Girls soccer: Wauconda looks road-ready

Scoring has come in the bunches for Wauconda's girls soccer team through its first four games.

What the Bulldogs hadn't had, however, was a big test on the road.

They got that on Wednesday and passed easily. Kayla Wisniewski scored twice, as Wauconda shut out Stevenson 3-0 in a nonconference match in Lincolnshire, handing the Patriots their first loss.

The Bulldogs (4-0) have scored 20 goals and have allowed only two. Wisniewski was playing her first game of the season after missing the first three with a shin injury. Megan Sinnott scored her eighth goal of the season, while keeper Jill Rejczyk recorded her third clean sheet by making 6 stops.

"It's a big win," Wauconda coach Beau Shogren said. "Anytime you come in against a (Class) 3A team and come out with a victory you call that a big win. Does it change the course of our season completely? I don't know if it does. But we learned a lot about ourselves. I think the girls gained more confidence. From top to bottom, from the goalkeeper all the way up to the forwards, we put it together."

Wisniewski, who had 25 goals in her junior year, opened the scoring. She found the top corner of the net in the 29th minute off a free kick from 29 yards out.

"I've been waiting to play, and going against Stevenson was a big deal for me because of the (quality) of competition," Wisniewski said. "I was going to pass it first (on the free kick), but I thought I might as well shoot it."

Wisniewski made it 2-0 in the 60th minute after a service from Annalyse Maze. Sinnott added another insurance goal, off a Morgan Lung cross, in the 69th minute.

"We have a very good team this year," Sinnott said. "We all work really well together. We really didn't need too much time to connect. We all just wanted to connect in the first week, and we made it happen."

Stevenson (2-1) had opened the season with wins over Buffalo Grove and Vernon Hills.

"Wauconda played great and we did not," first-year Stevenson coach PepeJon Chavez said. "Credit to their two set piece goals and pressure in the midfield that contained us. We have a long season and a clear mission. This was a battle lost. We have to respond. This is a great opportunity for growth."