Naperville North returns to state for first time since 2019 with PK win over Wheaton-Warrenville South

STREAMWOOD — Michelle Ruan’s first time stepping onto the pitch for Naperville North couldn’t have been bigger.

After Wheaton-Warrenville South junior Grace Rodakowski snuck her penalty kick past goalkeeper Olivia Ochsner to tie it at 2-2, it came down to the junior to either win it, or miss and have the kicks go to sudden death.

Safe to say, she was a tad bit nervous stepping into the box.

“I was just thinking about how much I wanted to play next weekend and to be able to practice Wednesday and Thursday with my team,” Ruan said. “I feel like there’s always a little bit of nerves in that situation though.”

Whether she had nerves or not, it didn’t show in her kick.

The junior sunk her penalty kick into the top-right corner of the goal, helping the Huskies clinch their first trip to the Class 3A state semifinals since 2019 with a 3-2 victory in penalty kicks over the Tigers.

“I tell you what, we’ve got some gutsy kids who put a lot of miles on their legs, and then you’ve got a kid like Michelle who buries a penalty and didn’t step foot on the field,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “We know that she’s just that good. For her to slow herself down, not play a minute and bury her penalty into the upper corner to send us to state is just something that’s so special.”

The Huskies (16-5-3) will play Lane Tech in the state semifinals Friday at North Central College. The Champions took down York 3-2 in penalty kicks in their supersectional.

The Huskies trailed in penalty kicks 1-0 through two rounds with WW South senior and Illinois commit Ashlyn Adams being the only player to sink her penalty kick.

But after letting up the penalty kick, Oschner knew she had to lock in, saving each of the next two penalty kicks while sophomore Kennedy Bertsch and senior Emily Buescher sunk their kicks to give them the advantage.

“To be honest, I wasn’t even looking at the score,” Oschner said. “I just knew that if I saved every one, then we must win because someone was going to make it on our end. But I was just so locked in with my job of saving them all. But as soon as I saw Michelle walking up, that’s when it hit me that we really had a chance to win.”

Oschner had also given up a goal on a penalty kick to Adams in the final minute of the first half to give the Tigers (19-2-2) the early advantage. But when it came to the penalty kicks again, she was more than ready to give it another go.

“As soon as that went in, I knew I could have done better and been more ready,” Oschner said. “But I made sure to set my feet right and stayed light. Knowing that one went in earlier made me more motivated to make those saves.”

The Huskies tied the game just six minutes into the second half when Buescher found junior Isa Polavieja on a free kick from midfield. The junior buried the ball in the top corner of the goal to make it 1-1.

“I really like to anticipate the ball when it gets sent in from that far, so I just waited by the back post to see what would happen,” Polavieja said. “But I saw it in the air and just bought it down and buried it. It was extremely close though.”

The goal was the first one the Tigers had let up since May 10 against Bettendorf (Iowa). Despite the goal, senior Marilyn Dixon recorded double-digit saves on the night, which included seven in the scoreless first half.

“We knew that they were going to dump the ball in on her, especially on corner kicks and dead-ball environments,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. “The wind also played havoc a little bit. But Marilyn came up big and played a big game for us all year long.”

WW South was playing for its first final four berth since 2003. But despite not reaching that goal, Callipari said the team definitely put a new chapter in the record books for the school.

“Penalty kicks aren’t always the best way to go out, but you’ve got to be courageous and confident and we just weren’t as good as we could be at the spot,” Callipari said. “But with the experience, the talent and the leadership they all brought to the table, it’s hard to put into words on what they do mean. They didn’t get to the final four, but in every other sense, it’s a pretty impressive season.”

https://www.shawlocal.com/my-suburban-life/2025/06/04/naperville-north-returns-to-state-for-first-time-since-2019-with-pk-win-over-wheaton-warrenville-south/