Last night, Wednesday, March 25, the girls soccer team hosted Neuqua Valley High School (NVHS) for its first home game of the season. The Huskies were able to end the night with a 1-0 victory thanks to a 75:21 goal by senior forward Abbie Boswell.

The girls were determined to prove themselves contenders on Wednesday, going against the perennial soccer program that NVHS offers. According to head coach Steven Goletz, Naperville North took a new approach towards attacking the Wildcats’ goal when heading into the second half scoreless.

“At halftime, I thought we made a couple of adjustments defensively to deal with their wing players,” Goletz said. “Once we made those adjustments, I thought the girls did a great job in the second half of keeping the ball, being dangerous. I think overall we were definitely the better team in the second half. I think we deserved to get one there, so I was happy for the kids.”

Early in the game, NVHS (1-1-1) pressed hard into the Huskies’ goal. After avoiding two potential points scored on them in the first three minutes, the Huskie offense began to boot up.

After pressuring Neuqua’s outside midfielders, the field began to open up for NNHS. Boswell took her first shot of the night at 16:59, which sailed just over the crossbar. It would take three more tries for her to find the goal, with each hitting above her mark. For the next 50 minutes of play, NNHS would close in on NVHS’s goal, falling just short of the score. It was sweet bliss for Boswell, gaining the edge in the last eight minutes of play.

“It was great,” Boswell said. “I was getting pretty mad, because I hit the post three times. I was a little frustrated, but I made it in the end.”

After Boswell found the net, the girls began to slow their offense, looking to speed up the clock for their win. Each attempt on the Huskies’ goal fell short, and the team left the field with another win on its record.

The night was a defensive victory for the Huskies as much as an offensive one, according to Goletz.

“Our back four was great tonight. Especially Morgan Krause and Jen Fortman at center back,” Goletz said. “I thought they did a great job at riding their forwards out, which took their space away. We talked about if we could press them harder in the defensive, it would open up options for us in attacking.”