Waubonsie Valley's pressure does in Hawks

Bartlett goalkeeper Erin Zaideman seemed to know where Waubonsie Valley's Vanessa DiBernardo was going to shoot Thursday night.

But if DiBernardo keeps getting scoring opportunities the junior is going to find the net.

She did twice as the Warriors defeated the Hawks, 3-0, in Upstate Eight girls soccer action at Millennium Field.

"(Zaideman) kept reading (my shots)," DiBernardo said. "After a while I finally got one in."

Less than 2 minutes after getting stopped by Zaideman on a breakaway, DiBernardo took a through ball from Bri Rodriguez for another one-on-one chance. This time DiBernardo slid a shot past Zaideman and into the right corner to give Waubonsie a 1-0 lead with 27:10 remaining in the first half.

The Warriors controlled the game throughout but couldn't increase the lead until there was less than 2 minutes left in the game.

DiBernardo found herself alone again against Zaideman, who finished with 5 saves. DiBernardo made a move to her right to get around Zaideman and put the ball into the empty net for a 2-0 lead with 1:43 remaining.

Cayla Budd added a goal just before the buzzer sounded for the final tally.

"They put a lot of pressure on us," DiBernardo said. "We need to be able to hold the ball and move it around. Their pressure kept us from doing that."

The Hawks (9-2, 2-2) failed to create many scoring opportunities. A few long-distance shots and one off a loose ball in the penalty area didn't test Waubonsie goalkeeper Claire Hanold, who made 4 saves for the shutout.

"I knew we we're only going to get a couple opportunities. We need to be better finishers," Hawks coach Heather Thomas said. "When we play a team like this, you don't get many opportunities. We have to learn how to put them in the back of the net."