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player ready...Midfielder Audrey Hartmann was disappointed last season when she didn’t make Naperville North’s varsity roster as a freshman.
She spent the spring getting seasoning on the JV level instead.
Now, it’s starting to come to fruition.
Hartmann scored her first varsity goal Monday night to cap a three-goal outburst in the first half and help the Huskies to an impressive 4-1 road victory over St. Charles East.
“It was literally awesome,” Hartmann said. “I feel like when everyone knows their individual roles, they can play their part and we can all execute well and dominate other teams.
“It was definitely great knowing I was in the right spot because sometimes it gets hard to remember all of our cues and all of our plays. But once we really focus, we can execute well and score.”
The milestone strike for Hartmann came on a header off senior midfielder Madison Korosec’s corner kick with 5:20 left in the first half and gave Naperville North a 3-0 lead.
The Huskies (3-0) have nine seniors in the starting lineup, so playing time has been hard to come by for young players like Hartmann. But she’s stepped up when Naperville North coach Steve Goletz has put her into games.
“Audrey is a kid who’s starting to come into her own a little bit,” Goletz said. “When you come into a group with this many seniors, this many kids who have had so many varsity minutes, it takes some time to get used to it.
“She’s slowly continuing to get more and more time for us and she just battles. This is a super physical, super athletic St. Charles East team and Audrey went in and definitely battled.”
The Huskies won battles early and often, scoring their first three goals on restarts.
The first two came off long throw-ins from Leah Jacobs that found the head of fellow senior defender Lucy Iverson, whose headers across the goal mouth led to goals by Norah Barry and Cameron DeCook.
“It’s frustrating,” St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “Everything we saw (Monday) is stuff we saw on tape, things we rehearsed in training.
“We just didn’t execute on the field. We really lacked a presence in the box. There were a couple of unfortunate errors to make in a game like this, and when you make mistakes like that, they make you pay.”
Iverson, a Calvin recruit, was thrilled to see Hartmann make the Saints (2-1) pay.
“Audrey was in the perfect spot,” Iverson said. “She ran the play perfectly.
“It’s always good to see people coming in new to this team and doing exactly what they’re told. It’s paying off and it’s awesome.”
Hartmann, who knows her role is likely to be limited this season, is trying to learn all she can from the veterans.
“With there being nine senior starters this year, I totally have respect for all of them,” Hartmann said. “They all deserve their spot and I’m just lucky enough to be able to go in and play.
“I enjoy every minute I’m out on the field.”
Taylor-bound senior midfielder Libby Thomas scored on a great individual effort for the Saints to cut the deficit to 3-1 in the second half.
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Senior midfielder Olivia Anderson, however, answered with her team-leading third goal of the season for the Huskies.
“We definitely had a chance,” Thomas said. “In the first half, we didn’t show enough fire and heart, which we showed in the second half.
“It’s kind of disappointing we lost by so much when in the second half I feel like we kind of dominated.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.