Sports
Naperville Central Soccer Finds Offensive Touch In Regional Win
Redhawks score three goals for first time in nearly a month to beat Metea Valley and advance to regional title match.
It had gotten to the point that Naperville Central boys soccer coach Troy Adams was wondering when — or if — his team would ever score three goals in a game again.
He had to reach back in his memory to Sept. 25 — a 3-2 win over Hinsdale Central — to find such a game. In that time, his Redhawks had gone 2-3-1 heading into Tuesday's Class 3A Naperville Central Regional semifinal game against Metea Valley.
Tuesday, Adams got his wish.
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The third-seeded Redhawks picked up a 3-0 win to end the Mustangs' inaugural campaign and put Central in its own regional final Saturday at 2 p.m. against No. 6 seed Benet.
"I don't remember what this feels like," Adams said. "You're talking a month in between three-goal games. It's not like we haven't had chances. It was good to see players put the ball in the back of the net. I'm sure for them it's a relief because no player likes being yelled at repeatedly to put the ball in the net."
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The game was scoreless until Central's Peter Beasley played the ball in to sophomore Jack Patrick with 10:57 left in the first half and Patrick scored on a header to open a 1-0 lead.
"It was a real good ball by Peter," Patrick said. "I felt like it took a lot of weight off of our shoulders and it was a lot easier to control the rest of the game. We played a lot better the rest of the game. That was real important, because we're a lot more confident for Saturday."
Beasley was at it again off another set play with 1:25 left in the half. This time, Conner Allen was the recipient. Patrick assisted Pat Flynn for the final goal with 39 seconds left in the match to cap it off.
Defensively, it was the ninth shutout of the season for Central (11-6-1). Adams credited the play of Mike Plant in the back for the defensive dominance.
"He has really taken ownership of the back," Adams said. "It's been a great year as far as defenders go. It's one of the top five defensive years for our program, which is impressive considering the history."
Metea, the 14th seed, ends its first-ever varsity season with a 9-12-1 mark, going through the gauntlet of a difficult schedule right away.
"We had some good effort from individuals, but it's the same problem that we've had all year," Metea coach Josh Robinson said. "We lack that consistency. It's growing pains. The biggest hope is that they learn."
