Naperville Central junior Bella Brozek went the distance in two sports over the weekend.
Brozek competed in the preliminaries of the girls track state meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston on Friday, helping the Redhawks finish 34th in the 400-meter relay and 35th in the 800 relay.
On Saturday morning, Brozek helped the girls soccer team run Metea Valley out of the playoffs.
“It wasn’t too bad,” she said Saturday. “I got back at 8:30 last night and prepared for today. The coaches in both sports were just amazing with it. They both understand my schedules, and they understand it’s something I want to have as part of my high school career.”
Brozek has always been fast, but this season the speedy forward has taken her soccer talents to the next level.
“Bella is definitely a really talented player,” Naperville Central junior midfielder Rebecca Ruggiero said. “It’s incredible how fast she is. We know that we can count on her to score goals every time, and I’m just really grateful to have her on this team.”
Brozek scored two goals and Ruggiero added one Saturday as the seventh-seeded Redhawks beat second-seeded Metea Valley 3-2 in the Class 3A Naperville Central Regional championship game at Knoch Park in Naperville.
The Redhawks (12-5-1) defeated the Mustangs (14-4-1) for the second time in 12 days and will play third-seeded Naperville North (13-5-4) in the Plainfield North Sectional semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Naperville Central won the previous meeting against Metea Valley by the same score, with Brozek and Ruggiero each scoring once.
“We’re not shocked,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “It took us a little while to convince the rest of the state we’re not too bad.”
Naperville Central’s Bella Brozek (7) controls the ball against Metea Valley’s Jessica Terada during the Class 3A Naperville Central Regional championship game on Saturday, May 18, 2024. (Steve Johnston / Naperville Sun)
Indeed, the Redhawks are unbeaten in their past seven games.
“We all just love soccer,” Brozek said. “We love each other, we want to play for each other, so we put our all into it. We use all of our energy, even if it means we’re tired and dead by the end of the game. We know that’s what it takes.”
Brozek wasted no time expending some energy against Metea Valley, scoring in the fourth minute off an assist from freshman forward Emerson Burke.
The Mustangs tied it with 37:59 left in the second half on a goal by senior forward Cydnie Bayless, a Northern Illinois recruit.
But Brozek put the Redhawks ahead to stay with a highlight-reel goal with 11:24 to go. She raced up the right side into the box, cut inside and unleashed a left-footed shot that struck the inside of the left post before going into the net.
“I kind of just read the defender’s body at that point,” Brozek said. “She was trying to push me to my left, so I was like, ‘OK, I’ll go to my left.’
“Then I figured if it hits off the post or it goes a little bit wide, I’ll have someone over there to clean up. I think it was Emerson who was on the other side, and she was anticipating that ball.”
The goal was Brozek’s team-high 14th of the season.
“(Brozek) is the most dynamic attacker we have seen this year,” Adams said. “Obviously, she’s ours, so we might be a little biased. But we play a pretty hard schedule, and I have not seen anybody more dangerous on the ball.
“She can just absolutely change a game in a second. You think you’re playing well, and all of a sudden, how did she just get by everybody and score?”
That’s becoming a familiar scenario.
“Bella is definitely a player that doesn’t give up,” Ruggiero said. “She keeps going until the very end, and she really tries to get that last goal in no matter what.”
Naperville Central’s Rebecca Ruggiero, right, tries to control the ball in front of Metea Valley’s Emma Strcic during the Class 3A Naperville Central Regional championship game on Saturday, May 18, 2024. (Steve Johnston / Naperville Sun)
Ruggiero copied Brozek’s playbook when she ripped a 20-yard shot into the lower left corner of the net to increase the Redhawks’ lead to 3-1 at the 5:48 mark.
“I was planning on passing it to Bella, but then I saw the open seam, and I was like, ‘Why not?’” Ruggiero said. “So I took the shot, and I was happy it went in.”
Metea Valley junior forward Lily Senese converted a 35-yard free kick with 2:06 left. But the Redhawks hung on, earning a rematch against Naperville North. The city rivals played to a scoreless tie on May 2.
“We’re so excited,” Brozek said. “We knew we were going to have to challenge ourselves this game, and we did. So it’s really nice to see our hard work paid off.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
