Buescher doesn't myth, Naperville N. wins
Senior's goal gives Huskies 1-0 win over Belleville W., state berth
By Matt Le Cren
ROMEOVILLE – It can be easy to overlook in the glare of all that Naperville North has accomplished in the past decade -- no current Huskies player had competed at the state finals.
Until now.
It all changed Tuesday night when senior co-captain Katelynn Buescher, Naperville North’s rock in the midfield, finally pushed her squad’s Sisyphean boulder off the cliff of despair that has bedeviled the Huskies in the recent past.
The Illinois-bound Buescher poked a ball in a goalmouth scramble that trickled into the net with 23:36 remaining in the second half of the Class 3A Lewis University Supersectional.
Naperville North made that goal stand up for a 1-0 victory over Belleville West and a berth in Friday’s state semifinals against defending state champion Barrington at North Central College in Naperville. The kickoff for the opening Class 3A semifinal is set for 5 p.m.
The Huskies, who make their first trip to state since winning the second of back-to-back state titles in 2013, were solid favorites against Belleville West, which made its supersectional debut.
Then again, North was favored in this game – and on this same field – the past two seasons, only to be upset 2-0 by Glenbard East in 2016 and 1-0 by Downers Grove North in 2017. Like Belleville West, those two schools were playing in their first supersectional.
So how did Buescher and the Huskies overcome that mental hurdle?
“I was really nervous, but it was just about playing our game because in the past two years we haven’t always played our game,” Buescher said. “That’s where it has let us down, whether it’s finishing or letting them get in our head.
“We just had to push through it and know that we were going to be the better team and put that goal away. We’ve been here twice, and we knew the third time we weren’t going to let it go into double overtime or PKs. We knew we were going to finish the game.”
Thanks to the efforts of the relentless Buescher and the stalwart defense of Jessica Siebers, Alyssa Siebers, Reilly Riggs and Sarah Stokes, the Huskies (20-3-4) did just that, extending their winning streak to nine games and posting their 16th shutout (and 55th over the past three seasons).
Like many deciding plays in defensive struggles, Buescher’s goal was more gritty than glittery.
The play began when Leah Shumate launched a free kick from the left wing into the middle of the box, where Riggs volleyed it on frame. Belleville West goalie Bailey Redden made the stop but gave up a rebound, triggering a scramble in the crease.
Buescher’s first hack at the ball was stopped by Redden, a Southeast Missouri State-bound senior who kept the Maroons (17-6-3) in the game by making nine saves.
But Redden was unable to hang on to the ball, and as she tried to secure it, Buescher knocked it past her, and it rolled over the goal line.
“When we left to come here we met, and I said nobody in this room player-wise has been able to say that they’ve been downstate,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “We’ve been close, and we haven’t been able to get over the hump. And (we did it today) with gritty hard work and a tough-nose goal that you would expect to be scored by Katelynn.
“That sums her up as a player. Couldn’t be happier for her, couldn’t be happier for the group.”
Buescher was enthused just to see the Huskies score a supersectional goal, something that eluded them the past two years.
“There was kind of a weight lifted, because I knew that we had been doing everything we could possibly be doing and that was just the one missing piece,” Buescher said. “So just getting that in, it was lifting a weight off of our shoulders.
“But getting back into it after kickoff, you know you have to keep going, keep grinding as if it’s a 0-0 game and not let anything in.”
Belleville West coach Jason Mathenia didn’t think Redden had let anything in. He thought Redden had control of the ball and Buescher kicked it out of her hands, which if true would have been a foul on Buescher.
“It was a very unfortunate situation,” Mathenia said. “I completely disagree with it, but it is what it is. I felt our keeper had clear control of it, and it’s obviously not the way it was called.”
Buescher had no doubt the ball was loose.
“No, she did not have it, I promise,” Buescher said. “Leah Shumate kicked it in, Reilly got it across and the goalie pushed it out.
“Then I kicked it, and she got it in her legs, and then I had to go farther out to get it.”
Redden had done well to get to one tough shot from Buescher and another off the foot of Shaina Dudas in the first half, lunging to her left to parry both out of danger. But she couldn’t get a handle on the hot potato this time.
“It was just a big scramble,” Redden said. “I know my team was struggling to just clear the ball, which we needed to do to relieve some pressure.
“I know I did make the initial save, then it kind of got trapped between my hands and my feet and the girl ended up just kicking it. Somehow it got in the goal after a big scramble.”
But Redden didn’t despair.
“I know I did have it in my hands after the initial saves, and I guess after that the referee decided it wasn’t in my possession anymore and it dribbled into the goal,” Redden said. “That’s soccer.
“That’s just the game we play. Those kinds of moments happen. It’s kind of out of our control.”
Naperville North tried to do everything it could to make sure they controlled the outcome, whether it was preparing for the match or getting maximum effort from all 11 players.
North’s defense was solid again, with Jessica Siebers and Riggs combining to hold Belleville West senior forward Taylor Mathenia completely in check. Mathenia, who will be a teammate of Redden at Southeast Missouri State, got off just one shot.
“They were outstanding,” Buescher said. “Jessie Siebers, outstanding.
“She took (Mathenia) out of the game and then when there were balls that went over or got past Jessie, there was Reilly, ‘Lyss’ and Sarah were there to clean it up and (goalkeeper) Maddie (Hausmann) if she had to. They were outstanding. I wouldn’t want anybody else behind me.”
Jessica Siebers, who was sporting a Band-Aid on her forehead afterward, shared the credit.
“A lot of help was from the midfield,” she said. “I honestly don’t think we could have done it without them.”
Goletz and his staff made sure the Huskies knew as much as possible about the Maroons, an unfamiliar opponent.
“We looked over the tapes, and the coaches did a lot of research on them,” Goletz said. “So we knew what to expect from them. And on the backline we’ve been doing so well with covering each other,”
Jessica Siebers said. “We know how each other plays now, so we’re ready and we’re always there for each other.”
Siebers has helped prevent countless goals during her career at North, but never was she happier to see a ball end up in the back of the net than when Buescher hit pay dirt.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy in my life,” Siebers said. “These past few years we’ve been waiting for it, and we finally got a goal (in the supersectional). I couldn’t be more proud of my team.”
Neither could Buescher.
“This is my first time going to state,” Buescher said. “We’ve been knocked out here two times in a row, so this is all I’ve wanted for three years.
“I just feel amazing and I’m so excited to share it with the seniors that I’ve been with four years and Goletz.”
Buescher and the Huskies can empathize with the Maroons, who fell one win shy of capturing their first state trophy. It was still a terrific run for Belleville West, which won its first regional title since 2009 and first sectional championship.
“Kudos to Naperville North,” Jason Mathenia said. “They obviously did well -- good team, good program.
“Defensively they kept us in check. We just didn’t seem to get the breaks tonight.
“The girls had a great year, so we’re very proud of them. They fought every game to the very end, that’s for sure.”
Redden for one, will graduate with great memories.
“We faced a lot of adversity in terms of getting the team to jell together, but I think once we realized that we did have the potential to go as far as supersectionals or even state, we came together as a team and started playing together,” Redden said. “It ended up getting us to the supersectional, which is awesome.
“I can’t thank these girls enough for being some of the best teammates. Even if we didn’t make it to the state tournament, I think we had an amazing season, an historic season.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Maddie Hausmann
D Reilly Riggs
D Jessica Siebers
D Alyssa Siebers
D Sarah Stokes
M Paige Sylvester
M Alyssa Siebers
M Katelynn Buescher
M Leah Shumate
F Hannah Martin
F Megan Benmore
F Shaina Dudas
Belleville West
GK Bailey Redden
D Gabby Holtrop
D Olivia Alvarez
D Courtney Vollmer
D Abbey Haas
M Addison Hanusek
M Katelyn Grandcolas
M Melanie Kulig
M Lily Stedman
F Sydney Valerius
F Taylor Mathenia
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Katelynn Buescher, sr., M, Naperville North
Scoring summary
Second half
Naperville North – Katelyn Buescher (unassisted) 23:36
Senior's goal gives Huskies 1-0 win over Belleville W., state berth
By Matt Le Cren
ROMEOVILLE – It can be easy to overlook in the glare of all that Naperville North has accomplished in the past decade -- no current Huskies player had competed at the state finals.
Until now.
It all changed Tuesday night when senior co-captain Katelynn Buescher, Naperville North’s rock in the midfield, finally pushed her squad’s Sisyphean boulder off the cliff of despair that has bedeviled the Huskies in the recent past.
The Illinois-bound Buescher poked a ball in a goalmouth scramble that trickled into the net with 23:36 remaining in the second half of the Class 3A Lewis University Supersectional.
Naperville North made that goal stand up for a 1-0 victory over Belleville West and a berth in Friday’s state semifinals against defending state champion Barrington at North Central College in Naperville. The kickoff for the opening Class 3A semifinal is set for 5 p.m.
The Huskies, who make their first trip to state since winning the second of back-to-back state titles in 2013, were solid favorites against Belleville West, which made its supersectional debut.
Then again, North was favored in this game – and on this same field – the past two seasons, only to be upset 2-0 by Glenbard East in 2016 and 1-0 by Downers Grove North in 2017. Like Belleville West, those two schools were playing in their first supersectional.
So how did Buescher and the Huskies overcome that mental hurdle?
“I was really nervous, but it was just about playing our game because in the past two years we haven’t always played our game,” Buescher said. “That’s where it has let us down, whether it’s finishing or letting them get in our head.
“We just had to push through it and know that we were going to be the better team and put that goal away. We’ve been here twice, and we knew the third time we weren’t going to let it go into double overtime or PKs. We knew we were going to finish the game.”
Thanks to the efforts of the relentless Buescher and the stalwart defense of Jessica Siebers, Alyssa Siebers, Reilly Riggs and Sarah Stokes, the Huskies (20-3-4) did just that, extending their winning streak to nine games and posting their 16th shutout (and 55th over the past three seasons).
Like many deciding plays in defensive struggles, Buescher’s goal was more gritty than glittery.
The play began when Leah Shumate launched a free kick from the left wing into the middle of the box, where Riggs volleyed it on frame. Belleville West goalie Bailey Redden made the stop but gave up a rebound, triggering a scramble in the crease.
Buescher’s first hack at the ball was stopped by Redden, a Southeast Missouri State-bound senior who kept the Maroons (17-6-3) in the game by making nine saves.
But Redden was unable to hang on to the ball, and as she tried to secure it, Buescher knocked it past her, and it rolled over the goal line.
“When we left to come here we met, and I said nobody in this room player-wise has been able to say that they’ve been downstate,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “We’ve been close, and we haven’t been able to get over the hump. And (we did it today) with gritty hard work and a tough-nose goal that you would expect to be scored by Katelynn.
“That sums her up as a player. Couldn’t be happier for her, couldn’t be happier for the group.”
Buescher was enthused just to see the Huskies score a supersectional goal, something that eluded them the past two years.
“There was kind of a weight lifted, because I knew that we had been doing everything we could possibly be doing and that was just the one missing piece,” Buescher said. “So just getting that in, it was lifting a weight off of our shoulders.
“But getting back into it after kickoff, you know you have to keep going, keep grinding as if it’s a 0-0 game and not let anything in.”
Belleville West coach Jason Mathenia didn’t think Redden had let anything in. He thought Redden had control of the ball and Buescher kicked it out of her hands, which if true would have been a foul on Buescher.
“It was a very unfortunate situation,” Mathenia said. “I completely disagree with it, but it is what it is. I felt our keeper had clear control of it, and it’s obviously not the way it was called.”
Buescher had no doubt the ball was loose.
“No, she did not have it, I promise,” Buescher said. “Leah Shumate kicked it in, Reilly got it across and the goalie pushed it out.
“Then I kicked it, and she got it in her legs, and then I had to go farther out to get it.”
Redden had done well to get to one tough shot from Buescher and another off the foot of Shaina Dudas in the first half, lunging to her left to parry both out of danger. But she couldn’t get a handle on the hot potato this time.
“It was just a big scramble,” Redden said. “I know my team was struggling to just clear the ball, which we needed to do to relieve some pressure.
“I know I did make the initial save, then it kind of got trapped between my hands and my feet and the girl ended up just kicking it. Somehow it got in the goal after a big scramble.”
But Redden didn’t despair.
“I know I did have it in my hands after the initial saves, and I guess after that the referee decided it wasn’t in my possession anymore and it dribbled into the goal,” Redden said. “That’s soccer.
“That’s just the game we play. Those kinds of moments happen. It’s kind of out of our control.”
Naperville North tried to do everything it could to make sure they controlled the outcome, whether it was preparing for the match or getting maximum effort from all 11 players.
North’s defense was solid again, with Jessica Siebers and Riggs combining to hold Belleville West senior forward Taylor Mathenia completely in check. Mathenia, who will be a teammate of Redden at Southeast Missouri State, got off just one shot.
“They were outstanding,” Buescher said. “Jessie Siebers, outstanding.
“She took (Mathenia) out of the game and then when there were balls that went over or got past Jessie, there was Reilly, ‘Lyss’ and Sarah were there to clean it up and (goalkeeper) Maddie (Hausmann) if she had to. They were outstanding. I wouldn’t want anybody else behind me.”
Jessica Siebers, who was sporting a Band-Aid on her forehead afterward, shared the credit.
“A lot of help was from the midfield,” she said. “I honestly don’t think we could have done it without them.”
Goletz and his staff made sure the Huskies knew as much as possible about the Maroons, an unfamiliar opponent.
“We looked over the tapes, and the coaches did a lot of research on them,” Goletz said. “So we knew what to expect from them. And on the backline we’ve been doing so well with covering each other,”
Jessica Siebers said. “We know how each other plays now, so we’re ready and we’re always there for each other.”
Siebers has helped prevent countless goals during her career at North, but never was she happier to see a ball end up in the back of the net than when Buescher hit pay dirt.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy in my life,” Siebers said. “These past few years we’ve been waiting for it, and we finally got a goal (in the supersectional). I couldn’t be more proud of my team.”
Neither could Buescher.
“This is my first time going to state,” Buescher said. “We’ve been knocked out here two times in a row, so this is all I’ve wanted for three years.
“I just feel amazing and I’m so excited to share it with the seniors that I’ve been with four years and Goletz.”
Buescher and the Huskies can empathize with the Maroons, who fell one win shy of capturing their first state trophy. It was still a terrific run for Belleville West, which won its first regional title since 2009 and first sectional championship.
“Kudos to Naperville North,” Jason Mathenia said. “They obviously did well -- good team, good program.
“Defensively they kept us in check. We just didn’t seem to get the breaks tonight.
“The girls had a great year, so we’re very proud of them. They fought every game to the very end, that’s for sure.”
Redden for one, will graduate with great memories.
“We faced a lot of adversity in terms of getting the team to jell together, but I think once we realized that we did have the potential to go as far as supersectionals or even state, we came together as a team and started playing together,” Redden said. “It ended up getting us to the supersectional, which is awesome.
“I can’t thank these girls enough for being some of the best teammates. Even if we didn’t make it to the state tournament, I think we had an amazing season, an historic season.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Maddie Hausmann
D Reilly Riggs
D Jessica Siebers
D Alyssa Siebers
D Sarah Stokes
M Paige Sylvester
M Alyssa Siebers
M Katelynn Buescher
M Leah Shumate
F Hannah Martin
F Megan Benmore
F Shaina Dudas
Belleville West
GK Bailey Redden
D Gabby Holtrop
D Olivia Alvarez
D Courtney Vollmer
D Abbey Haas
M Addison Hanusek
M Katelyn Grandcolas
M Melanie Kulig
M Lily Stedman
F Sydney Valerius
F Taylor Mathenia
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Katelynn Buescher, sr., M, Naperville North
Scoring summary
Second half
Naperville North – Katelyn Buescher (unassisted) 23:36