Redhawks Take 1-0 Lead Before Lightning Delay

hopes of an all-Naperville sectional soccer championship final will have to wait at least another day.

Persistent lightning forced officials to suspend play in Tuesday night’s Class 3A Naperville North Sectional semifinals, with the third-seeded Redhawks (15-4) leading second-seeded Batavia (16-5-2) with 15:51 remaining in the first half.

Play is scheduled to resume at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at .

Naperville Central barely beat the thunderstorms, as Jack Patrick pushed a point-blank shot past Batavia keeper Ben Steskal off a feed from Pat Flynn in the 24th minute for the only goal.

As the referee was about to put the ball back in play at the midfield stripe, he called for a suspension of play due to lightning and sent the two teams and crowd scurrying for cover.

After an hour-long wait, a representative from host Naperville North announced that the game was postponed for the night and would be picked up with 15:51 left in the first half Wednesday night.

Appearing in its first sectional tournament since 1995, Batavia nearly capitalized on the game’s first scoring chance. Cody Balogh set up Cody Witkowski for a 25-yard blast that sailed just wide of the net and Redhawks keeper Mike Pavliga five minutes into the action.

Midway through the half, Balogh received a pass from Anthony Torres and attempted a shot that was kicked away by Redhawks defender Patrick.

Steskal was credited with three saves, including one on a point-blank bicycle kick by Naperville’s Flynn that caromed off the goal post eight minutes into the game.

While the final score has yet to be determined in the Batavia-Naperville Central clash, one thing is certain – the winner will advance to Saturday’s 5 p.m. sectional title match against top-seeded Naperville North (21-0-1).

The Huskies outlasted East Aurora 2-1 in Tuesday’s other sectional semifinal game on Joe Sullivan’s overtime goal.