Defending Class 3A state champion Waubonsie Valley got off to a slow start this season, but veteran soccer watchers knew the Warriors would be a handful by the time the playoffs rolled around.

That’s exactly what they are. After losing four of their first seven contests, falling under .500 for the first time in six years, the Warriors are on a roll. Waubonsie ran its winning streak to 10 matches and won for the 14th time in its last 15 outings by edging Downers Grove South 2-1 on Friday to win the Bolingbrook Regional title.

It is the fifth straight regional crown for the Warriors (17-5), who are seeking their fourth state championship in the past five years. They will face unbeaten Neuqua Valley (23-0), the No. 1 team in the nation, in Tuesday’s Waubonsie Valley Sectional semifinals.

“We’re a new team every year,” Waubonsie Valley coach Julie Bergstrom said. “This team definitely has a lot of new faces on it. You keep fighting.

“The kids have stayed with it all year no matter what’s happened. You just keep going after the goal. You keep working, getting better, better tomorrow than you were today.”

Despite integrating six freshmen into the program and suffering five one-goal defeats in the first month of the season, the Warriors are proving they can overcome adversity. They beat the Mustangs (18-4-1) even though Downers South dominated much of the action, especially in the midfield, and outshooting the Warriors 21-7.

“I think we have a really good bond now as a team,” Waubonsie freshman Kristen Dodson said. “We know each other and respect each other and how they play and we have a lot of chemistry now.”

What they also have is confidence. That is epitomized by sophomore Jenna Romano, who until recently didn’t realize she had the power to accurately boom free kicks from over 40 yards out.

But Romano scored on a free kick in Waubonsie’s 3-0 regional semifinal victory over Bolingbrook, then did the same against Downers South, which has had trouble defending long-range high balls this spring.

Romano opened the scoring with 15:40 left in the first half when she boomed a 44-yarder just under the crossbar.

“The game before I had (scored on) the exact same free kick, so I guess I built some confidence in the last goal just because I knew I could strike it from that far,” Romano said. “I just imagined the goal in my head and then just went for it.”

That was only the 14th goal given up by the Mustangs this year but the third in three games on long free kicks.

“That’s what we were afraid of,” Downers South coach Barry Jacobson said. “Everybody knows our weakness. Everybody knows that you send the ball high up against us and it’s going in and that’s the difference in the game at this level. It’s a one-goal game and (if) we give them 45-yard free kicks game after game, you can’t win.

“They’re a good team. They knew what to do. We knew it was coming. We just can’t stop it.”

The Mustangs weren’t able to stop Romano from creating Waubonsie’s second goal under similar circumstances early in the second half.

This time Romano boomed a 42-yard free kick deep into the Downers South box, where it came down and bounced off a defender. Dodson pounced on the ball, turned and fired a four-yard shot inside the left post with 33:27 left.

“From the angle that I was I was just trying to float it in and get someone to get their head on it,” Romano said.

It was Dodson’s third career goal but first since April 2, when she struck twice against Metea Valley.

“It just kind of popped out and I saw an opportunity,” Dodson said. “No one was going to the ball so I just (got it).”

That was all the Warriors got. For the most part, Downers South’s defense, which shut out 13 opponents this year thanks to the consistently tough play of Kimmy Grimmer, Jess Pikul, Cara Doogan, Lori Niehaus and Lauren Tusek, was able to muscle the Warriors off the ball.

But despite creating plenty of chances in the final third, including a header by Sarrah Ludwig that hit the right post, the Mustangs were unable to score until 6:33 remained. That’s when Waubonsie goalie Jordan Myers made her only mistake of the match, dropping a 47-yard free kick by Jessica Bronke. Eastern Illinois-bound Keri Kujawa buried the rebound for her 18th goal of the year, cutting the gap to 2-1.

But that turned out to be Downers South’s last real scoring opportunity. Myers, a senior, played arguably the best game of her career, coming up with 10 saves to record her 11th shutout in back of defenders Kerri Skotnicki, Mary Wright and Michelle Filipek, who were under pressure for long stretches.

“Our defense is beyond amazing, to be honest,” Romano said. “I think they play a huge role in the game, especially because we have a small team. (The Mustangs) are all really tall and they’re good in the air. I think we kept hold of them pretty well.

"I think (Myers) is just picking it up every single game, making more saves than we thought she probably could. I think she saved our butts most of the time, so she’s definitely doing really good.”

She’ll get no argument from Jacobson.

“It comes down to goalkeeping,” he said. “Their kid made some nice plays; ours didn’t.”

The Mustangs suffered a huge blow when they lost 18-goal scorer Stephanie Zurales to a knee injury with 12:33 left in the first half. The freshman striker had been creating some chances in the early going.

“When you lose your best player (it’s tough),” Jacobson said. “She’s the only one up front that can hold onto a ball and attack. She was doing some stuff early in the game so (losing her) hurt us bad. She’s a fine player and her offense has been our whole offense pretty much the whole year.”

The disappointment of not advancing farther in what is considered the toughest sectional in the state could not take away from Jacobson’s pride in what his squad accomplished, which included its 10th consecutive conference crown.

“We had a great season,” Jacobson said. “We’re proud of our kids. They played hard.”