Warriors edge North Stars to gain control in UEC race

By Eddie Burns

In life, it can't hurt sometimes to take a chance.

For Waubonsie Valley's Megan Green, she took a risk and it paid big dividends for the Warriors during their 2-1 win against St. Charles North on Tuesday night in Aurora.

The Upstate Eight Conference rivals, who have both earned No. 1 seeds in their respective sectionals, were knotted in a tight battle when Waubonsie was awarded a free kick midway through the second half.

Senior Vanessa DiBernardo sent the restart into North's penalty area and the ball bounced off of a few players before Green stepped in and made her move.

The ball came to rest at Green's feet with her back turned to North Stars' goalie Kristen Manski when Green decided to flip a shot on goal.

Green's attempt managed to work its way past Manski and into the net in the 57th minute and that goal turned out to be the difference.

"I think the ball hit off someone and then I was like, 'Alright, I'll try and score with my back turned to the goal,'" Green said.

"I turned and kicked the ball and it went into the side netting. I don't even know what happened. I just figured I would take a chance and maybe it will happen and it did."

The Warriors (11-1-3, 6-0-1 UEC) made Green's goal stand with solid play in the back the rest of the way.

Goalie Allison Fox made three saves as Waubonsie limited St. North to one shot on net in the second half and four for the match.

A big reason for the North Stars' lack of offense was the gusty wind that they had to play into during the second half.

The North Stars (12-1-1, 7-1-1 UEC) used the wind in the first half to take an early lead in the 17th minute.

St. Charles North went ahead 1-0 when Sammy Gage converted Paige Dusek's corner kick.

The Warriors, who played the first half into the wind, managed to score the most important goal of the match shortly before halftime.

Hannah Klancic set up the tying goal by sending a shot at Manski, who made the initial save but gave up a rebound to Waubonsie freshman Rachele Armand.

Instead of rushing a quick, forced shot, Armand calmly gained possession and then sent a shot past Manski to forge a 1-1 tie in the 32nd minute.

"I just kind of read the play and then I looked over my shoulder and saw that I had space behind me," said Armand, who has six goals.

"I took the space and aimed for the far post. I had a lot of time and put it away."

Waubonsie's ability to score going into the wind provided a huge momentum shift.

"Going into the wind and getting the tying goal going into halftime was a big mental boost for our girls," Waubonsie coach Julie Bergstrom said.

"Especially knowing we were going to have the wind at our back in the second half."

Armand agreed that her goal turned the match in Waubonsie's favor.

"It was a big goal because when we actually got to the second half we could use the advantage of the wind, which made it that much more difficult for them," Armand said.

Armand's goal wasn't the first threat that the Warriors put on Manski.

In the 24th minute, Waubonsie's Kerri Skotnicki sent a shot off the crossbar and the teammate Hannah Klancic had her rebound shot blocked by North defender Lisa Manski.

The Warriors made it a point to remain aggressive in the second half.

"We really stressed that we needed to start marking up better and just calming down and playing our game because we were not playing our game," Armand said.

"We needed to get things together and we did. In the second half, we started connecting passes and played our game."

Bergstrom's squad can reclaim the UEC title if it wins its three remaining conference matches.

"We played our game and took care of ourselves," Bergstrom said. "Every game offers a different challenge and I think today our kids stepped up and met today’s challenge."

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