Waubonsie Valley bounces back in big way
The undesirable task of playing the Waubonsie Valley girls soccer team first after its 59-game unbeaten streak was snapped fell upon South Elgin on Tuesday night.
The Warriors found the winning touch again, and in convincing fashion.
Waubonsie scored four goals in a 10-minute span en route to a 6-0 Upstate Eight Conference victory at Millennium Field.
"I think we had a lot of energy," Waubonsie senior midfielder Rachel Bostick said. "I think we came out doing what we needed to do to get ready for our next couple of games."
The Warriors (2-1), who were ranked No. 1 nationally by two preseason polls and are the two-time defending state champions, had their long unbeaten streak halted by Naperville Central last Wednesday. With five days off between games, the Warriors were able to work on some issues that showed up in the 1-0 loss.
"There are so many different things that we didn't do that we should have done," Bostick said. "We've been working a lot in practice, mostly on finishing and working with the ball on the offensive end. We did a better job of that (Tuesday)."
Catherine McClellan gave the Warriors, who were without star Bri Rodriguez again, a 1-0 lead with 28:56 left in the first half off a feed from Vanessa DiBernardo. Ali Stahlke scored twice in the final 2 minutes of the half, including one with 1 second left on the clock on a rebound after a Bretton Newcomb shot went off the post.
Jessie Morgan and Megan Green found the net in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the second half. Kelsey Bachtell added the final goal with 5:22 remaining.
While the final score was lopsided, Storm coach Tiffany Disher was pleased with her team's play, especially in the first 38 minutes. In last season's meeting, Waubonsie was leading 6-0 at halftime.
South Elgin (2-1-1) managed only one shot. Esther Fiebig made 8 saves for the Storm.
"This year we were able to string passes together and work our way onto their side of the field," Disher said. "Holding them 1-0 (for most of the first half) was excellant for us."