Soccer Game Preview: Naperville Central vs. Naperville North

The Naperville Central Redhawks will venture away from home to take on the Naperville North Huskies at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Naperville Central is coming into the contest hot, having won their last nine games.

Naperville Central is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Illinois' top teams: Metea Valley, who was ranked fourth at the time (Naperville Central was ranked third). The Redhawks never let the Mustangs get on the board and left with a 3-0 win on Tuesday. Considering Naperville Central have won 11 matchups by more than two goals this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

Meanwhile, Naperville North had already won two in a row and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They came out on top against the Warriors by a score of 2-0. Naperville North's winning goal came courtesy of Lauren Pera.

Naperville Central's victory was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-1-1. Those road wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only given up one goal over those seven games. As for Naperville North, their victory bumped their record up to 9-2-5.

Naperville Central skirted past Naperville North 2-1 in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Will the Redhawks repeat their success, or do the Huskies have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.