Wheaton Academy does enough to get by

The Wheaton Academy girls soccer team might not have much of a highlight video from Tuesday's 1-0 semifinal win over Riverside-Brookfield in the Class 2A St. Francis sectional.

But the one big highlight put the Warriors in Friday's 6 p.m. sectional final against the host Spartans.

The Warriors beat St. Francis 2-0 during the regular season on April 27.

Just 1:07 into Tuesday's contest, Wheaton Academy sophomore Gretchen Pearson scored the game's only goal. Jamie Netzley broke out on a breakaway down the left wing and passed the ball to Erin Teevans. Teevans' shot traveled untouched in front of the net from the near post to the far post, where Pearson grabbed it and made the deposit.

"Throughout the season we've been working on starting strong and getting going," Pearson said.

The top-seeded Warriors (19-3-1) continued to put pressure on the fourth-seeded Bulldogs throughout the physical game, striving to pad the lead as best they could.

However, that didn't happen. But what boosted Wheaton Academy was that while Riverside-Brookfield put consistent pressure on the Warriors' defense all game, it never really tested it.

"Our defense was on point," said Wheaton Academy coach Dave Underwood, whose team beat the Bulldogs 3-1 during the regular season. "We knew they had some dangerous players and we did a pretty good job of containing them."

Of all the Wheaton Academy scoring chances after that first and only goal, the best happened with 16:21 remaining in the game. Netzley broke loose on a breakaway and manuevered through a couple of Riverside-Brookfield defenders and got an open look at goalkeeper Karli Riviera. Riviera leaped and got a hand on the shot, forcing the ball to hit the crossbar and go over the net.

Winning goalkeeper Liana Ledesma finished with 3 saves.

"We're happy with the win. We didn't play our best. But we'll come out stronger next time," Pearson said.