BELLEVILLE -- The manner in which Naperville Central started the second half of Friday’s match against Belleville West might have suggested the halftime chat from coach Troy Adams wasn’t suited for family audiences.

The Redhawks scored twice in the first two and a half minutes of the second half and after a sluggish start, dominated the second half to earn a 2-0 road win over Belleville West.

The no. 29 team in the Chicagoland Soccer First 50 preseason poll, improved to 2-0-0 in the young season. The host Maroons fell in their opener.

Relax Naperville Central parents, your student-athletes are in good hands with Adams.

“No words were said that can’t be published,” Adams said. “We jokingly said that maybe we need to give the halftime talk before the game. 

“It’s just a matter of kind of getting more focused before we start a game and learning how to start a high school game. It’s different. I’ve coached and played club ball. It’s kind of a bit slower paced. High school from the second the ball gets in, it’s go. And we didn’t really do that as well as we could have.”

Naperville Central’s slow start, combined with the performance of Maroons sophomore keeper Brooke Stellhorn, made the first half of the Redhawks second game of the season a challenge at times.

“I think it’s early in the year, and we’re working though some things,” said Adams. “The warmup routine is not one that they all know just yet. I think it’s somewhat getting comfortable with how we do things. 

“Right now, it’s more of a brain thing and getting more focused. Some of it is mentally dialing in. We’ve only played two games but the girls have really responded to the adjustments, and they take coaching really well.”

Despite the scoreless first half, there was plenty of action from both sides, especially in the opening two minutes.

Naperville Central keeper Erin Hackett was tested quickly inside the box with a scramble from Belleville West forward Sophia Monaco. Hackett then came off her line seconds later to squash a dangerous corner kick from midfielder Emma Hagen.

The Maroons’ Stellhorn put her mark on the contest by coming off her line, for the first of many times, to stamp out a scoring chance. She bobbled the ball, but teammate Madison Smith kicked it out of danger.

Naperville Central had several good scoring chances in the first half. However, three attempts were nullified by offsides.

Redhawks freshman midfielder Nicole Sacek tested Stellhorn with a crafty shot to the far post that the goalie managed to smother. Midfielder Rebecca Ruggiero was the next to have a go from the top of the box, but the Maroons keeper was right on the spot.

Belleville West midfielder Addie Gagen had the best scoring opportunity midway through the half when she beat two Naperville Central players down the sideline but just missed the far, lower corner.

Naperville Central’s offense started to come alive with about 10 minutes remaining in the half. Despite numerous good scoring opportunities, the Redhawks couldn’t solve Stellhorn, who continued to kill goal-scoring opportunities via her consistent, strong and decisive play off the goal line.

Naperville Central midfielder Isabella Brozek tested the keeper with a blast from the right side just outside the box but lost the battle. Then Stellhorn came off her line again to stop forward Emerson Burke.

“Obviously in the first half we weren’t very organized, and we weren’t really finding those through-balls that we need to,” said Brozek. “We weren’t utilizing our wingers very much. He (coach Adams) mentioned that to us at halftime. We started to get those crosses in the second half.”

Brozek said Stellhorn kept the Maroons in the game.

“She was phenomenal,” said Brozek. “We weren’t getting frustrated. We realized what we had to do in order to create more scoring chances because of the way she was coming out to get the ball.”

The Redhawks were a different team in the second half as they finally solved the mystery of Stellhorn.

Brozek beat the keeper with a quick, accurate header from the right side off a nifty cross from Burke.

Ruggiero scored the final goal after a short corner kick. She picked up the ball and beat Stellhorn to the upper-right corner.

“We definitely started off a little slow, and we had to get into the game a little,” said Ruggiero. “We’re a new team, and we’re just getting used to each other. I think the halftime talk really helped. 

“We were getting out of our heads and just being free, just starting to play like we know how to play. We started the second half really strong. That was our mentality going into the game, and we wanted to finish the same way.”

Stellhorn continued to keep the Maroons in the game with eight saves on dangerous scoring opportunities in the second half. In addition to continuing her aggressive play, Stellhorn survived a deflection from Brozek. Sacek tested the Maroons keeper with a shot from the top of the box from within a crowd of players but another save ensued.

“Their keeper was very good, and she was giving us a hard time with our shots,” said Ruggiero. “We just kept pressuring her with shots, and we finally scored.”

Stellhorn impressed her coaching staff last season with her play as a freshman. She continues to make her mark.

“I think we played really good, and I’m proud of how we’ve gotten better throughout the preseason,” said Stellhorn. “I think we need to stay strong for the first five minutes of the game. I think we played well and this will help us the entire season.”

Stellhorn said she is comfortable with her free style of play off her line.

“I really like one-on-one plays,” said Stellhorn. “I work on that part of my game a lot. I talk to my backs and let them know I’m coming out. I’ve worked on my timing so I know when I can get there. I tried to prepare as much as I could by watching film from last year.”

Belleville west defender Kara Joshu said there was a sudden letdown to start the second half, and Naperville Central took advantage.

“I think the second half we had it in our heads that we did really good in the first half, and we let up a little bit. And we were exhausted,” said Joshu. “I think we learned a lot from this game that will help us this year.”

Maroons coach Jason Mathenia said his group didn’t respond well to the halftime message.

“We talked about how important it was to not come out flat in the first five minutes. And holy cow, we came out flat in the first five minutes,” he said. “It’s always tough. Credit them. They came out strong.”

Starting lineups

Naperville Central 
GK: Erin Hackett
D: Chloe Mowry
D: Eleanor Kane
D: Madison Lee
D: Nicole Smith
MF: Colette McInerney
MF: Emma Russell
MF: Nicole Sacek
MF: Rebecca Ruggiero
F: Emerson Burke
F: Malia Shen

Belleville West
GK: Brooke Stellhorn
D: Madison Smith
D: Izzy Alvarez
D: Ella Dube
D: Kara Joshu
MF: Livi Schaffer
MF: Sydney Oliver
MF: Addie Gagne
MF: Hannah Sternau
MF: Emma Hagen
F: Sophia Monaco

Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Isabella Brozek, jr., MF, Naperville Central

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring

Second half
NC: Brozek (Burke), 41’
NC: Ruggiero (Lee), 43’