It's been a while since the Naperville Central and Naperville North girls soccer teams faced each other this season. But even if they'd met in the past week, the previous game would have little to no bearing on Friday's matchup in the Naperville Central Regional final.
That's because -- as has been said many times, and again by North coach Brent Terada on Wednesday night -- you can throw the records out when these rivals meet.
Just for fun, I'll take a look back anyway. Central (19-5) won the earlier meeting 1-0 against the Huskies (7-7-4) at North. Casey Short scored in the 10th minute for the game's only offense. Goalie Hannah Oppenheimer needed five saves -- all in the second half -- for the shutout.
Redhawks coach Ed Watson was critical of his team's play that night after Short's goal, feeling his team sat back too much. Expect the Redhawks to continue applying pressure if they're able to grab another early lead.
The Huskies are a defense-first team, so they'll have to take advantage of whatever offensive opportunities present themselves. After scoring four goals against West Aurora on Wednesday, North's confidence got a boost.
If the Huskies are looking for even more revenge, they can harken back to 2006 when the Redhawks downed them 3-1 in the regional final, which also happened at Central's Memorial Stadium.
But no matter what, just remember you can throw the records out. Now where have I heard that before?
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