Waubonsie Valley turns up the pressure, gets win
It was just a matter of time until Waubonsie Valley broke the ice in Friday night's nonconference girls soccer game at Naperville North.
A big first-half edge in possession turned into second-half dominance, with the Warriors scoring twice in the final 40 minutes to win 2-0.
"Our coach (Julie Bergstrom) told us to put pressure on the ball and go hard to the ball and win it first," Warriors senior Kristen Dodson said.
Waubonsie Valley (6-1-3) kept the young Naperville North defense busy in the second half, taking 19 shots and forcing Huskies goalkeeper Fiona Baenzinger to make 7 of her 10 saves.
"Our goal was to keep it in their end, keep the pressure high, not let them attack as much as possible," Warriors junior Morgan Kemmerling said. "(Naperville North forward) Abbie Boswell, she's on my club team. She's a very good player. Once she gets the ball face up she's very dangerous, so we tried to keep it in their end as much as possible."
The strategy worked. Boswell didn't see much of the ball, helping junior goalkeeper Emma Rigby, an Iowa recruit, earn the shutout with 3 saves. When Boswell did get the ball, she didn't get much space.
"(Boswell) knows that she's going to have two or three people on her," Huskies coach Steve Goletz said. "Everybody knows who she is and that's why we need to find a way to have other people step up. We haven't had that so far, so we'll continue to work in practice and come up with ideas to get other players more involved."
Dodson broke the scoreless tie in the 46th minute. Mackenzie Fuller's dangerous free kick into the Huskies' penalty area forced Baenziger to react late, making a kick save. The loose ball found its way to Dodson just in front of the net, and she scored her seventh goal of the season.
"It was just a group of effort," Dodson said. "Mac's ball really was a good ball. I just got on the end of it, but everyone worked real hard on it."
Still, a 1-goal lead can be tenuous, so the Warriors continued to put pressure on the Huskies (3-3-2), finally scoring a second goal in the 73rd minute when Iowa recruit Kemmerling scored her third goal of the season off a Fuller corner kick.
"It really gives us some insurance," Kemmerling said. "One-zero is a very risky lead. They can score one fluke goal. It doesn't even have to be good. It can go in off our own player and the ballgame is tied."
What was very good was UIC recruit Fuller's service off set pieces.
"It was really good. She's been practicing those, and it paid off," Auburn recruit Dodson said.
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