Naperville N. breaks fast, routs Glenbard E.
Improving Huskies enjoy full menu against Rams
By Chris Walker
NAPERVILLE – Playing for the second straight night before spring break and more than a week away from their next game, Naperville North wanted to head into such a respite full of positives and momentum … as well as to Portillo’s.
Scoring early and often, the Huskies breezed to a 6-1 victory.
“We switched a couple of people up top since (our opener against) Barrington, and that has helped a lot,” said senior defender Jen Fortman, who also noted that she’d be enjoying something delicious from Portillo’s later. “And our defense is a whole lot better. We’re communicating so much better and are far more comfortable playing with each other.”
While an Italian beef, hot dog, onions rings or even a chocolate cake shake undoubtedly hit the spot, Fortman and her teammates were also hitting the back of the net early with such frequency that they were able to put away the Rams early.
“We didn’t play physical enough, and they pushed us around and we let it happen,” Rams coach Kent Overbey said. “We’ve been grinding lately, but this was our first real test. We weren’t ready in the first half.”
The Huskies (3-1-0) moved Allie Svoboda up top after the Barrington game, and the senior put the Huskies up 1-0 early. Morgan Krause was credited with the assist.
“Boz (Abbie Boswell) is special, and everyone knows that. It’s not just scoring goals herself, but for creating for others,” Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. “We’re learning more of how to play off of her, and she had some great balls in that were almost scores. One change has been Allie Svoboda. She played up (on Thursday), which is a recent change, and she did a great job athletically and is great with the ball. So for those first 20 minutes, we were pretty dangerous.”
Morgan Lockridge found Boswell for Naperville North’s second goal as the Huskies strung passes together with fluidity and ease.
“We connected really well,” Huskies junior midfielder Maddie Krecji said. “Goletz taught us really well to connect the ball, and we know how to place it with each other. It gave us a lot of chances to score.”
The Huskies proceeded to really put away the game in the final eight minutes of the first half. Fortman’s header off a rebound from a free kick made it 3-0 with 7:20 left. Freshman Katelynn Buescher’s shot slipped right through Glenbard East keeper Sierra Dana’s hands with 4:34 left, and then the Huskies added an own goal to make it 5-0 with 2:33 left.
“I’ve been here for seven years, so I’ve seen a lot from Naperville North. I mean, they have athletes everywhere,” Overbey said. “In my opinion, Abbie Boswell is the best player in the state. It’s not just the goals she scores but the playmaking. We weren’t ready for it. I’m not surprised because we talked to them about how physical it’s going to be and we hadn’t seen (in our first four games), so they didn’t know what it was going to be like.”
Glenbard East (4-1-0) was unable to do much offensively because it was preoccupied trying to slow the Huskies on the other end of the field. In the few instances where the Rams did get something moving, their efforts were nullified by the strong play of Naperville North’s backline of Ashley Santos, Morgan Krause, Jen Fortman and Emily Wilhelm.
In fact, Krause delivered a pair of assists in addition to her grunt work in the back and was selected as Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match.
“Morgan and I play on the same club team and she’s a great friend of mine, so I’m used to communicating with her all year 'round,” Fortman said. “She had a great game. I think our communication was great and it’s continuing to get better. We work on it a lot in practice, and Goletz will make us go through drills a lot, but it’s worth it. We’ve now been working hard together and playing with each other for a while now, which has been very helpful.”
Expectations were high coming into the season for the Huskies, who are proving that they deserve elite status. After coming up short against Barrington, they’ve defeated Hinsdale Central, Neuqua Valley and Glenbard East.
“I think we’ve been progressing a lot since we played Barrington,” Boswell said. “We weren’t much of a unit at that time, but we just keep getting better and better. We know where each other is going to be, and I think we’re just a better team because we know what’s going on.”
Goletz believes the improvements the Huskies have made are the biggest since he’s been at Naperville North.
“We’ve had some very talented teams, and many have been successful and talented from day one,” he said. “This group can do some great things, but we’ve got to get on the same page. They started to buy into this, and it’s the biggest improvement I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
The Rams, who shut out Beecher 7-0 on Wednesday, appeared to be blanked by a half dozen until Sammie Sarles connected with 6:14 remaining.
“It all started from Holly Ward inside,” Overbey said. “Brittany Paganucci played it out, and Holly made a nice turn for Sammie. It was something nice to see.”
Such a small positive might be just what the Rams needed because the Huskies brought them back down to earth. Unlike the Huskies, the Rams will be right back at it on Monday as they head to Toyota Park for the Windy City Ram Classic championship against Lincoln-Way East.
“(Naperville North) is very good, so we need to put this one behind us,” Rams senior Megan Mrazek said. “We’re excited for Monday. We lost (at Toyota Park) last year, so we’re excited to be back.”
The Rams can now realize that they have to be prepared to be more physical against certain opponents. While not many teams may be able to match Naperville North, they still need to find a way to turn it up a notch.
“We really need to be more physical and have to get off to a better start right away,” Mrazek said. “It was kind of a shock. We had confidence coming in, but none of those teams was this good. I thought we showed more of what we’re capable of doing in the second half, and hopefully it’ll help us in the future because they’re a really good team.”
Goletz told his girls to stay in shape during their break. He didn’t bark any rules or regulations regarding how many visits to Portillo’s are allotted, though.
“It’s nice to have a break,” Krecji said, “but we know we have to come back strong for the rest of the season.”
They’ll return to action on April 7 against Lake Park.
Starting lineups
Glenbard East
GK: Sierra Dana
D: Paige Taylor
D: Maria Berrum
D: Mary Kurtz
M: Megan Mrazek
M: Holly Ward
M: Corrie Ewoldt
M: Jessica Whipple
M: Amanda Chlebek
F: Jordyn Fulton
F: Brittany Paganucci
Naperville North
GK: Fiona Baenziger
D: Jen Fortman
D: Morgan Krause
D: Ashley Santos
D: Emily Wilhelm
MF: Shaina Dudas
MF: Maddie Krecji
MF: Morgan Lockridge
MF: Olivia Stapleton
F: Abbie Boswell
F: Allie Svoboda
MVP of the Match: Morgan Krause, Naperville North
Improving Huskies enjoy full menu against Rams
By Chris Walker
NAPERVILLE – Playing for the second straight night before spring break and more than a week away from their next game, Naperville North wanted to head into such a respite full of positives and momentum … as well as to Portillo’s.
Scoring early and often, the Huskies breezed to a 6-1 victory.
“We switched a couple of people up top since (our opener against) Barrington, and that has helped a lot,” said senior defender Jen Fortman, who also noted that she’d be enjoying something delicious from Portillo’s later. “And our defense is a whole lot better. We’re communicating so much better and are far more comfortable playing with each other.”
While an Italian beef, hot dog, onions rings or even a chocolate cake shake undoubtedly hit the spot, Fortman and her teammates were also hitting the back of the net early with such frequency that they were able to put away the Rams early.
“We didn’t play physical enough, and they pushed us around and we let it happen,” Rams coach Kent Overbey said. “We’ve been grinding lately, but this was our first real test. We weren’t ready in the first half.”
The Huskies (3-1-0) moved Allie Svoboda up top after the Barrington game, and the senior put the Huskies up 1-0 early. Morgan Krause was credited with the assist.
“Boz (Abbie Boswell) is special, and everyone knows that. It’s not just scoring goals herself, but for creating for others,” Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. “We’re learning more of how to play off of her, and she had some great balls in that were almost scores. One change has been Allie Svoboda. She played up (on Thursday), which is a recent change, and she did a great job athletically and is great with the ball. So for those first 20 minutes, we were pretty dangerous.”
Morgan Lockridge found Boswell for Naperville North’s second goal as the Huskies strung passes together with fluidity and ease.
“We connected really well,” Huskies junior midfielder Maddie Krecji said. “Goletz taught us really well to connect the ball, and we know how to place it with each other. It gave us a lot of chances to score.”
The Huskies proceeded to really put away the game in the final eight minutes of the first half. Fortman’s header off a rebound from a free kick made it 3-0 with 7:20 left. Freshman Katelynn Buescher’s shot slipped right through Glenbard East keeper Sierra Dana’s hands with 4:34 left, and then the Huskies added an own goal to make it 5-0 with 2:33 left.
“I’ve been here for seven years, so I’ve seen a lot from Naperville North. I mean, they have athletes everywhere,” Overbey said. “In my opinion, Abbie Boswell is the best player in the state. It’s not just the goals she scores but the playmaking. We weren’t ready for it. I’m not surprised because we talked to them about how physical it’s going to be and we hadn’t seen (in our first four games), so they didn’t know what it was going to be like.”
Glenbard East (4-1-0) was unable to do much offensively because it was preoccupied trying to slow the Huskies on the other end of the field. In the few instances where the Rams did get something moving, their efforts were nullified by the strong play of Naperville North’s backline of Ashley Santos, Morgan Krause, Jen Fortman and Emily Wilhelm.
In fact, Krause delivered a pair of assists in addition to her grunt work in the back and was selected as Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match.
“Morgan and I play on the same club team and she’s a great friend of mine, so I’m used to communicating with her all year 'round,” Fortman said. “She had a great game. I think our communication was great and it’s continuing to get better. We work on it a lot in practice, and Goletz will make us go through drills a lot, but it’s worth it. We’ve now been working hard together and playing with each other for a while now, which has been very helpful.”
Expectations were high coming into the season for the Huskies, who are proving that they deserve elite status. After coming up short against Barrington, they’ve defeated Hinsdale Central, Neuqua Valley and Glenbard East.
“I think we’ve been progressing a lot since we played Barrington,” Boswell said. “We weren’t much of a unit at that time, but we just keep getting better and better. We know where each other is going to be, and I think we’re just a better team because we know what’s going on.”
Goletz believes the improvements the Huskies have made are the biggest since he’s been at Naperville North.
“We’ve had some very talented teams, and many have been successful and talented from day one,” he said. “This group can do some great things, but we’ve got to get on the same page. They started to buy into this, and it’s the biggest improvement I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
The Rams, who shut out Beecher 7-0 on Wednesday, appeared to be blanked by a half dozen until Sammie Sarles connected with 6:14 remaining.
“It all started from Holly Ward inside,” Overbey said. “Brittany Paganucci played it out, and Holly made a nice turn for Sammie. It was something nice to see.”
Such a small positive might be just what the Rams needed because the Huskies brought them back down to earth. Unlike the Huskies, the Rams will be right back at it on Monday as they head to Toyota Park for the Windy City Ram Classic championship against Lincoln-Way East.
“(Naperville North) is very good, so we need to put this one behind us,” Rams senior Megan Mrazek said. “We’re excited for Monday. We lost (at Toyota Park) last year, so we’re excited to be back.”
The Rams can now realize that they have to be prepared to be more physical against certain opponents. While not many teams may be able to match Naperville North, they still need to find a way to turn it up a notch.
“We really need to be more physical and have to get off to a better start right away,” Mrazek said. “It was kind of a shock. We had confidence coming in, but none of those teams was this good. I thought we showed more of what we’re capable of doing in the second half, and hopefully it’ll help us in the future because they’re a really good team.”
Goletz told his girls to stay in shape during their break. He didn’t bark any rules or regulations regarding how many visits to Portillo’s are allotted, though.
“It’s nice to have a break,” Krecji said, “but we know we have to come back strong for the rest of the season.”
They’ll return to action on April 7 against Lake Park.
Starting lineups
Glenbard East
GK: Sierra Dana
D: Paige Taylor
D: Maria Berrum
D: Mary Kurtz
M: Megan Mrazek
M: Holly Ward
M: Corrie Ewoldt
M: Jessica Whipple
M: Amanda Chlebek
F: Jordyn Fulton
F: Brittany Paganucci
Naperville North
GK: Fiona Baenziger
D: Jen Fortman
D: Morgan Krause
D: Ashley Santos
D: Emily Wilhelm
MF: Shaina Dudas
MF: Maddie Krecji
MF: Morgan Lockridge
MF: Olivia Stapleton
F: Abbie Boswell
F: Allie Svoboda
MVP of the Match: Morgan Krause, Naperville North