Waubonsie Valley can't pass up semifinal win

It was teamwork and pure soccer skill at its best, and it gave Waubonsie Valley's defense all the cushion it needed.

Senior Chelsea Stoeckigt's 29th minute goal capped a beautiful, quick buildup of diagonal passes on the ground that beat the Glenbrook South defense. The goal gave Waubonsie Valley a 2-0 victory Friday night in a Class 3A semifinal at North Central College in Naperville.

"Jess Price, she had the ball," Stoeckigt said, recalling her seventh goal of the season. "She was dribbling it and there was a slot between the two defenders in front of her and she slid it through to me and I had a mini-1-on-1 with the goalie and placed it in."

Stoeckigt was the beneficiary of a buildup as methodical as it was precise, and it showed how technically talented the Warriors (22-1-4) are.

"We were trying to get the ball on the ground and keep it there to move ourselves forward," Stoeckigt said.

"The execution level for Waubonsie Valley was very high," Titans coach Seong Ha said. "Whatever (Warriors coach Julie Bergstrom) told them, they stuck to their guns and kept on doing it."

Meanwhile, Glenbrook South (24-5-4) couldn't get behind the Waubonsie Valley back line as Stoeckigt had. Goalkeeper Allison Fox earned the shutout with 5 saves, though none required acrobatics. She had plenty of help from a back line of Mary Wright, Jenna Romano, Kerri Skotnicki and Rachel Miller.

"Our game plan was move the forwards throughout us and talk a lot," Wright said, "because communication is the biggest thing on defense. If you don't talk one person can get through."

Waubonsie Valley got its first goal in the ninth minute, when sophomore Shannon Donelson cut the ball back to junior Megan Green, whose shot from the top of the penalty area ricocheted off the left post and into the net.

At the other end of the field, the Warriors had their hands full with Glenbrook South forward Jannelle Flaws, who will join Waubonsie Valley's Vanessa DiBernardo in playing at Illinois next season.

"When she turns you, when she goes straight on you, when she gets that touch pass, she's really fast," Wright said. "But we just tried to keep her in front of us and contain her. We did the best we could."

But Flaws injured her leg when the ball was tackled away from her late in the first half just before the game was delayed for an hour due to lightning. She did not return to action after the delay.

"You're missing out obviously on 145 career goals and 43 goals this year, but you're missing out on emotion," Ha said. "You're missing out on a young lady that gives it her all. We just ride on her back and you piggy-back her. She's taken us this far."

Waubonsie Valley will meet Sandburg for a third time this season in the state championship game at 7 p.m. today. Sandburg won 2-0 at the Naperville Invitational on April 23, but Waubonsie Valley won 2-1 in the Lemont Cup on May 8. Sandburg defeated Waubonsie Valley's Upstate Eight Conference rival St. Charles North 4-2 in the other semifinal.

"They're going to be fired up to come get us tomorrow," Stoeckigt said of Sandburg. "Hopefully, we can come out with the win."