Waubonsie Valley maintains control of rivalry

The Metea Valley-Waubonsie Valley rivalry is still just a baby.

The teams only started playing one another in 2011, but they found themselves with a great deal on the line - a sectional plaque - during Friday's Class 3A Naperville North sectional title match.

On the other hand Metea Valley coach Pat Feulner's career is on the opposite end of infancy, as the longtime educator and instructor ended up coaching his final game. The Warriors continued their dominance over their Indian Prairie School District 204 rival with a 2-0 victory.

"It's like I told the girls last night," Feulner said. "If I have to go out, I'm glad I'm going out with them."

Waubonsie Valley (21-1-3), which is shooting for its fourth state title, and first since 2010, advanced to Tuesday's Class 3A Normal supersectional against Edwardsville.

The Warriors are 5-0-1 against the Mustangs, with that tie coming on April 5 in a 1-1 match.

Metea Valley (17-4-2) managed to fight through a scoreless half, but the match appeared to be swaying in Waubonsie Valley's direction throughout a greater part of those first 40 minutes. Such a feeling became a scoring reality with 35:02 remaining in the match when Maggie Roe buried one in the back of the net.

Roe didn't have to get much on the pass from senior standout Kristen Dodson, but she was able to get enough on it to net what would prove to be the game-winner.

"Luckily, I was able to toe-ball it," she said. "We knew it would be a low-scoring game against a very good team, so I figured that goal would mean a lot."

While the Mustangs pursued the equalizer, it never came to fruition. They also really were unable to create many threats the rest of the way as Waubonsie Valley goalkeeper Emma Rigby was never really tested.

Still, Metea Valley remained just one big play away from drawing even until Sarah Griffith scored from about 20 yards away with a little more than 26 minutes remaining. Surprisingly, it was Griffith's first goal of the season.

It seemingly deflated the Mustangs, while propelling the Warriors closer to a state championship.

It was the final game in the Metea Valley uniform for a handful of seniors, including Jenna Kentgen, Tracey McCoy and Tyler Proszowski, among others.

The Warriors remain unbeaten since their season-opening 2-1 loss to Lyons on April 17 and Rigby still has only allowed 9 goals all spring.

Now, they're just a few victories away from reliving the great Vanessa DiBernardo era.