St. Edward 5, North Shore Country Day 0
Depending on the situation, there is often great debate on quantity versus quality.
To save everyone the trouble, the St. Edward girls soccer team brought both to the field Thursday night when it took on North Shore Country Day in a Class A sectional semifinal at Westminster Christian.
Quantity earned the Green Wave a 1-0 halftime lead.
Quality gave them the 5-0 semifinal victory, a program first, and a bid to the sectional finals where the No. 1 seed will face either Elgin Academy or Willows Academy Monday at 4:30 p.m. for a trip to state. EA and Willows play today.
St. Edward opened Thursday's game out-shooting North Shore 20-1 in the first half.
It wasn't until the 22nd minute that Alex Rubio would find a way to push one past stingy North Shore goalkeeper Andrea Strauss.
Rubio turned on a steal and fired a shot off from about 18-yards out, which sailed over the head of Strauss.
Prior to Rubio giving the Green Wave a 1-0 lead, Strauss had made more than a dozen saves, including several show stoppers.
"That keeper -- Wow!" exclaimed St. Edward coach Tim Brieger. "I told the girls at the half that we would need perfection. Our shot selection in the first half wasn't going to cut it against that goalie."
The Green Wave (10-8-2) stepped it up after that.
Just one minute into the second half, Maggie Duggan gave St. Edward a 2-0 lead off a corner.
Following a diving stop by Strauss on the first attempt, Bianca Ramirez dished the ball back in to Duggan who popped it up and in.
Six minutes later, Ramirez would send another perfect feed toward the box, this time to Brittany Brozek, who would finish via the header.
"That header by Brittany was just pure hustle," said Brieger.
Ramirez would connect for a goal of her own in the 49th minute of play on a set piece knock.
From the sidelines, Ramirez sent one hooking from about 25-feet out. Despite a diving effort from Strauss, the ball planted itself into the upper 90 to make it 4-0 St. Edward.
"Scoring feels a lot better in the postseason," said Ramirez. "Especially because we have never gotten this far. We practiced some of these shots earlier this week so it was great to see them working in the game. I was really proud of my team today."
Brozek would score a second time with 20 minutes remaining off a perfect cross from Colleen Kerger. Kerger found Brozek right in front of the net, and she made the finish look easy.
"Our combination play was excellent," said Brieger. "We had eleven girls playing as a unit at all times. I think Taylor Barone had the best game of her career.
"We might be peaking at the right time."
With help from Caroline Boye, Mackenzie Malone and Katy Lally, St. Edward keeper Taylor Hunsberger (2 saves) didn't even get her first touch until well into the second half.
For the Raiders (5-8), Strauss finished with 21 saves in the season ender.
"We showed that we can play with these guys," said North Shore coach Kyle Jones. "Andrea did an amazing job."