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player ready...Naperville Central sophomores Natalie Liesch and Paige Connelly have been competing for playing time at center forward all season.
The Redhawks have four talented forwards but room for just three in the lineup, so coach Troy Adams alternates Liesch and Connelly as starters. Both play significant minutes in most games.
“There is definitely competition, but there’s no hard feelings on anybody,” Liesch said. “If I don’t start and I go in at 30 (minutes left), I play the rest of the half.
“So I feel like each of us is getting good minutes.”
Until recently, though, Liesch and Connelly haven’t gotten those minutes together as one usually subs for the other. But Adams put them on the field at the same time late in the first half of the Class 3A St. Charles North Supersectional against Wheaton Warrenville South on Tuesday.
“Wheaton South switched formations,” Adams said. “They went into a 3-5-2, so from that point we kind of had to switch up to a 4-4-2, so Natalie and Paige were the two forwards. That was the adjustment we had to make.”
It paid off quickly. Liesch and Connelly scored four minutes apart to break a scoreless tie, and Naperville Central beat the Tigers 5-1 to advance to the state semifinals for the first time since 1995.
Wyoming-bound junior midfielder Nicole Sacek added two more goals, the second off a pass from Liesch, and Michigan-bound junior forward Emerson Burke scored her 38th goal of the season for Naperville Central (21-0-1), which will play Warren (15-4-2) in the second state semifinal at North Central College in Naperville at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Connelly got the start on Tuesday, but Liesch was the catalyst on the first goal when she sent a rocket from the right side of the penalty area to the net. Tigers goalkeeper Lauren Buchalski made a diving save, but Connelly buried the short rebound with 4:05 left in the first half.
Liesch made it 2-0 with 53.6 seconds to go in the half with a great individual effort. She made a run up the right wing, cut to her left and ripped a 19-yard cutback shot between Buchalski and the right post.
“Honestly, I just felt like I had to come in very strong, so I was trying to take it one-on-one,” Liesch said. “So right when I saw an opportunity open up one-on-one, I took it, and I’m really glad Paige was there to get the rebound after the first shot, and the second shot I just knew to take it myself.”
That pleased Adams too.
“It was nice to see Natalie get off two nice shots, one she scored directly on and the other that Paige cleaned up,” Adams said. “It doesn’t matter who scores as long as we score.”
Sacek also is impressed with Liesch and Connelly.
“They’re both very different players,” Sacek said. “Paige is very composed, and Natalie likes to take people on.
“They obviously have their strengths and different things that they bring. But I think today, having them both on at the same time, it really switched things up. The other team didn’t really know what to expect with that. I think it was a great idea.”
Connelly was thrilled to log significant minutes with Liesch.
“It was really exciting,” Connelly said. “We just were really connecting really well. We’ve really built that chemistry from the past two years playing together.
“To be able to get on the field together is really important because we obviously play together very well. Making that magic was really fun.”
As is the competition between the two.
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“We’re all very competitive, so that always pushes us, but we’re also teammates at the end of the day, so we’re just happy for each other and happy for each of our successes,” Connelly said. “It’s very fun playing together and just seeing each other play well.”
The Redhawks, who will take home only the third state trophy in team history, have scored 106 goals this season. Liesch has contributed 14 goals and 16 assists, and Connelly has four goals and six assists.
“It feels really good making history, basically,” Liesch said. “Being a part of this is obviously a huge honor. It’s just really exciting.”
The Redhawks need just two more victories to win their first state championship.
“I’m so proud of my team for making it this far,” Connelly said. “I’m really excited for this opportunity. But the job’s not finished.”
This story will be updated. Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.