Naperville North boys soccer faces Wheaton Warrenville South in the sectional semifinal where the Huskies advance to the final. This highlight is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.
The postseason of boys soccer is well underway as second seeded Naperville North travel to Bolingbrook high school on a chilly Tuesday to face the eleventh seeded Wheaton Warrenville South in the sectional semi-finals. The Huskies beat Plainfield South in their last outing comfortably to advance while the tigers fairytale playoff run continues after beating Oswego 2-1.
First Half
The Huskies strike first with Alex Barger pulls off the improbable Olympico as it sneaks past the near post beating the tiger defenders. We’ve seen some great goals from the senior co-captain this season but none quite good as this one. Huskies lead the Tigers 1-0.
Only 30 seconds later the Huskies score again off the restart. A long ball sent forward by Ryan Konrad falls to Connor Hanrahan. His shot is saved by Jared Ferreyra, but Jaxon Stokes follows it up a tucks it into the corner. In the blink of an eye, Huskies are up 2-0.
North continued to pour on the offense, Alex Arredondo with the long throw-in finds the head of Ryan Konrad and he hits the crossbar. The lose ball falls to Barger and has his shot saved off the line by Ferreyra.
The Huskies get on last chance right before halftime. Another Arredondo throw-in lands in the Tigers penalty box. A blocked clearance finds Barger but once again Ferreyra is up to the challenge and makes the save keeping his team in the game. North lead the Wheaton Warrenville South at halftime 2-0.
Second Half
However, the Tiger faithful remained hopeful and for good reason as they get on the board. Aaron Escareno long throw into the box finds the feet of Marco Gonzalez his shot is blocked but Nikhil Bawa lays it off to Gael Alfaro who fires it past Reed Goss. Tigers are back in the game with the score now 2-1.
But, the Huskies shutdown the Tigers comeback real quick. Adam Zielke’s launches a free kick into the Tiger penalty box. A miss-kick from defender Tim Foley proves costly as Barger takes it first time and makes no mistake. A clinical finish from the forward regains Norths 2 goal goal advantage to make it 3-1.
North now asserts their dominance on the game. Sam Hess picks up the ball at the top of the box beats Bawa to the endline and his shot on target is saved by Ferreyra. But Josh Pedersen is at the back post to head-in the rebound. The freshman forward finds himself at the right place at the right time to make it 4-1 huskies.
North senior Aidan McMahon saves the best for last. Edgar Guzman gets dispossessed by Owen Gaccione and the ball falls to McMahon who takes one touch and belts it into the back of the net giving Ferreyra no chance. Its now 5-1 to North with only minutes left in the game.
The Tigers though would go out quietly, an in-swinging corner from Edgar Guzman connects with Nikhil Bawa as he finds the top corner. Wheaton Warrenville South would make it 5-2 but it wouldn’t be enough.
Naperville North advances to the Sectional Finals as they will face crosstown rivals Naperville Central on Saturday.
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