Waubonsie Valley 4, Geneva 1

Waubonsie Valley's girls soccer team scored early and often in its sectional semifinal meeting against Geneva Tuesday afternoon, building a 2-0 first-half lead en route to a 4-1 victory in Aurora.

With the win the Warriors advance to host Upstate Eight Conference rival Neuqua Valley in Thursday's sectional final at 6:30 p.m.

Sophomore midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo got things started for the Warriors (21-0-1), scoring in the 10th minute on an assist from Bri Rodriguez.

Rodriguez struck again 18 minutes later, this time scoring off a free kick from about 30 feet out to give Waubonsie Valley a 2-0 advantage.

"The first one was a nice give-and-go…and the second one, I think they all thought I was going for the cross to Rachel (Bostick), so I thought I'd have a shot," a smiling Rodriguez said.

Tuesday's victory keeps the Warriors rolling right along, running their unbeaten streak to 53 games. What may scare opponents even more than that, though, is that Waubonsie Valley coach Julie Bergstrom still sees her team improving.

"You'd like to hope that we have got better as the season goes on," Bergstrom said. "Just maturity alone…everybody gets older."

The Warriors' superior speed and ball movement proved to be the difference in Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook's mind.

"They move as well off the ball as any team I've seen this year, even in the last few years," Estabrook said. "They exploited us in those areas, and I really think that they have another great chance to win state again."

Estabrook considered a more defensive approach before the game but opted instead to let his team loose and try to gut it out.

According to recently named state Gatorade player of the year Rodriguez, though, Geneva's tactics weren't Waubonsie Valley's main concern.

"Everyone seems to change their defense against us," Rodriguez said, "but we just don't really worry about that."

Freshman Megan Green and junior Jessica Blake added second-half goals for the Warriors to push the Waubonsie Valley lead to 4-0. Geneva senior midfielder Emily Fechner's goal in the 74th minute kept the Vikings (12-8-1) from being shut out by junior Claire Hanold.

In looking at Waubonsie Valley's roster, Estabrook doesn't see playing the Warriors to get any easier in the future.

"The thing is that they're still not that old," he said. "They're putting themselves in a nice spot to continue this run that they have."