Girls soccer: Setter, Waubonsie Valley trip up WW South
Rachele Armand, Vanessa DiBernardo, Kristen Dodson - the list goes on and on.
A soccer program with a rich history like Waubonsie Valley has had many amazing players over the years, some who even began making a huge impact early in their high school years.
Sophomore Grace Setter appears to be yet another one.
Setter scored her seventh goal of the season to help the Warriors beat Wheaton Warrenville South 3-1 during a DuPage Valley Conference match on Tuesday in Aurora.
"With the talent we have, we know what we're capable of doing," Setter said. "The results keep showing that we're a strong team, and as we keep getting more wins it shows what we can do, which is big especially as we move towards the postseason."
Waubonsie Valley (9-2-2, 4-2-0) enjoyed a 2-0 advantage at the break as it made the most of its chances.
Setter struck first.
"I kind of slipped a ball behind the left side," she said. "I kind of just slid in and chipped the keeper off of my left foot."
The Warriors extended their lead on Hailey Curcio's first goal of the season, which was especially deflating to the Tigers since they couldn't convert several good chances of their own.
"It's a little frustrating to outshoot them 13-3 in the first half and you're down 2-0 and you feel like you're in total control of the play," Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. "We get one back early (in the second half) which makes the game interesting but then we kind of gave up a little bit of a soft one."
Wheaton Warrenville South (9-4-0, 2-1-0) couldn't have asked for a better start to the second half. Paige Miller lofted in a shot barely a minute into the return to action but couldn't get any closer.
"I think we just had a slow start in the first half letting them get the two goals and just weren't able to pull through," Miller said, "We had more motivation after scoring that goal, but it was unlucky that we didn't get to finish any of our other chances."
The Tigers weren't making any excuses, but they were playing for the fifth time in as many days.
"Waubonsie is worthy of the victory," Callipari said. "They were well-organized and they played perfectly into their game plan. They know where the go-to people are and don't need a lot of opportunities. Us? We've got to take more chances because we're not going to finish as many as we need to."
Natalie Massa added an insurance goal midway through the second half for the Warriors.
The Tigers nearly pulled to within a single goal with five minutes remaining but Miller's shot was secured by a diving save from senior goalkeeper Sarah Young.
"This win really helps us for our rankings going into the future," Setter said. "We've really come back after losing to Neuqua and Metea. We've really built up our morale and confidence which is big especially going into Barrington on Thursday."