Girls soccer: Naperville North edges New Trier to reach semifinals of Naperville invite
Cameron DeCook didn't win a 50/50 ball for her younger sister on Thursday night, she won it for her entire Naperville North team.
DeCook turned the winning possession into the Huskies' second goal of the night during a Naperville Invitational quarterfinal game against New Trier. They certainly needed it in holding on for a 2-1 victory.
The Huskies (9-3-1) will take on a Barrington (11-0-2) team in Friday's semifinals that beat them 2-0 earlier this year.
"I was able to turn her wide and drove to the end line and took a left-footed shot," DeCook said. "I just tried to put it on target. It was really awesome because I was thinking about (my sister, freshman Claire DeCook, who left the game with a leg injury with 16 minutes left in the opening half). That goal helped me take a deep breath and allowed us to lock in on defense with that extra cushion, which we ended up needing."
The younger DeCook showed why she's been so special since just arriving this spring, scoring her 17th goal, turning and firing a shot from 30 yards away with 25:28 remaining in the first half.
"She's amazing," her sister said. "We have such strong team chemistry. We're not just playing for ourselves, we're playing for the whole team. If we were playing for ourselves we wouldn't have come out on top. Individual effort would not be enough, but together we could do it because we know each other so well."
The Huskies held their 1-0 lead into halftime. They'd get their insurance goal with 29 minutes still left to play when Cameron DeCook won the aforementioned 50/50 ball and turned it into a 2-0 lead with her goal from a corner side in the box.
New Trier (13-3-1) wasn't void of scoring chances and they'd ultimately break through with 9 minutes left to play with Sybil Evans finishing a chance. Nora Westol sent in a ball from Lida Dodge, who was particularly dangerous all night, and Evans quickly sent the carom home.
"What a game for us," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. "Any time you play New Trier, you know what you're going to get. They're super well organized, physical and they make you obviously have to be great and win 50/50 balls and first and second balls and be organized on restarts. I really thought we were good tonight for such a young, inexperienced group."
But one that's one victory away from playing for a championship in the state's most competitive in-season tournament.
"I can't keep using that (youth) anymore because these girls have played so many good teams and grinded out so many great results," Goletz said. "You can see the experience growing each game."