Naperville North senior midfielder Isaac Baria understands what it takes to build a career one level at a time.

It figures to serve him well after his playing days end sometime in the next 10 days. Baria will not play college soccer.

“This is it for me,” Baria said. “Go to college, start working on my construction management degree and then get a job.

“My family has been working in construction my whole life. They build industrial buildings.”

Baria has used his industrious nature to climb the ladder of Naperville North’s program. He finally made his varsity debut earlier this season.

Naperville North coach Jim Konrad confirmed that Baria is constantly looking for how he can use something to his advantage.

“When a kid is paying attention to the game in a big moment there, he doesn’t get bogged down,” Konrad said. “The game is never too big for him.”

So Baria, who comes off the bench, was ready when he got his chance Tuesday night. He ran onto a lead pass from senior forward Will Boniface in the left side of the box and whipped a sharp cross in front, where senior forward Diego Hernandez headed it home with 21:58 remaining in the second half.

That was the only goal the fifth-seeded Huskies needed to edge second-seeded Benet 1-0 in a Class 3A East Aurora Sectional semifinal.

Defending state champion Naperville North (13-3-5) advances to play fourth-seeded East Aurora (13-6-3) in the sectional final at 5 p.m. Friday.

“I saw the ball go to Will and every day in practice you work on running onto those balls, so I slipped in,” Baria said. “I knew my chance was coming, so I ran as fast as I could and then once I saw the ball bounce, I knew Diego was running in behind me, so I just flicked it towards him.

“Diego somehow got his small body all the way up there and headed it back toward the back post.”

Hernandez now has authored the decisive strike in two consecutive games. He converted the clinching penalty kick against Naperville Central in the regional final.

But Hernandez could not have done in the Redwings (11-2-4) without Baria’s assist, which was the first point of Baria’s varsity career.

“He was incredible,” Hernandez said. “He changed the game.

“I saw that cross. I was going to hit it with my leg, but I saw it come at my head and I just headed it. It was a really nice ball.”

Konrad pointed out that the play was a demonstration of Baria’s cleverness.

“The thing with Isaac is he’s a very bright kid,” Konrad said. “He’s smart, so he can read the game, understand the game.

“We’ve struggled this year at times making decisions in the run of play. Isaac knows that, ‘Hey, they’re jumping us, so just play a ball and I’ll try to seal the outside back, let the ball run past me and get in the back line and then go serve it.’”

Baria’s savvy served to swing the advantage back in the Huskies’ favor after the Redwings had some scoring chances early in the second half. Naperville North junior goalkeeper Misael Gonzalez was forced to make three saves, but Hernandez’s goal energized the Huskies.

“Second half they had us for a bit, and then after that goal, I thought we changed the whole momentum of the game,” Hernandez said.

Baria’s momentum has been trending upward recently. He converted penalty kicks in shootout wins over Plainfield East and Naperville Central in the regional.

“I’ve been coming off the bench most of the time,” Baria said. “I’ve been getting 10-20 minutes on average, but recently I’m getting more and more.”

There’s a reason for that.

“He’s kind of split time with two guys and then we had an injury and I needed him on the field,” Konrad said. “He was great. He made a massive difference.”

Baria hopes to continue doing that.

“It’s my senior year,” Baria said. “I know it can end any game now. I just want it to last as long as possible, so I’ve been putting in the work more than I ever have before.”

Now Baria is thinking big.

“All day, I was telling myself we’re going to win today, we’re going to go play Friday, we’re going to win state,” Baria said. “I’ve been telling myself that for the past month.

“Seeing Diego score really confirmed that dream for me.”