Comeback lifts Waubonsie past WW South
After a late first-half goal by Wheaton Warrenville South, Waubonsie Valley knew it had to get back to the basics in the second half if it wanted to advance further than last year's sectional loss.
The message was loud and clear for the Warriors as they came out and put on a ball-control clinic in the second half en route to a 2-1 victory over the Tigers in Naperville.
Midfielder Megan Green got the offense jump-started for Waubonsie Valley (20-1-4) four minutes into the second half on a great feed from the always-dangerous Vanessa DiBernardo to tie the game.
"We knew we had to pick it up in the second half," Green said. "We needed to pick up our intensity and make a difference and 'V' made a nice crossing pass and I tried to place it in and it worked."
Bridget Shrigley gave Wheaton Warrenville South (18-4-3) its 1-0 lead with 1:37 left in the first half when she capitalized on a deflection off a corner kick from Elizabeth Ciesielski.
"Liz sent a great ball and it found me at the back post and I hit it in," Shrigley said. "It was an exciting moment, but unfortunately we couldn't hold onto it. They have a great team with one-touch passing, and we couldn't handle that."
The Tigers couldn't hold onto the lead. Waubonsie controlled the ball for the majority of the second half. The sustained pressure finally culminated when midfielder Shannon Donelson buried a shot off the post with just more than 10 minutes to go in the second half.
"It was the best feeling ever," Donelson said. "This is the game we lost in last year, so it was awesome to get past this. We didn't have as much energy as they did in the first half, but the second half we had more energy and dominated."
The Tigers made one last push. They had a glorious chance thwarted by midfielder Kerri Skotnicki, who made a kick save at the goal line on one of the Tigers' best chances of the game to preserve the victory for the Warriors.
The halftime break proved to be the turning point in the game. Waubonise ultimately pulled away after the Tigers' first goal.
"We knew they were going to come at us early in the second half," Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said. "They had their legs, they had time to regroup and to calculate what they might want to do. We needed to hold on just a little longer."