Finishing the boys soccer regular season with a record of 13-2-1, the Naperville Central Redhawks are the number two seed in the Naperville North sectional, while the Bengals finished their season with a 7-13 record while entering as the 16 seed. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Starting with Redhawk Ryan Gervase inbounding the ball. His pass gets knocked into the air by a teammate; however, Bengals’ goalie Michael Parent puts a stop to the impending threat.
Zakaria Sajjad begins the scoring for the Redhawks
The Redhawks stay on the attack as Midfielder Brady Strang passes to Eli Jarrell, who passes to Zakaria Sajjad with only the goalie to beat. Sajjad’s shot bounces off the top crossbar and finds the back net for the goal! Naperville Central leads 1-0 with just under 30 minutes remaining in the first half.
Continuing to stay aggressive, Eli Jarrell takes a shot towards the right corner, but the Bengal goalie dives to deny the goal. Before the goalie can corral the ball, Redhawks Brady Jarrell taps the ball to the opposite corner for the second tally for the red and white.
Nearing the end of the first half, an amazing effort from Central’s Matias Jacobs as he finds Sajjad as his shot slides through multiple Plainfield East defenders for his second goal of the game! It’s all Naperville Central as the Redhawks lead 3-0 going into the break.
Early in the second half, the Redhawks continue to apply the pressure as Jarrell looks to add to their lead. The Redhawk’s shot is on target but is stopped by Bengal goalie Michael Parent.
Naperville Central remains in control in the second half and moves on to the regional finals
Redhawk Senior Michael White passes to the attacking Brady Strang, but his shot is well defended by the Bengal defense. In the right place at the right time for the rebound, Central’s Ryan Gervase kicks the ball out of the keeper’s reach for the goal.
In a cold and rainy match, Naperville Central comes out with the victory over Plainfield East, 4-0. The Redhawks move on to the regional championship to face Oswego on Saturday afternoon.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
