Huskies make 1 goal enough

If patience is the better part of virtue, then Naperville North's soccer team is loaded with integrity right now.

The Huskies pressured well throughout a 1-0 win over Waubonsie Valley on Monday in Naperville, in the third consecutive game in which they created enough chances to score 3 or 4 goals.

"We couldn't find the back of the net, but I'm not worried," said Huskies senior Augie Celentano. "Today, we actually started finding each other and playing better. We had our chances -- and I think we're starting to get used to each other."

The Huskies (4-1-3) earned a 13-4 edge in shots on net over the Warriors (2-4-2), getting a goal from Alec McNees in the 15th minute, after a long throw-in by Riley Breese eventually found its way to him near the post.

McNees hammered it home at point-blank range, and the night's scoring was over. "We don't convert as many of those (Breese throw-ins) as we'd like to, but it's definitely a big advantage," McNees said.

Celentano, Andrew Menendez, Kevin Wryrostek, and a handful of other Huskies sent good balls on frame that went for naught, but there were also five good reasons that they failed to get a second goal on Monday:

Kit Carson, Anthony DiJohn, Andrew Lieske, Dave Musachia, and Jesus Cruz. Carson played exceptionally well in net throughout the contest, while two Huskies' shots were stopped by defenders and cleared from the goal mouth.

"It was one of those games again, where we had a number of chances in front of their goal," said Huskies coach Jim Konrad. "(Carson) made some spectacular saves for them."

"He's a good goalie, and he's going to be tested game in and game out," said Warriors coach Angelo DiBernardo. "We expect a lot out of him."

The Huskies' attack turned up the heat in the second half, but the Warriors met the challenge. "A lot of people have said that we're down this year, but I think a game like this proves that we can stay with the competition," Carson said.

"In the second half, we were far more dangerous, getting in behind their defense," Konrad said. "I thought they had more chances in the second half, too. They did a nice job on counters."

"But when you let a team off the hook and let them off the hook, it's going to come back and bite you at some point."

And while the young, inexperienced Warriors have struggled to find wins this year, they showed again on Monday that there's still some fight in the dog at Waubonsie Valley.

"I have no problem with them from that standpoint," DiBernardo said. "These are some of the hardest-working kids we've ever had."