Warriors settle down, top Metea on Filipek goal
By Matt Le Cren

Getting pumped up to play for a regional championship is easy to do, especially when the opponent is one of your local rivals.

Waubonsie Valley might have gotten a little too pumped up for Friday’s Class 3A Metea Valley Regional final, though such exuberance was understandable considering the host Mustangs were the team standing in their way.

“At halftime we talked and we basically decided that our biggest factor was to stop listening to the fans, stop listening to our coaches,” Waubonsie Valley defender Jenna Romano said.

“Everyone was getting us riled up and I think we were all so excited that we came out and all of us were bouncing off the walls.

“[Things] could have gone wrong but once we settled down and controlled the game, we know how we play and we just wanted to possess it and switch the field a lot because they kind of clustered in one area. Once we got it all out of our system, the second half was a lot better.”

Indeed, the difference between the first half and the second half was night and day, as Waubonsie Valley turned an evenly played match into a game of keep-away, dominating the time of possession after halftime en route to a 1-0 victory.

It was the sixth regional championship in the past seven years and 16th overall for the Warriors (18-3-1), who advanced to the Bolingbrook Sectional semifinals, where they will face Plainfield North at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Both teams played great defense on Friday, but the Warriors proved they are the better team by shutting out the Mustangs (10-7-1), who have never beaten Waubonsie, for the second time this season.

The visitors controlled the tempo after intermission by doing what they do best.

“They have a strong defensive line so we just have to pass around them and play our game, keep it on the ground and just do what we know how to do,” Waubonsie freshman Paige Filipek said. “If we do that we can get the goals and we can win.”

That’s just what Filipek did in the eighth minute of the second half, sending a pass up the middle toward sophomore Morgan Kemerling at the top of the Metea box. Kemerling dummied the ball, which rolled inside the box to freshman Sarah Laws, who was dumped, resulting in a penalty kick.

Filipek’s penalty kick was rejected by Metea goalie Megan Geldernick, who lunged to her left to make the stop. But Filipek raced in and scored on the rebound with 32:14 remaining.

“I was just going for the corner but right as I was about to kick it I saw [Geldernick] diving so I was hoping for that rebound to come out,” Filipek said. “Luckily it did and I just finished it.

“It feels really good. We always want to beat Metea. We want to [beat] everyone in our area and do as best as we can, so just to get the goal feels really good.”

The Warriors had three other good scoring chances after that. Karla DiJohn poked a 10-yard volley over the crossbar with 17:02 remaining and less than a minute later a 20-yard rocket from Kemerling went just a little high. Then with 5:00 to go, Romano nodded a corner kick from defender Rachael Brots over the bar.

Despite the one-goal lead, the Warriors were never in danger of conceding a goal in the second half. With outside fullbacks Brots and freshman Jordan Masiak playing well and Division I stalwarts Romano and Rachele Armand patrolling the middle in front of sophomore goalie Emma Rigby, Waubonsie’s defense turned in another rock-solid effort.

The shutout was the Warriors’ 12th, seven of which have come in the past eight matches, and extended the team’s winning streak to 10.

“I think we work really hard as a team and work on team defending,” Brots said. “I completely trust our team. Our back line, I think we work really well together. So far it has been working. I still think we have a lot to show.”

Metea Valley coach Pat Feulner thought he had devised a way to solve that defense.

“The kids played well,” Feulner said. “We went to a new formation (4-2-3-1) three days ago. I just sprung it on them Monday, said we’re going to give this a shot.

“I think it gave us our best chance to win. They played it to a ‘T’ in the first half. In those first 20 minutes if we could have knocked a couple of those balls in, then we’d have been okay, but against these guys you can’t pass up opportunities like that.”

Metea’s best scoring chance, and the only shot the hosts put on frame all night, came with 5:15 left in the first half when Kentgen raced into the right side of the box and launched a 12-yard shot from a tough angle that was headed inside the far post.

Rigby, however, was up to the task, diving to her right to push the ball just wide. The Mustangs could do nothing on the ensuing corner kick, one of three they had before the break.

“We just felt like we could take advantage of them between the seams,” Feulner said. “It was Jenna up top and we tried to isolate her and she got in a few times, which is what we thought would happen.”

But the second half was a different story. The Mustangs mustered just two shots, one a 12-yarder from Alyssa Fox that sailed high a minute after Filipek scored and the other a 36-yard free kick that Rachel Warnock skied with 6:00 left.

So complete was Waubonsie’s second-half domination that the visitors didn’t miss a beat even when star striker Kristen Dodson left the game just before halftime with a foot injury. The Warriors just subbed in Laws, who did an admirable impersonation of the speedy Dodson.

“I think it shows that even if one of our strong starting 11 gets hurt, we still have a really strong bench to come in and we’re all fully comfortable with them,” Brots said.

Romano concurred.

“I think the best thing about our team, chemistry-wise, is losing one of our best offensive players because she’s hurt and being able to throw Sarah in,” Romano said. “She doesn’t play as much, but she did amazing and we all trusted her and we had trust in her to play well and she kept up with us and was running around people all over the place. She’s really fast.”

Ultimately, those fresh legs helped wear down the Mustangs, who hardly ever had the ball and didn’t possess it for long when they did.

“I give the kids credit; they worked their butts off,” Feulner said. “We just kind of tired out. The legs started going and we started missing passes we were hitting in the first half and started kicking balls away.”

Conversely, Waubonsie was able to step up its level of play as the game went on.

“I’m happy with the team,” Waubonsie coach Julie Bergstrom said. “Soccer is a 90-minute game and it takes time sometimes to get your rhythm, so I’m happy that we took our time and we started doing what we do and played our game.

“It’s definitely a team effort. You saw some people step up and do things that you haven’t seen and I think that’s a reflection of the group. They play for each other and they fight for each other.”

And that’s how the Warriors continue to win despite consistently fielding one of the youngest squads in the area. This spring they have 11 sophomores and seven freshmen on the roster. Five of those players – Filipek, Kemerling, Rigby, Tori Christiansen and Maddie Pokora – started Friday night.

“Everyone is so welcoming and they help you so much when you’re new and getting used to it all,” Filipek said. “The upperclassmen help so much getting you used to the game.

We’ve just got to keep playing our game and how we play. If we just play our game we can always win.”