Naperville N. uses defense
and depth to blank Lyons
Buescher, Dandridge score for Huskies in Naperville Invite opener
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- Lyons’s defense pulled off an impressive feat on Thursday. The Lions held Naperville North star Abbie Boswell without a point.
Boswell had scored a goal in six-straight games after the Huskies were shut out 1-0 by Barrington in their season opener, but she was held in check by a back line led by Katie Hamor, Sheila Murphy, Catherine Johnson, Izy Scott and Kim Vitek.
But it wasn’t enough.
Freshman Katelynn Buescher and junior Alexis Dandridge scored and Naperville North’s defense was even better than that of Lyons as the host Huskies won 2-0 on the opening night of the Naperville Invitational.
“I play club with ‘Boz’ so I kind of know what she does. I can tell our defense, 'Just make sure we don’t let her turn and stuff like that,'” Lyons goalkeeper Lidia Breen said. “We weren’t going in blind against her. We definitely felt we handled her very well.”
Boswell accounted for seven of Naperville North’s 14 shots, but Breen saved one and only two of the others were dangerous chances.
One resulted from a great entry pass by Dandridge that set up Boswell for a wide-open eight-yard shot that barely missed the left post in the sixth minute. The other came at the end of a 40-yard run up the right wing, but Boswell sent a 15-yard shot over the crossbar.
“I thought our backs did a real nice job,” Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said. “Between our backs and our midfield, we’re starting to find each other a lot more than we had earlier on in the season.
“I don’t know if it’s a comfort level or stuff we’ve worked on, but our backs did a nice job. We had a couple of breakdowns, but they’ve got some awfully good kids and Boswell’s a special one. For the most part did a pretty good job with them.”
The Huskies (7-1) found a way to win their seventh-consecutive match despite not being as crisp as they have been in recent outings. Naperville North coach Steve Goletz was not satisfied at halftime despite a 1-0 lead.
“I don’t think it was our best effort tonight,” Goletz said. “I told them at half I thought it was one of the weaker halves we’ve played as a team.
“We’ve been so good performance-wise, and I just thought we were a little off tonight, but it was a credit to them (Lyons), they battled. To get a 2-0 win against a quality program like LT and not play your best game I think is a good thing for us to grind it out when not everything is going our way.”
Maddie Krecji made sure things went the Huskies' way when she made something happen midway through the first half. The junior midfielder made a steal deep up the right wing and slid a cross to the onrushing Buescher, whose one-timer beat Breen inside the right post for her third goal of the season.
“Goletz kept telling me to keep pushing higher,” said Krecji, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match. “I could tell that their outside back was chasing after the ball, so I went in for the tackle and beat her.
“I saw Katelynn Buescher at the top, and I trust her to finish and she did. It was a very good finish.”
That it was, but Dandridge came up with an even better one with 12:43 left in the second half.
Morgan Krause’s free kick from 48 yards out sailed over the Lions' defense to Dandridge, who timed her move perfectly, settled the ball as it hit the ground and slid a short shot past Breen for a huge insurance goal.
“Great ball in by Krecji, who has been so good all year, and Buescher puts it away,” Goletz said. “That’s a huge goal for us. Then Dandridge, big, strong kid, pins her defender and scores nicely.
“It’s nice to get two kids not named Abbie Boswell scoring. That obviously shows that different kids can step up.”
Like Buescher, Dandridge now has three goals.
“Goletz always tell me to get across the box on any type of free kick because I usually use my head, but this time Morgan played a great ball across the center and I kind of just bodied the player off and just got a touch on the goal,” said Dandridge, who ranked the score among the most memorable of her career. “That was only my third goal of the season, so it was up there just because it was a close game, and we needed the momentum to finish it out.
“It was too close for our liking. It was a rough game, so I’m glad we pulled through with the win.”
“It was a great goal,” Goletz said. “I thought she did a great job of holding her run, and then she pinned her kid and just slotted it away.”
It also put away the Lions (6-4-2), who had been knocking on the door and coming dangerously close to tying the game.
Lyons had back-to-back corner kicks midway through the second half and rattled a shot off each of the pipes. The first was a relatively weak header by Ivana Vukanic that bounced into the left post before being knocked over the end line.
Delaney Fox took the ensuing corner kick and bent a high-arcing ball that hit the right post before being cleared.
“I think it was definitely disappointing for all of us because I think that we stayed with them and at times felt like we got chances and outplayed them at some points,” Breen said. “We stayed with them the whole time, we got some chances, and we just weren’t able to capitalize on them. Then we just had some miscommunications in the back that resulted in them getting some big chances.”
Breen, who is having an outstanding season, blamed herself, probably unfairly, for Dandridge’s goal.
“In the last couple of games I’ve been a little indecisive on free kicks,” Breen said. “I think that’s something I want to work on to make sure that doesn’t even touch the ground so she doesn’t get a shot at it.
“There’s definitely some things that I want to work on with those because I feel like I could have done a little bit more on that, but it was definitely a good finish.”
The Lions didn’t get any finishes as Naperville North’s defense posted its fifth shutout of the season. Goalkeeper Fiona Baenziger, who made four saves, and the defense of Krause, Ashley Santos, Jen Fortman and Emily Wilhelm has yielded only two goals thus far.
“I think the big plus again tonight was the back four,” Goletz said. “To shut out another quality opponent is definitely a good thing, so I’m super pleased with those four and Fiona in the back. And I thought Olivia Stapleton played well in the middle.”
Naperville North continues group play Friday when it hosts Oswego, which plays Lyons on Saturday morning.
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK: Lidia Breen
D: Katie Hamor
D: Sheila Murphy
D: Catherine Johnson
D: Izy Scott
D: Kim Vitek
M: Kristen Janicki
M: Jenna Fuller
F: Margaret Lynch
F: Grace Salvino
F: Mary Devine
Naperville North
GK: Fiona Baenziger
D: Ashley Santos
D: Morgan Krause
D: Jen Fortman
D: Emily Wilhelm
M: Maddie Krecji
M: Olivia Stapleton
M: Morgan Lockridge
M: Shaina Dudas
F: Abbie Boswell
F: Alexis Dandridge
MVP of the Match: Maddie Krecji, MF, Naperville North
and depth to blank Lyons
Buescher, Dandridge score for Huskies in Naperville Invite opener
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- Lyons’s defense pulled off an impressive feat on Thursday. The Lions held Naperville North star Abbie Boswell without a point.
Boswell had scored a goal in six-straight games after the Huskies were shut out 1-0 by Barrington in their season opener, but she was held in check by a back line led by Katie Hamor, Sheila Murphy, Catherine Johnson, Izy Scott and Kim Vitek.
But it wasn’t enough.
Freshman Katelynn Buescher and junior Alexis Dandridge scored and Naperville North’s defense was even better than that of Lyons as the host Huskies won 2-0 on the opening night of the Naperville Invitational.
“I play club with ‘Boz’ so I kind of know what she does. I can tell our defense, 'Just make sure we don’t let her turn and stuff like that,'” Lyons goalkeeper Lidia Breen said. “We weren’t going in blind against her. We definitely felt we handled her very well.”
Boswell accounted for seven of Naperville North’s 14 shots, but Breen saved one and only two of the others were dangerous chances.
One resulted from a great entry pass by Dandridge that set up Boswell for a wide-open eight-yard shot that barely missed the left post in the sixth minute. The other came at the end of a 40-yard run up the right wing, but Boswell sent a 15-yard shot over the crossbar.
“I thought our backs did a real nice job,” Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said. “Between our backs and our midfield, we’re starting to find each other a lot more than we had earlier on in the season.
“I don’t know if it’s a comfort level or stuff we’ve worked on, but our backs did a nice job. We had a couple of breakdowns, but they’ve got some awfully good kids and Boswell’s a special one. For the most part did a pretty good job with them.”
The Huskies (7-1) found a way to win their seventh-consecutive match despite not being as crisp as they have been in recent outings. Naperville North coach Steve Goletz was not satisfied at halftime despite a 1-0 lead.
“I don’t think it was our best effort tonight,” Goletz said. “I told them at half I thought it was one of the weaker halves we’ve played as a team.
“We’ve been so good performance-wise, and I just thought we were a little off tonight, but it was a credit to them (Lyons), they battled. To get a 2-0 win against a quality program like LT and not play your best game I think is a good thing for us to grind it out when not everything is going our way.”
Maddie Krecji made sure things went the Huskies' way when she made something happen midway through the first half. The junior midfielder made a steal deep up the right wing and slid a cross to the onrushing Buescher, whose one-timer beat Breen inside the right post for her third goal of the season.
“Goletz kept telling me to keep pushing higher,” said Krecji, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match. “I could tell that their outside back was chasing after the ball, so I went in for the tackle and beat her.
“I saw Katelynn Buescher at the top, and I trust her to finish and she did. It was a very good finish.”
That it was, but Dandridge came up with an even better one with 12:43 left in the second half.
Morgan Krause’s free kick from 48 yards out sailed over the Lions' defense to Dandridge, who timed her move perfectly, settled the ball as it hit the ground and slid a short shot past Breen for a huge insurance goal.
“Great ball in by Krecji, who has been so good all year, and Buescher puts it away,” Goletz said. “That’s a huge goal for us. Then Dandridge, big, strong kid, pins her defender and scores nicely.
“It’s nice to get two kids not named Abbie Boswell scoring. That obviously shows that different kids can step up.”
Like Buescher, Dandridge now has three goals.
“Goletz always tell me to get across the box on any type of free kick because I usually use my head, but this time Morgan played a great ball across the center and I kind of just bodied the player off and just got a touch on the goal,” said Dandridge, who ranked the score among the most memorable of her career. “That was only my third goal of the season, so it was up there just because it was a close game, and we needed the momentum to finish it out.
“It was too close for our liking. It was a rough game, so I’m glad we pulled through with the win.”
“It was a great goal,” Goletz said. “I thought she did a great job of holding her run, and then she pinned her kid and just slotted it away.”
It also put away the Lions (6-4-2), who had been knocking on the door and coming dangerously close to tying the game.
Lyons had back-to-back corner kicks midway through the second half and rattled a shot off each of the pipes. The first was a relatively weak header by Ivana Vukanic that bounced into the left post before being knocked over the end line.
Delaney Fox took the ensuing corner kick and bent a high-arcing ball that hit the right post before being cleared.
“I think it was definitely disappointing for all of us because I think that we stayed with them and at times felt like we got chances and outplayed them at some points,” Breen said. “We stayed with them the whole time, we got some chances, and we just weren’t able to capitalize on them. Then we just had some miscommunications in the back that resulted in them getting some big chances.”
Breen, who is having an outstanding season, blamed herself, probably unfairly, for Dandridge’s goal.
“In the last couple of games I’ve been a little indecisive on free kicks,” Breen said. “I think that’s something I want to work on to make sure that doesn’t even touch the ground so she doesn’t get a shot at it.
“There’s definitely some things that I want to work on with those because I feel like I could have done a little bit more on that, but it was definitely a good finish.”
The Lions didn’t get any finishes as Naperville North’s defense posted its fifth shutout of the season. Goalkeeper Fiona Baenziger, who made four saves, and the defense of Krause, Ashley Santos, Jen Fortman and Emily Wilhelm has yielded only two goals thus far.
“I think the big plus again tonight was the back four,” Goletz said. “To shut out another quality opponent is definitely a good thing, so I’m super pleased with those four and Fiona in the back. And I thought Olivia Stapleton played well in the middle.”
Naperville North continues group play Friday when it hosts Oswego, which plays Lyons on Saturday morning.
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK: Lidia Breen
D: Katie Hamor
D: Sheila Murphy
D: Catherine Johnson
D: Izy Scott
D: Kim Vitek
M: Kristen Janicki
M: Jenna Fuller
F: Margaret Lynch
F: Grace Salvino
F: Mary Devine
Naperville North
GK: Fiona Baenziger
D: Ashley Santos
D: Morgan Krause
D: Jen Fortman
D: Emily Wilhelm
M: Maddie Krecji
M: Olivia Stapleton
M: Morgan Lockridge
M: Shaina Dudas
F: Abbie Boswell
F: Alexis Dandridge
MVP of the Match: Maddie Krecji, MF, Naperville North