There was a time not so long ago when Naperville North’s Claire DeCook was reluctant to take penalty kicks.
But when Neuqua Valley was called for a hand ball in its penalty area late in the Class 3A Naperville North Sectional championship game on Friday, there was no doubt who was going to attempt the kick.
“Oh, absolutely not,” Naperville North senior defender Abby Penn said. “She’s developed so much because I remember when she was a little baby freshman year and she was so scared to take PKs, and now she’s like the first one leading us, always there to take it.
“I’ve loved seeing her grow. It’s been amazing.”
DeCook, a Tennessee recruit, strode to the spot and rolled her shot inside the right post with 3:09 remaining in the second half. It was the senior forward’s second goal of the game and the decisive blow in the Huskies’ 2-1 victory.
Fourth-seeded Naperville North (15-5-3), which avenged a 1-0 defeat to the third-seeded Wildcats (16-4) on May 13, will play Wheaton Warrenville South in the Streamwood Supersectional at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“It’s really nice because freshman year, my stomach probably would have dropped,” DeCook said of her successful penalty kick. “And this year, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is our chance to get ahead.’
“I’ve molded my mindset to be so positive that I only thought about how this is how we get our lead, and that was just an amazing feeling.”
It was yet another great performance in a high school career filled with them and a fitting way for DeCook and her fellow seniors to end their final home game.
The penalty served as an exclamation point. Neuqua Valley senior goalkeeper Elizabeth Fried didn’t even move because DeCook crossed her up.
“It was funny because a couple of my club teammates on Neuqua, they called the side that they thought I was going to go, so I decided to switch it off on them,” DeCook said. “It’s funny when someone thinks you have a designated side because I don’t.”
DeCook has been at her best in this postseason. She has scored four goals in four playoff games and has 13 total this season.
DeCook’s production has come even though she’s the focus of every opponent and the Huskies don’t have a clear No. 2 scoring option.
“Claire’s work rate is incredible,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “I haven’t coached anybody up top that’s worked as hard as she does every single game, right?
“So many times I say that a forward’s worth to everybody is the goals that they score, and Claire still scores a ton of goals, but what she does to this team allows us to be in these games. For her to score two goals today was just an incredible piece for her.”
DeCook’s first goal opened the scoring at the 13:53 mark of the first half. On a corner kick by Penn, the Wildcats attempted to clear the ball out of a crowd in the crease. But it went straight to DeCook, who couldn’t believe she was open, and she scored from 10 yards out.
“It’s an amazing feeling because it doesn’t happen often,” she said. “Everyone had their back to me, so I just decided I’ll look up and shoot it.”
Neuqua Valley tied it on junior midfielder Sydney Michalak’s 25-yard shot with 25:01 left in the second half, but that merely set the stage for another of DeCook’s fantastic finishes, which never get old for Penn.
“It’s unlike any other person I’ve played with,” Penn said. “Just when you think she’s tired, she just sprints to the next ball and the next, and I’m so proud to be her teammate.
“I’m just so proud of her in general. She really carries this team, not only just with her athleticism, but her effort and her attitude toward the game. I’m so glad I’ve been able to spend three years with her.”
They’ll get three more days together to practice for Wheaton Warrenville South, which stands in the way of the Huskies’ first trip to the state semifinals since they won the 2019 state title. They will be underdogs against the Tigers, but that doesn’t bother DeCook.
“Goletz said the people in this huddle were the only ones who fully believed in us,” she said. “It’s just that underdog mentality that we’ve carried with us this season. It doesn’t matter we’re ranked fourth in our sectional. We won our sectional, so that’s all that matters.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
