The Naperville North High School boys varsity soccer team defeated Neuqua Valley High School in a semi-final sectional matchup on Tuesday.

The Huskies (20-5-2) beat the Wildcats (8-10-1) by a final score of 4-1.

Despite leading throughout the game, some of the Huskies were disappointed with how they played. Junior Ryan Konrad attributed the performance to their mindset. 

“We knew going into this game that we were better than Neuqua, so we didn’t put forth our best effort,” Konrad said.

The Huskies beat Neuqua on Sep. 9 of this year (3-0), so they were confident they were going to win this game. Senior Cameron Radeke credited luck as the reason the team played well. He believes that both him and his team need to improve on their optimistic mindset going into their next game. 

“We need to lock in for the whole game and be more clinical in front of the goal,” Radeke said. 

With the Huskies’ next playoff game approaching, they are planning on changing their approach, both offensively and defensively. Head coach Jim Konrad is looking forward to his team’s improvement in the next game. 

“We’re going to fix some mistakes and refocus on how we defend and hopefully score more goals than the team we’re playing against,” Konrad said.

The Huskies will continue their pursuit of the IHSA State Championship on Saturday Oct. 30 at Plainfield North against Naperville Central. The game is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.