Libertyville, Naperville North
fight to top-ranked tie
Defenses dominate in 0-0 tie in Malnati's 2nd round match
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- Naperville North coach Steve Goletz declared it the best 0-0 game he’s ever seen.
Libertyville coach Daniel De Paz said it answered a lot of questions about his team.
And players for both teams took a lot of positives out of it.
Monday night’s match between the top two teams in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 proved that both teams are deserving of their ranking and nothing else.
No. 1 Libertyville and No. 2 Naperville North each produced 10 shots and goalkeepers Kate Hopma and Abby Haskell both had four saves for their respective teams in a scoreless draw at the fourth annual Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic.
Goletz said the game was worthy of a state championship match and does not want to have to play the Wildcats in the state playoffs. A rematch, if it does come, would not happen until the state title game.
“It was a great game,” Goletz said. “Two high-level teams.
“Our girls played hard. They played hard. They’ve got some very, very good kids.”
The host Huskies (8-0-1) have played the tougher schedule so far, beating quality opponents like Barrington, St. Charles East, Neuqua Valley and Evanston. The 4-0 road win over Evanston on Saturday left Goletz a little leery heading into this game.
“You always worry as a coach when you have a huge win, how do you respond,” Goletz said. “I think that’s the great part about this program is the kids always focus on their performance in the next game and continuing to get better.”
The Huskies did just that. They blanked a team that had outscored their first four opponents 28-1 thanks to a great effort from the backline of Norah Barry, Lucy Iverson, Maggie Fitzgerald and Peyton Hegner.
Libertyville (4-0-1) did earn six corner kicks -- the Huskies had none -- but could not break through even with dangerous attackers like Avery Gleason, Paige Gleason, Sydney Dulak and Jenna Krakowski trying their best to find an opening.
“I told them tonight I couldn’t be more proud,” Goletz said of the Huskies. “Obviously, you want to win every game, and we played well enough to win tonight, and Libertyville played good enough to win tonight.
“I think a tie is a fair result. Both teams had chances, both goalkeepers made some saves when they needed to, both teams missed some opportunities that they probably could have done better with. But that’s a credit to the defensive effort by not only our group, but their group.”
Libertyville’s group, led by Sally Grace Rogers, Riley Brennan, Audrey Brua and Stella Bechtold had to deal with a Naperville North attack that had outscored its opponents 24-2.
North Alabama-bound Olivia Anderson got loose a couple times, barely missing high on a nasty 17-yard shot on the run and sending a shot from the right wing wide of the left post. But she was held scoreless for just the third time this season.
“She was dangerous, but I thought we did a nice job of taking space away as much as we could,” De Paz said. “We were playing a little physical, too. I think that helps.
“But the best you can do with a player that’s got a lot of talent and a lot of skill and lot of speed is taking space away. I thought we did a really nice job of that with her and actually with their team in general.”
Indeed, the Huskies didn’t sniff the goal as they were limited mostly to long-range free kicks.
“It was great competition,” Rogers said. “It was fun to be out there.
“One way that we like to defend is to make sure that forwards don’t get any turns and make sure we keep them tight. We really helped each other back on the defense. When one covers, one steps, and we just really tried to communicate. It worked out for us tonight.”
But Naperville North’s defense was just as solid, which is nothing new.
“This program has always been built from the back forward, and this group is continuing to uphold that,” Goletz said. “It’s giving us a chance to beat good teams, and it’s the reason why we’ve beaten good teams this year, because we don’t give up easy goals.
“We make teams work for it. When you have some special players and a great goalkeeper and great midfield group, you become hard to break down.
“I think shutting Libertyville out tonight speaks volumes for this group, and I’m going to push them, because I think the sky’s the limit for them.”
Barry was thrilled by getting to play in a rare in-season matchup of the no. 1 and no. 2 teams.
“It’s exciting playing such a competitive team,” Barry said. “It makes the environment really fun.
“We knew Libertyville was going to be a tough opponent so we were just excited for the opportunity to play them.”
So what was the key to shutting out the Wildcats?
“It’s all about the little things,” Barry said. “Each game our strategy is the same, whether it’s an amazing team like Libertyville or anyone else.
“It’s kind of making sure we’re in the right place at the right time, staying organized. If one is stepping, then our outsides are pinching, so kind of just keeping each other accountable and being in the right spot at the right time.”
That’s something Barry is good at.
“Norah is in the right place at the right time, all the time,” Goletz said. “Norah prides herself on being in the right spot. She prides herself on moving her feet and making sure her body is in between the goal and the player at all times.
“She does so much for us that goes unnoticed. She’s a great kid. She’s a great leader.”
Libertyville has a great leader in Rogers, a four-year starter who is serving as a co-captain.
“She’s just a really smart player,” De Paz said. “She’s always putting herself in a position that is going to benefit herself and then just her soccer IQ is good.
“She’s always tactically looking at the space and where she’s at and then taking space away from other players. In general, she’s a very smart player, which allows her to defend and also distribute the ball forward.”
While the match did not determine which team is better, both sides were pleased with what they found out about themselves.
“This was a very good team that we played,” De Paz said. “Coming into this game with some of the opponents that we’ve had so far, we had a lot of question marks. How do we stack up? What are we going to do in a much faster, more physical game?
“We’ve played some quality opponents, but this is a high-end quality opponent, and I think to rise to that occasion and playing really smart, good soccer, I was really happy with the result - win or lose or tie.
“We both had some chances, but both defenses did a nice job of holding the attack at bay.”
Barry was pleased about that but knows Naperville North must improve.
“I was happy with the shutout,” Barry said. “These games show that when you have that one chance to score, it’s really important to get it.
“You don’t get a lot of opportunities against good teams like Libertyville, so going into the future we need to be getting those chances and scoring them when we have them.”
Starting lineups
Libertyville
GK Kate Hopna
D Riley Brennan
D Stella Bechtold
D Sally Grace Rogers
D Audrey Brua
M Lauren Rocco
M Paige Gleason
M Sydney Dulak
M Abby Gordon
M Jenna Krakowski
F Avery Gleason
Naperville North
GK Abby Haskell
D Maggie Fitzgerald
D Norah Barry
D Lucy Iverson
D Peyton Hegner
M Cameron Dinkla
M Madison Korosec
M Ellie Gerner
F Rachael Noren
F Olivia Anderson
F Taylor Korosec
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sally Grace Rogers, sr., D, Libertyville
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
fight to top-ranked tie
Defenses dominate in 0-0 tie in Malnati's 2nd round match
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- Naperville North coach Steve Goletz declared it the best 0-0 game he’s ever seen.
Libertyville coach Daniel De Paz said it answered a lot of questions about his team.
And players for both teams took a lot of positives out of it.
Monday night’s match between the top two teams in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 proved that both teams are deserving of their ranking and nothing else.
No. 1 Libertyville and No. 2 Naperville North each produced 10 shots and goalkeepers Kate Hopma and Abby Haskell both had four saves for their respective teams in a scoreless draw at the fourth annual Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic.
Goletz said the game was worthy of a state championship match and does not want to have to play the Wildcats in the state playoffs. A rematch, if it does come, would not happen until the state title game.
“It was a great game,” Goletz said. “Two high-level teams.
“Our girls played hard. They played hard. They’ve got some very, very good kids.”
The host Huskies (8-0-1) have played the tougher schedule so far, beating quality opponents like Barrington, St. Charles East, Neuqua Valley and Evanston. The 4-0 road win over Evanston on Saturday left Goletz a little leery heading into this game.
“You always worry as a coach when you have a huge win, how do you respond,” Goletz said. “I think that’s the great part about this program is the kids always focus on their performance in the next game and continuing to get better.”
The Huskies did just that. They blanked a team that had outscored their first four opponents 28-1 thanks to a great effort from the backline of Norah Barry, Lucy Iverson, Maggie Fitzgerald and Peyton Hegner.
Libertyville (4-0-1) did earn six corner kicks -- the Huskies had none -- but could not break through even with dangerous attackers like Avery Gleason, Paige Gleason, Sydney Dulak and Jenna Krakowski trying their best to find an opening.
“I told them tonight I couldn’t be more proud,” Goletz said of the Huskies. “Obviously, you want to win every game, and we played well enough to win tonight, and Libertyville played good enough to win tonight.
“I think a tie is a fair result. Both teams had chances, both goalkeepers made some saves when they needed to, both teams missed some opportunities that they probably could have done better with. But that’s a credit to the defensive effort by not only our group, but their group.”
Libertyville’s group, led by Sally Grace Rogers, Riley Brennan, Audrey Brua and Stella Bechtold had to deal with a Naperville North attack that had outscored its opponents 24-2.
North Alabama-bound Olivia Anderson got loose a couple times, barely missing high on a nasty 17-yard shot on the run and sending a shot from the right wing wide of the left post. But she was held scoreless for just the third time this season.
“She was dangerous, but I thought we did a nice job of taking space away as much as we could,” De Paz said. “We were playing a little physical, too. I think that helps.
“But the best you can do with a player that’s got a lot of talent and a lot of skill and lot of speed is taking space away. I thought we did a really nice job of that with her and actually with their team in general.”
Indeed, the Huskies didn’t sniff the goal as they were limited mostly to long-range free kicks.
“It was great competition,” Rogers said. “It was fun to be out there.
“One way that we like to defend is to make sure that forwards don’t get any turns and make sure we keep them tight. We really helped each other back on the defense. When one covers, one steps, and we just really tried to communicate. It worked out for us tonight.”
But Naperville North’s defense was just as solid, which is nothing new.
“This program has always been built from the back forward, and this group is continuing to uphold that,” Goletz said. “It’s giving us a chance to beat good teams, and it’s the reason why we’ve beaten good teams this year, because we don’t give up easy goals.
“We make teams work for it. When you have some special players and a great goalkeeper and great midfield group, you become hard to break down.
“I think shutting Libertyville out tonight speaks volumes for this group, and I’m going to push them, because I think the sky’s the limit for them.”
Barry was thrilled by getting to play in a rare in-season matchup of the no. 1 and no. 2 teams.
“It’s exciting playing such a competitive team,” Barry said. “It makes the environment really fun.
“We knew Libertyville was going to be a tough opponent so we were just excited for the opportunity to play them.”
So what was the key to shutting out the Wildcats?
“It’s all about the little things,” Barry said. “Each game our strategy is the same, whether it’s an amazing team like Libertyville or anyone else.
“It’s kind of making sure we’re in the right place at the right time, staying organized. If one is stepping, then our outsides are pinching, so kind of just keeping each other accountable and being in the right spot at the right time.”
That’s something Barry is good at.
“Norah is in the right place at the right time, all the time,” Goletz said. “Norah prides herself on being in the right spot. She prides herself on moving her feet and making sure her body is in between the goal and the player at all times.
“She does so much for us that goes unnoticed. She’s a great kid. She’s a great leader.”
Libertyville has a great leader in Rogers, a four-year starter who is serving as a co-captain.
“She’s just a really smart player,” De Paz said. “She’s always putting herself in a position that is going to benefit herself and then just her soccer IQ is good.
“She’s always tactically looking at the space and where she’s at and then taking space away from other players. In general, she’s a very smart player, which allows her to defend and also distribute the ball forward.”
While the match did not determine which team is better, both sides were pleased with what they found out about themselves.
“This was a very good team that we played,” De Paz said. “Coming into this game with some of the opponents that we’ve had so far, we had a lot of question marks. How do we stack up? What are we going to do in a much faster, more physical game?
“We’ve played some quality opponents, but this is a high-end quality opponent, and I think to rise to that occasion and playing really smart, good soccer, I was really happy with the result - win or lose or tie.
“We both had some chances, but both defenses did a nice job of holding the attack at bay.”
Barry was pleased about that but knows Naperville North must improve.
“I was happy with the shutout,” Barry said. “These games show that when you have that one chance to score, it’s really important to get it.
“You don’t get a lot of opportunities against good teams like Libertyville, so going into the future we need to be getting those chances and scoring them when we have them.”
Starting lineups
Libertyville
GK Kate Hopna
D Riley Brennan
D Stella Bechtold
D Sally Grace Rogers
D Audrey Brua
M Lauren Rocco
M Paige Gleason
M Sydney Dulak
M Abby Gordon
M Jenna Krakowski
F Avery Gleason
Naperville North
GK Abby Haskell
D Maggie Fitzgerald
D Norah Barry
D Lucy Iverson
D Peyton Hegner
M Cameron Dinkla
M Madison Korosec
M Ellie Gerner
F Rachael Noren
F Olivia Anderson
F Taylor Korosec
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sally Grace Rogers, sr., D, Libertyville
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring