our kids battled and worked hard. It’s two top 5 teams in the state, and I told the kids, win or lose that game I’m happy with their effort, their attention to detail.
“Now we move on to a tough St. Charles East team Thursday to potentially get another crack at (Neuqua) Friday.”
Indeed, both sides can’t wait to meet again, and they may not have to wait several days.
If the Huskies can knock off no. 12 St. Charles East (8-1-3) and Neuqua wins at no. 9 Fremd (9-1-1) in Thursday’s Naperville Invitational quarterfinals, they will face off in Friday’s semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday at Naperville Central’s Memorial Stadium.
The Huskies and Wildcats are likely to be the top 2 seeds at the Class 3A Lockport Sectional and thus could vie for the sectional title.
If anything can be gleaned from Tuesday’s result, it is that the Wildcats have proven they can stay with the best.
“Yeah, it does give us some confidence because they’re a really, really good team,” Ortiz said. “We’ve just got to be ready if we do play them again.”
Cablk is hoping the next meeting is very soon.
“I just hope we get to see them again Friday,” Cablk said. “We have to focus on our Thursday game against St. Charles East and make sure we get that done so we have a chance to see them again Friday.”
Starting lineups
Neuqua Valley
GK Yanel Ortiz
D Veda Tappin
D Jenna Lafferty
D Kailey Serna
D Nicole Mondi
M Erin Sweda
M Alyssa Bombacino
M Danielle Hopkins
F Haley Singer
F Ryan Gareis
F Allie Fullriede
Naperville North
GK Elizabeth Cablk
D Morgan Lockridge
D Emily Wilhelm
D Alyssa Siebers
D Jessica Siebers
M Ashley Santos
M Morgan Krause
M Jeanine Valera
M Katelynn Buescher
F Megan Benmore
F Chloe Kotrba
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Yanel Ortiz, GK, Neuqua Valley
battle to scoreless tie
Teams on track to tie for DVC title
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – One of the most anticipated games of the regular season ended with nothing decided.
Host Naperville North, Chicagoland Soccer’s top-ranked team, and no. 5 Neuqua Valley battled for 100 minutes Tuesday night but in the end the only winners were both defenses, which now have combined for 15 shutouts in 24 games.
The double-overtime 0-0 draw left a lot up in the air. Naperville North (11-0-2, 4-0-1) and Neuqua Valley (6-2-3, 3-0-1) appear likely to share the DuPage Valley Conference title, yet they might play twice more this spring.
“We knew this game was going to be for the DVC championship,” Naperville North goalkeeper Elizabeth Cablk said. “It wasn’t always going to be pretty at times, but it was going to be a tough, physical grind, and they show us that every year. Neuqua is always one of the toughest teams we play.”
Though the Huskies had the edge in the run of play and outshot the Wildcats 15-8, the visitors were the more dangerous team in the overtime sessions and barely missed getting a golden goal when a shot hit the crossbar with 6:50 left in the second overtime.
The Huskies earlier had drawn iron when a 53-yard free kick by Morgan Lockridge one-hopped the crossbar with 28:35 left in the second half.
The goalies and defenders played starring roles on both sides. The Illinois-bound Cablk had to make only one save to record her third-straight shutout and ninth overall, but she also came off the line twice to punch away dangerous balls.
That included a 21-yard free kick from Erin Sweda that would have led to a back-post volley had Cablk not directed it safely wide of the right post with 2:15 to go in the first half.
Cablk’s less-heralded counterpart, Yanel Ortiz, came up with six saves to earn Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. The junior now has six shutouts, including four straight during the Wildcats’ current seven-game unbeaten streak.
“Yanel made a nice save in the second half,” Neuqua coach Joe Moreau said. “She tipped that one wide to give them a corner.”
Ortiz also rushed off her line to boot away a lead pass intended for North star Morgan Krause. The Iowa-bound Krause leveled Ortiz just after the ball was gone.
“I’m definitely more comfortable because last year was more getting to know how everything worked,” Ortiz said. “Now this year I felt like I jumped right into it.
“I didn’t have to take two or three games to get used to it. First game I was already ready.”
Now Ortiz is copacetic with fullbacks Kailey Serna, Nicole Mondi, Veda Tappin and Jenna Lafferty.
“They give me feedback about what I need to do better, and I always try to do that,” Ortiz said.
Despite some anxious moments and being under near constant pressure at times in the second half, Ortiz and her teammates became just the second team to hold North scoreless this year.
“They had a fast girl up there, I think it was (Caroline Weiss) so we always wanted a person on her, and I just told Kailey Serna to be on her and to Nicole Mondi to drop back a bit,” Ortiz said. “They did that, and it worked out.”
Moreau, whose team lost to the Huskies 2-0 last year, was pleased with the effort.
“It wasn’t the prettiest of soccer, but it was two teams really battling hard,” Moreau said. “They took us out of our game a little bit, and we started to play balls in the air, and we’re not going to be as successful on balls in the air as we are on the ground.
“Second overtime, the ball is on the ground, and we’re more successful.”
But not successful enough to dent the back of North’s net. The Huskies have given up only three goals so far.
“Our backline has been phenomenal this season, and I thought our outside backs, Liz Siebers and Emily Wilhelm, did a fantastic job of containing their wide mids, because that’s what (the Wildcats) love to do,” Cablk said. “They love to get wide, get endline and get crosses in.
“I thought Emily Wilhelm played such a fantastic game getting inside especially on the one play with (Ryan) Gareis on the weak side. Emily had perfect position on the inside and if Emily wasn’t there, that’s a goal on the back post.”
As former Naperville North coach Al Harris was known to say, you can’t lose if you don’t give up any goals and current boss Steve Goletz has supreme confidence in his defense.
“I think the back four tonight was outstanding,” Goletz said. “Neuqua has got the most talented kids I’ve seen in the attack individually. When they put that together they’re pretty scary.
“I thought our back four did a nice job of eliminating as many chances as they could. You’re never going to eliminate all of the chances, and I think Cablk came out when she needed to. (There is) still a lot of work left to be done but proud of the effort and proud of the shutout against a great team.”
While Naperville North is a great team, perhaps the deepest in the state, the offense isn’t the most prolific. The Huskies have been held to two or fewer goals eight times, but they aren’t too worried about it.
“I thought everyone in our forward and midfield lines battled really hard,” Cablk said. “We were just missing some of the missing individual pieces, but overall we’re proud of our performance and we’re glad to come out with a tie.”
Goletz agreed.
“Everybody had their chances,” Goletz said. “Second half we had some great chances; we just didn’t finish.
“Obviously you can’t say you’re super happy when you don’t score a goal, but our kids battled and worked hard. It’s two top 5 teams in the state, and I told the kids, win or lose that game I’m happy with their effort, their attention to detail.
“Now we move on to a tough St. Charles East team Thursday to potentially get another crack at (Neuqua) Friday.”
Indeed, both sides can’t wait to meet again, and they may not have to wait several days.
If the Huskies can knock off no. 12 St. Charles East (8-1-3) and Neuqua wins at no. 9 Fremd (9-1-1) in Thursday’s Naperville Invitational quarterfinals, they will face off in Friday’s semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday at Naperville Central’s Memorial Stadium.
The Huskies and Wildcats are likely to be the top 2 seeds at the Class 3A Lockport Sectional and thus could vie for the sectional title.
If anything can be gleaned from Tuesday’s result, it is that the Wildcats have proven they can stay with the best.
“Yeah, it does give us some confidence because they’re a really, really good team,” Ortiz said. “We’ve just got to be ready if we do play them again.”
Cablk is hoping the next meeting is very soon.
“I just hope we get to see them again Friday,” Cablk said. “We have to focus on our Thursday game against St. Charles East and make sure we get that done so we have a chance to see them again Friday.”
Starting lineups
Neuqua Valley
GK Yanel Ortiz
D Veda Tappin
D Jenna Lafferty
D Kailey Serna
D Nicole Mondi
M Erin Sweda
M Alyssa Bombacino
M Danielle Hopkins
F Haley Singer
F Ryan Gareis
F Allie Fullriede
Naperville North
GK Elizabeth Cablk
D Morgan Lockridge
D Emily Wilhelm
D Alyssa Siebers
D Jessica Siebers
M Ashley Santos
M Morgan Krause
M Jeanine Valera
M Katelynn Buescher
F Megan Benmore
F Chloe Kotrba
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Yanel Ortiz, GK, Neuqua Valley