Senior midfielder Jack Barry didn’t want to miss out on the fun Friday for Naperville North.
Sophomore forward Patrick Koenig scored in the 14th minute and Barry followed up two minutes later with another goal, sending the Huskies to a 2-0 victory over St. Charles North in the Class 3A state semifinals at Hoffman Estates.
Barry’s 12th goal of the season was a key for Naperville North (26-1-1), which plays for its third state title in program history at 7 p.m. Saturday against Libertyville (20-0-2). A 2-0 lead for the Huskies is as close of a sure thing as it gets.
“There’s no doubt those two early goals gave us a lot of momentum,” Barry said. “With the confidence we have in our back line, plus with our goalkeeper Tommy Welch, we knew we would be in good shape if we played well the rest of the way.”
The Huskies, the defending state champion, showed complete confidence in shutting down the North Stars as Welch earned a program-record 20th shutout of the season with four saves.
St. Charles North (16-3-4) procuded shots from senior midfielder Jameson D’Amico, junior foward Matt Beaulieu, senior forward Bernard Elegbede and senior defender Kyle Kolodziej.
Barry, one of 10 senior returnees, believed Naperville North’s composure was the difference.
“The experience we have becomes important in big games like this one,” he said. “(We) don’t panic, and you saw how well we reacted to the pressure when St. Charles North put us under, especially in the first part of the second half.
“We have so much experience on this team. Guys like Mitch Konrad along the back and in front of Welch in goal are two of the reasons we are in every game we play and why we know, if we get a lead, it will hold up.”
It also was the Huskies’ sixth shutout of the playoffs. Naperville North coach Jim Konrad credited the team approach to defense.
“We play a first-class schedule all throughout the year,” Konrad said. “So to get the school record for shutouts says a lot about our defense, as well as the entire team, which helped carry on a proud tradition of defensive soccer in our program.
“Playing for a state title once again is the game we have focused on since the very start, but it took a lot of hard work, commitment and dedication from everyone to get there, and now we have a chance to earn back-to-back state titles.”
Koenig and Barry capped a devastating, attacking display in first part of the first half with their two goals.
St. Charles North coach Eric Willson confirmed that made the game much more difficult than he would have liked.
“You never want to chase the game against such a strong defensive-minded team such as Naperville North,” he said. “But that’s what we ended up doing when we conceded those two early goals.”
St. Charles North also had been stingy during its five previous playoff games, allowing just two goals while recording four shutouts en route to its second state appearance and first since 2006.
The North Stars played Bradley-Bourbonnais (18-4-1) at 5 p.m. Saturday in the third-place game.
“I am proud of the way we fought, especially in the second half,” Willson said. “As we told the guys afterward, it’s a new day when we play next, and that’s what we should look forward to.”
Michael Garofola is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
