^{Preview Play-by-play Recap}

Preview

Quarterfinal #3: Naperville Central (32-1) vs Stevenson (25-8)

Game Time: 7:00pm; Thursday, May 19

Coaches: NC-Jeff Plackett (9th year) / Stevenson-Jeff Wimer (11th year)

How They Got Here: NC beat NN 13-6 at the Neuqua Sectional. Stevenson beat Mundelein 9-5 at the VH Sectional.

Previous 2011 Meetings: NC leads series 1-0. NC beat Stevenson 7-5 on 5/6 at the Stevenson Tournament.

Current Rankings: NC - #1 / Stevenson - #6

Top Performers: NC (Abbey Kerth - 128 goals) / Stevenson (Karen Lowry - 94 goals) (Cheyenne Montijo - 90 goals)

The Goalies: NC (Julia Campbell) / Stevenson (Lisa Michalowski)

Talking Points: Home-pool advantage. While the Patriots have the benefit of staying close to home while getting prepared, Central faces an hour-long drive to let their nerves set in. Experience. On the other hand, something tells me nerves won't be an issue with the Redhawks, who are heading to the state tournament for the fourth straight year. They've finished third, second, and fourth in the last three years, so they must be doing something right to win in the quarterfinals. The rematch. Central beat Stevenson less than two weeks ago at this very pool by a 7-5 score to kickoff the Stevenson CoEd Tournament. In that short period of time, the Patriots have probably doubled their confidence level after getting past rival Mundelein in convincing fashion last weekend at the Vernon Hills Sectional. Meanwhile, the Redhawks are probably not lacking in confidence themselves, as they have won twelve games in a row and cruised to a sectional title win at Neuqua Valley last weekend.

Other Players to Watch: 

NC (Claire Wirtz, Emily Sejna, Gracie May, Lizzy Giuliani, Madison Nervig, Robyn Stanley)

Stevenson (Cami Haas, Erin McCook, Sam Petti, Shelby Kohalmy, Tori St John)