Waubonsie Valley dominates Naperville North

ESPN Rise most recently ranked Naperville North as the No. 6 team in the nation and the most dominant team in the state of Illinois.

On Monday night in Naperville, it was Waubonsie Valley that dominated, defeating the Huskies, 3-0.

"Yeah they played a good game," said Waubonsie Valley coach Julie Bergstrom. "They followed what we wanted to do and executed it and played good soccer I thought."

Waubonsie Valley (4-0-1) controlled the match but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard until Vanessa DiBernardo's picture perfect left-footed shot from 20 yards out beat goalkeeper Ellie Flessner.in the 39th minute.

"When you play a team like that with players like that who can change the game with 30 to 40 seconds left in the first half," Naperville North coach Brent Terada said. "We sag off defensively instead of stopping and bringing extra help, but you know that happens."

The momentum that the Warriors took into halftime carried right over into the final half as DiBernardo and Megan Green exchanged a few passes before scoring at the 44th minute. Flessner saved DiBernardo's initial shot, but Hannah Klancic followed it in.

It wasn't until the 48th minute that the Huskies created a shot on net as Waubonsie Valley controlled the match from beginning to end.

Bergstrom didn't share any specific details of why the Warriors were able to hand it to the Huskies, but perhaps Terada summarized it best.

"They pounded us constantly," Terada said. "They just beat us. They transitioned faster than us, were more organized, worked the ball well. In every facet of the game we were outclassed without a doubt."

While the Warriors lost several standouts from last season's team, others have seemingly stepped up and taken advantage of opportunities afforded them.

"With high school you have a core group that goes through and goes through," Bergstrom said. "This group, actually, is probably a group that was shadowed. They've been on it since freshman year. The core group of them, they were just the role players and a little more now have stepped into playmakers."

The Warriors scored their final goal in the 73rd minute when Jenna Romano recovered a rebound off a corner kick to score her first career goal.

Naperville North (4-1-2), a team that often has six talented freshmen on the field at the same time, will look to recover from this loss while also knowing it'll likely see the Warriors later this spring.

"I'd much rather have this happen now then in the playoffs," Terada said. "We got pounded on, but at the same time we'll come back and we'll be better."

Allison Fox had 6 saves in goal for the Warriors who shut out their third opponent of the season.