Naperville Central’s Ryan Lafferty hasn’t scored as many goals as he would have liked this season.
The senior midfielder has had plenty of scoring chances, but many of them ended with his shots going wide of the mark or being stopped by goalkeepers.
“I’ve scored four, maybe five,” Lafferty said. “I started picking up at the end of the season here.”
Indeed, he has. Lafferty scored the third-seeded Redhawks’ only goal and converted a key penalty kick during their 2-1 shootout victory over second-seeded Plainfield Central in the Class 3A Naperville North Sectional semifinals on Tuesday night.
Naperville Central (15-4-4) advances to play fourth-seeded West Aurora (19-4), which shocked top-seeded Naperville North 1-0, in the sectional championship game at 5 p.m. Friday.
“It’s massive,” Lafferty said of the chance to play for a sectional title. “We fell short last year to North, but this means everything.”
Lafferty converted his first scoring chance against the Wildcats (18-3-3) just 76 seconds into the game. He got a pass from DePaul commit Nathan Laird, dribbled into the left side of the box and beat star goalkeeper Marshall DeGraff with an 8-yard shot .
“That goal means a lot,” Lafferty said. “I’m just trying to come out here and give 100% no matter what.
“We kind of declined during the game, and we weren’t playing to our highest level, but getting that goal in the first couple minutes was definitely an energy boost for me.”
Getting production from Lafferty in a playoff game was a boost for the Redhawks.
“It was nice,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “He played a really good game.”
The Redhawks had several great chances to extend their lead. But DeGraff stopped two penalty kicks by Laird in the second half, and the Wildcats tied it when Jorge Mireles scored with 4:43 remaining.
After neither team came close to scoring during the two overtimes, the game went to penalty kicks. That figured to favor DeGraff and the Wildcats, who shot first.
DeGraff stopped Naperville Central’s first shooter. But goalkeeper Connor Waite saved shots from Plainfield Central’s first and fourth shooters, while Michael DeFalco and Michael White converted for the Redhawks.
Naperville Central’s fourth shooter was Lafferty, who drilled his shot to the inside left netting even though DeGraff got a hand on the ball. That gave the Redhawks their first lead in the shootout at 3-2.
“I know the goalie,” Lafferty said. “I’ve played with him. As soon as I was at the line, I locked it in and knew where I was going to go. I said, ‘I’m just going to give it everything I’ve got, hit it and not look at him.’”
DeGraff was Plainfield Central’s fifth shooter, and he converted to tie the score. That brought up Naperville Central’s Aidan DiClemente, who blasted the winning kick into the upper right corner.
“It felt amazing,” DiClemente said. “Stepping up to the penalty spot, I had total confidence in myself. I never had a doubt in my ability to put the game away. Like I tell myself, if I make it, I make it. If I miss, I miss. So just go up and take the pen and just rip it.”
That approach has worked two games in a row for the Redhawks, who beat Romeoville in a shootout in the regional final using the same five shooters.
“The five of us were all confident in our ability to put the game away,” DiClemente said. “We knew how good of a player each of us were. We knew we had the ability to put the ball in the net no matter who the goalie is, no matter what is at stake in this game.
“Everyone was confident in themselves, and that’s really how you win games.”
The Redhawks would rather play better and win in regulation, but they are advancing just the same.
“This was a huge win,” DiClemente said. “Obviously, there’s better ways to win instead of going down right to the wire two games in a row, but I was happy that we pulled away with a win in a big playoff game like this.
“Now we get the privilege to play another game for a sectional title.”
Lafferty believes the Redhawks will be ready.
“The team is now locking it in,” he said. “These next two days of practice, we’re going to really focus, stop messing around, and we’re going to dial it in. I think we have a real chance.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
