The Naperville North Huskies race to state continues as they face the Plainfield South Cougars. The Huskies come in having won the regional semifinals 2-0 against Plainfield Central while the cougars upset 7th seeded Bolingbrook 2-1. This highlight is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.
First Half
The Cougars start on the backfoot, Alex Barger brings out the trickery by nut-megging his defender, that draws Connor Pabon to commit the foul giving Barger a penatly kick.
Barger steps up, however, keeper Leonidas Gamino had other plans, he gets low and across to his right to make the save keeping the matchup scoreless early in the first half.
Plainfield South go on the offensive, a punch out from Reed Goss falls for David Sanchez but his snapshot is gobbled up by Reed. Both keepers are busy early on.
The Huskies come back with an attack of their own. Jaxon Stokes takes it from midfield and goes on an emphatic run into the heart of the Cougars defense. He passes off to Noah Radeke who’s shot rings off the crossbar. Close but no cigar for the Huskies.
Stokes attacking again, this time he draws a foul leading to a penalty. Aidan Mcmahon steps up and makes no mistake from the spot giving Naperville North the 1-0 lead.
Five minutes before halftime and the Huskies are looking to double their lead. Sam Hess has the ball on the outside as he puts in a cross that finds Alex Barger who isn’t going to miss this time. 2-0 North going into the break.
Second Half
The huskies start the second half picking up right where they left off as Hindo Allie puts in a cross that Jaxon Stokes is on the other end of. He gets his goal making it 3-0.
Huskies continue to mount the pressure. Alexander Arredondo with a deep throw-in that finds Noah Radeke in the box for the first time finish. The sophomore scores his 8th goal of the season and extends North’s lead to four.
North not backing off. A high line from the Huskies forces a turnover that falls to the feet of Aidan Mcmahon who makes no mistake with the finish. The home team now up by five.
Finishing off the night for the Huskies is Connor Hanrahan. He starts this play at about midfield. He squares up a defender, dribbles down the sideline, cuts in on his left foot breezing past 2 more defenders, nutmegging another, then slotting it in for the clean finish. What a run by the sophomore.
The Huskies take down Plainfield South by a score of 6-0 picking up yet another regional plaque move on to the sectional semifinals.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
