Still unbeaten, Waubonsie Valley tops Conant
As Waubonsie Valley visited Conant on Saturday, both teams entered the matchup looking to protect their early season undefeated records in girls soccer.
The Warriors came from twice on Saturday, the second time when Paige Filipek drew Waubonsie Valley level at 59 minutes. She sent the game-winner into the back of the net two minutes later as the contest ended in a 4-2 victory for the Warriors at Charles Feutz Field in Hoffman Estates.
"With all the talent Waubonsie has, they're the type of team that can make you look real bad out there," said Conant coach Jason Franco. "They didn't, but they are a very good team nonetheless.
"We got up on them twice and were most dangerous when we countered, but we gave up a couple of soft goals on set pieces, and we really didn't have an answer for (Morgan) Kemerling in the middle at all."
Franco had plenty of praise for the Warriors senior, who sits just behind an impressive set of midfielders and distributes, wins every ball and directs traffic with the type of composure and patience needed to run a championship-caliber team.
"I don't know if you'll see a better player at that position in the state this year," said Franco. "She does it all, and does it very well."
Kemerling and her teammates enjoyed a high-tempo opening at the start of this sunny but cool day, which saw both Cici Gazder and Maggie Roe at the center of trouble for the Cougars and top defender Katie Lomas, who takes over as back-line captain following Drew Wentzel, now playing at Dennison University.
Despite having most of the play in the first quarter hour, the Warriors (4-0-1) found themselves chasing the lead when freshman Elizabeth Dolce unleashed a bending attempt over keeper Emma Rigby in the 24th minute.
Roe equalized just moments before intermission as she and teammate Sarah Laws gained the advantage on the outside, leading to an easy chance for the sophomore striker against Cougars keeper Haley Anderson.
Anderson stopped a point-blank drive from Filipek at the end of a whirlwind of one-way traffic for the Warriors to start the second period. But when Lomas' 30-yard free kick settled into the net just over Rigby, the Cougars (3-1-0) once again enjoyed the advantage in the 50th minute.
"I really liked the way we didn't panic when we fell behind twice today (it) says a lot about this team," said the Iowa-bound Kemerling. "The first couple of games this season are almost like the preseason for us. Now we're beginning to get into our regular-season schedule a little bit more with Conant today, Barrington next weekend, then Neuqua Valley and Naperville North coming up."
Gazder and Filipek connected in brilliant fashion to draw the Warriors level in the 59th minute, with Gazder providing a nice piece of trickery and then sending a lovely ball to her teammate.
Two minutes later, a Tori Christiansen corner appeared to be cleared off the line by a Cougars hand, and right to an opportunistic Filipek, who easily finished from inside the 6-yard box to make it 3-2.
Waubonsie Valley's backline of Christiansen, Grace Anderson and Maddie Pokora made sure Marquette-bound Leah Celarek and the dynamic duo of Emily Mazurek and Sidney O'Keeffe stayed far enough away from Rigby to manage the lead, until a late Christiansen corner finished the scoring in the 80th minute.
"I've seen us get better with each game we play, but we also know there's a lot of work ahead of us, and that it is important to not peak too soon, especially with the type of schedule we have ahead of us," said Kemerling.
"This was a good test for us, and one that should get us ready for the toughest part of our conference schedule coming up this week with Palatine, Buffalo Grove and Barrington next Saturday," said Franco.