BERWYN – There was no letdown for Naperville North on Thursday night.

There was no let-up, either.

Two days after battling crosstown rival Naperville Central to a 1-1 DuPage Valley Conference draw, the Huskies scored twice in the opening four minutes and rolled to a shockingly easy 4-1 road victory over previously unbeaten Morton.

“Our team was clicking tonight,” Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. “To manage the emotions of Central on Tuesday and to come back and play arguably the best program in the state and to win, it was a good night for the boys.”

That might be an understatement. The Huskies (10-1-1), who are ranked second in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games and became the first team in eight years to score four goals against fourth-ranked Morton.

The last time the Mustangs (10-1-2) surrendered that many strikes was during a 5-0 loss to Addison Trail on Sept. 8, 2015, nearly 200 matches ago.

“They are great offensively, very prepared to attack,” Morton senior defender Ivan Ramirez said. “We were slow to start, and I think I take responsibility for that. I wasn’t communicating enough.”

But the UIC-bound Ramirez wasn’t the only player who got beat by the Huskies, and Morton, of course, wasn’t the first team to be blitzed by them, either.

Naperville North hit its season scoring average in the game and got half of them before some people were even in their seats. Junior strikers Noah Radeke and Jaxon Stokes took turns setting each other up in the early going, with Stokes assisting on Radeke’s team-high 18th goal of the season in the second minute before Radeke returned the favor two minutes later, assisting on Stokes’ 16th strike.

“I felt the forwards did a good job of running off each other,” Konrad said. “Stokes and Noah, it’s the same old story: they were able to find the ball; they got in behind quick.

“Noah did a good job on the first one of cutting and their keeper was screened. He couldn’t see. It was a good shot, but it snuck in.

“And then the second one, Noah found Stokes for a great goal to make it 2-0.

"The game evened out for a while and then we were able to score on a couple restarts in the second half.”

The third goal came in the 47th minute when junior Niko Ladas fired home a shot off a serve from fellow midfielder Hindo Allie.

Josh Pedersen made it 4-0 in the 76th minute off a corner kick from Colin McMahon, whose serve from the left side went through the box to the unmarked sophomore on the right wing.

Pedersen settled the ball and then rocketed his shot into the upper-left corner. It was his second goal of the season.

“Obviously they’re main goal-scorers, but they’re great people to learn from, too,” Pedersen said. “(The goal) was great.

“My spot on the corners is supposed to be back at top of the box. It came in, and it got past the defense. It just came on to me, and I hit it one-time.”

Morton coach Jim Bageanis is hoping the shredding of his defense is a one-time thing. One saving grace is that the Mustangs are unlikely to see another offense as potent as Naperville North’s, unless they meet the Huskies again, which would not be until the state semifinals.

“They took it to us today,” Bageanis said. “They were clearly the better team. We were not ready for that kind of onslaught.”

While the UIC-bound Ramirez unselfishly accepted blame for the defensive lapses, Bageanis said it wasn’t as simple as one player or even the whole team. Naperville North created some of those breakdowns.

“We did have a couple communication breakdowns, but we knew what we needed to do,” Bageanis said. “They’re a great team.

“They’re always a great team every year. They’re always well-organized, well-coached. They play their system to a T, and they communicate all over the field.

“We told the guys, the state championship wasn’t played today, but we need to learn from this because we have a lot of things that we need to correct. It might be little things, but there’s a lot of little things, and those add up against these kinds of opponents.”

Sometimes it’s the little adjustments which make a big difference. The Huskies made two of them for Thursday's game, one out of necessity and one out of prudence.

An injury to defender Ryan Gaccione prompted Konrad to move midfield maestro Sam Hess to center back and switch formations.

“We came out with a different formation today, a 4-4-2, which had a lot of responsibility for the midfield,” Hess said. “For example, on defense they have to come back in and mark up, which Josh did a very good job of.”

That was key in limiting Morton’s offense, which again played without UIC-bound star Max Aquino. The Mustangs did not get a shot on frame until the final minute when the reserves for both sides were on the field.

Morton avoided the shutout after Pedro Loza’s open shot was saved, but Francisco Barrera buried the rebound with 19 seconds left. The near shutout highlighted Naperville North’s impressive defensive job on Morton’s leading scorer Jonathan Almaguer.

Unlike some recent opponents, the Huskies opted not to double-team Almaguer but instead rotate players on him.

“Niko and Hindo are the two guys in the middle, so we matched up man for man and said ‘Don’t dive in, make him pass it,’ because he’s a dynamic player,” Konrad said. “If he has the ball, that’s fine, but let’s not let him beat us, so make him pass the ball. Our boys did a nice job of shifting.”

Konrad could not have been more pleased with the effort, as well as the outcome.

“That’s about as good as we’ve played against Morton,” Konrad said. “We know they’re missing arguably the best player in the state, or one of the best players in the state, for sure, but I’m proud of the boys.

“We were organized; we kept the play in front of us. (The Mustangs) are so talented with the ball. They had it a lot, but we kept it in front of us.

“They do such a good job of running through the lines. The midfield gets through your backline, but the boys worked really hard to track and cover.”

Much hard work remains ahead for the Huskies, but they are determined to keep rolling.

“We were coming off a hard game against Central, a tie, which I think really got us going,” Hess said. “We came out here and gave it all we’ve got. We brought the energy at the start, and we came out with two at the very start, which helps a lot.

“I think this kickstarts us to win out next week and go to Iowa and get three wins and come back, win a few more and get ready for playoffs.”

Morton, too, was motivated by the result.

“I think it’s a wake-up for all of us to step up,” Ramirez said. “Now we know how good we need to be. We’ll come back from this and come back strong.”
 

Starting lineups

Naperville North
GK: Jack Bouska
D: Sam Hess
D: Connor Hanrahan
D: Colin McMahon
D: Andrew Hebron
M: Hindo Allie
M: Josh Pedersen
M: Niko Ladas
F: Noah Radeke
F: Jaxon Stokes
F: Anthony Flores

 Morton
GK: Diego Vargas
D: Rafael Ramirez
D: Josh Trujillo
D: Ivan Ramirez
D: Christian Valadez
M: Jonathan Almaguer
M: Alexis Meza Dominguez
M: Caleb Mendoza
M: Sergio Villegas
M: Yahir Aguilar
F: Xavier Avila
 
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jaxon Stokes, jr., F, Naperville North

 
Scoring summary

First half
Naperville North: Noah Radeke (Jaxon Stokes), 2’
Naperville North: Stokes (Radeke), 4’
 
Second half
Naperville North: Niko Ladas (Hindo Allie), 47’
Naperville North: Josh Pedersen (Colin McMahon), 76’
Morton: Francisco Barrera (unassisted), 80’