Huskies battle Warriors with makeshift lineup in Lemont Cup finals

CLICK TO SEE GAME PHOTOS

By Matt Le Cren

There were a lot of unfamiliar faces in the lineup for Naperville North Saturday in the championship game of the Lemont Cup.

The Huskies had to play without eight starters who were attending prom, forcing North coach Brent Terada to bring up six players from the JV team and start five freshmen against Waubonsie Valley.

So it was understandable that Terada was telling people before the game that he hoped to hold the score to less than 10-0. He was exaggerating, but he had a good point considering the Warriors had beaten a full-strength North squad 3-0 on April 12.

The Warriors won again by a 3-0 count, but they needed another great play from star midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo to get things started.

As she did Friday night against Hinsdale South, DiBernardo scored on an early breakaway to give Waubonsie (15-1-3) a lead it would never relinquish. This time she did it 4:40 into the contest, winning a ball at midfield and touching it past a defender before racing 50 yards for her 15th goal of the season.

“It was like a slot through and I touched it and I was on the breakaway with me and goalie pretty much and I just placed it,” DiBernardo said. “The first couple minutes it’s always good to get a goal.”

Don’t blame the young Huskies (11-6-2) for making a mistake on the play.

“She just completely beat us,” Terada said. “There’s a reason why she’s the best player in the state and she shows it when it matters.

“We were set up well, everyone was in the right spot. She just made a couple moves and got past four kids and it was like, ‘Well, great job.’ It’s actually fun watching a kid play the game at a higher level than anyone else you see around. Big-time players make big-time plays like that.”

DiBernardo made another play to help the Warriors increase their lead to 2-0 with 8:15 left in the first half, sending a corner kick from just outside the right side of the penalty area to junior Jessica Price, whose eight-yard shot from the left post found the upper left corner of the twine.

But that would be the extent of Waubonsie’s offense until Megan Green’s corner set up the Warriors’ final goal with 4:20 to go in the second half. The Huskies played competitively throughout, forcing the Warriors to keep their starters in for most of the game. DiBernardo left with 10 minutes remaining.

“The intensity was there, the focus was there and I could not be more pleased with this group of kids,” Terada said. “They played as hard as they possibly could.

“It might have been easier to get that result if we bunkered in, but we didn’t at all. We got forward, we tested the keeper four or five times, which is probably as many as we did when we had our full lineup.”

In fact, the Huskies got off seven shots and forced Warriors goalie Allison Fox to make three saves in recording her 11th shutout. Junior Tori Novak had North’s best chance, launching a shot from the middle of the box that Fox alertly dove for. Sophomore Melanie Hegner created another opportunity five minutes later, stealing the ball 25 yards out but missing wide from 20 yards.

“Considering we had [eight] people gone I think we held our own out there very well and I think we played pretty good against them, possibly even better than we did the first time,” Novak said. “I’m just really proud. Even though we lost, I’m proud that we got out there and did what we did.

“We were all upset that we lost a lot of people, but we were trying not to get down on ourselves too much. We were trying to be the underdog and come out with a win.”

Novak had kudos for her youngest teammates, some of whom were making their varsity debuts.

“I thought they did amazing,” Novak said. “All the kids that were pulled up from JV and the freshmen that came in, they held their own out there and I was really proud of them.”

Terada was proud of the sacrifice made by Novak, who was playing with a fever despite the wintry chill.

“She’s been sick for four days now, but because of the numbers we had she had to suck it up,” said Terada, whose club earlier beat Lemont 1-0 in the semifinals. “She has asthma to begin with, but she said, ‘Okay, I’ll give you what I’ve got.’

“She gave us that threat to stretch the field. She’s the fastest player we had up top, so it was good. She did well.”

Waubonsie advanced to the final by edging Sandburg 2-1 on penalty kicks to avenge their only loss, a 2-0 setback April 23 at the Naperville Invitational. The Eagles (17-2-1), who beat Lemont 3-0 for third place, scored in the first minute but DiBernardo got the equalizer late in the first half on a free kick.

“It feels good to get a little revenge,” DiBernardo said. “I personally really wanted to play them again and I’m sure the team did too. We were all pumped.”

DiBernardo, who also praised North’s effort, thinks the Warriors are rounding into shape, having won four straight after a 1-1-2 stretch starting with the loss to Sandburg.

“We have a few ties in there and just that little streak woke us up a little bit and I think we’re back to normal,” she said. “We’re passing the ball around and doing a lot better.

“Playoffs are right around the corner. It’s time to go. I think every game we play we’re going to continue to get better and better.”

CLICK TO SEE HUSKIES' TEAM PAGE

CLICK TO SEE HUSKIES' PHOTO PAGE