Here we go again.

Just 10 days after Naperville North defeated Naperville Central 1-0 to win the Best of the West tournament final, the two teams will be at it again at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Naperville North in DuPage Valley Conference action.

Still the top team in the weekly Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, the Huskies (9-0-0, 1-0-0), have outscored their opponents 30-2. 

They just returned from an impressive weekend in Peoria, where they knocked off Notre Dame (Peoria), the top-ranked team in the Illinois 10 poll, and Chaminade (Mo.).

“It will be a good game for sure,” Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. “It’s always important to the kids and the community, and the matches are always tight. The first one was tight, I’m sure this one will be tight and the third one (which will likely come in the state series).”

The Huskies handed the no. 10 Redhawks (4-1-3, 1-0-0) their lone loss of the season Sept. 7.

“It was a great Best of the West final,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “They are such a fast, physical and hard-working team which presents a challenge to us to play the way we typically do. Little bit of a contrast of styles.”

Naperville North’s returning duo of Jaxon Stokes and Noah Radeke are the deadliest offensive duo in the state, and Naperville Central is well aware of the challenge they present.

“With their two all-state forwards, we really have to be disciplined in the back, which I thought we did well the first time,” Adams said. “We need to play a little quicker in the final third to put their defense under a little more pressure and generate more looks in front of the goal. 

“We looked at film, and hopefully the adjustments we are making lead to a better result this time around.”

This year Naperville North may have its most dedicated group ever, and that’s saying something given their history. This mix combines stellar talent and experience. There’s been no complacency.

“We’re still working on little things,” Konrad said. “I’m super proud of how hard they’ve worked. The group truly battles, even for our standards, with a super high work-rate. 

“We’re super athletic from front to back. Sometimes we’re good enough to play that way, other times we have to rely on being more hard-nosed, and they’ve done both so far.”

Last weekend provided a good example.

“Chaminade and Notre Dame are such good teams that play similar to us,” Konrad said. “They were both hard-nosed, super physical games. I’m proud of my boys with how they handled that.”

Last fall, the Huskies jumped all over Naperville Central in a 5-0 game in the first of three meetings between the schools. The squads tied 1-1 in their league match and then met once again in the Plainfield North Sectional final where the Huskies prevailed 1-0. They went on to take third in the state last fall.

Naperville Central beat the Huskies twice in 2022 during their Class 3A state championship season.

Now the teams are set to go at it again. It’ll probably be another great one and certainly won’t be the last -- maybe not even for this fall.

“It’s a quick turnaround (from having just played them),” Konrad said. “It’ll be good. It’s a good group of kids (from both teams), and they’re all good friends from the club stuff. 

“This game will always be big. It’s a rivalry for sure, a friendly one; the kids and families get along well. It’s a healthy one.”