Boys soccer ends season with a 1-1 tie

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Photo by Maggie Berry

The Naperville North boys soccer team brought an end to an untraditional season with a draw against Saint Charles North on Saturday afternoon. 

 

The Naperville North Huskies (10-2-1, 5-0-0) tied the Saint Charles North North-Stars (12-4-2) by a final score of 1-1.

 

The lone goal for the Huskies came from junior Cameron Radeke in the middle of the first half. Sophomore Alex Barger assisted the goal, finding Radekes foot and from there the junior was able to weave through three defenders before spectacularly netting a shot past the goalkeeper into the bottom right corner. The forward duo connected several times throughout the game.

 

“Me and Cam play club soccer together so we have some good chemistry there,” Barger said. 

 

This was the boys first game back after beating Waubonsie Valley 2-1 on Tuesday to win the Dupage Valley Conference championship. The game marks the end of a very nontraditional season for the boys. Due to the pandemic, the team competed in a delayed and shortened season without a state tournament. This means that the upcoming fall season is right around the corner and the young team is already preparing. 

 

“There’s a lot of sophomores, so just getting them up in the ranks and trying to put together a strong team for next year is important,” Radeke said. 

 

The team will only lose eight seniors heading into next season, so the young core of the team has already gotten some experience. Barger noted the importance of stepping into a leadership role. 

 

“We are definitely going to have to take a bigger step, we don’t have a lot of seniors this year so we already had to fill some of that role,” Barger said. 

 

The sophomore, who has been an essential part of the team since his freshman year, ended the season with 13 goals. Junior captain Tyson Amoo-Mensah has also been a dominant presence on the field this season. 

 

With a strange season coming to an end, Amoo-Mensah is pleased with his team and the effort they left on the field. 

 

“I think the season went really well. We unfortunately didn’t get a state championship but we’re just happy to be out here and playing,” Amoo-Mensah said. 

 

Though the boys season may be over, the Naperville North varsity girls soccer team will kick off their season with an away game this Thursday against Neuqua Valley at 4:30 P.M.