Warriors, Redhawks settle for a 1-1 draw

By Eddie Burns

The common thread that resonated from the Naperville Central and Waubonsie Valley coaches and players after their 1-1 draw on Wednesday evening was that it is still early in the season and plenty of work remains to be done.

The Redhawks and Warriors each tallied a first-half goal and that was it when it came to scoring in their annual meeting at Naperville’s North Central College.

“Waubonsie had the better of play and they had the better chances --- however, we showed moments and the moments came more often in the second half,” Central coach Ed Watson said.

“You had two good teams out there tonight. It would have certainly been nice to find a way to win, but we certainly didn’t deserve to win, but I’d like to think that we didn’t deserve to lose either.”

Waubonsie (2-0-1) came out aggressive and spent a majority of the opening 15 minutes in Central’s end.

The Warriors' hard work paid off when Vanessa DiBernardo and Hannah Klancic worked together to create Waubonsie’s goal in the 14th minute. DiBernardo started the run when she gained possession in Central’s end, but worked the ball up field and played a pass to Klancic.

Then DiBernardo circled behind the defense where the Redhawks’ defenders lost her as they focused on Klancic, but Klancic played the ball back to DiBernardo and she sent a shot past Central goalie Jill D’Amico.

“I made it back around behind the defense where they couldn’t see me and Hannah slotted a great ball through and I just touched it,” said DiBernardo, who now has three goals.

Watson highlighted DiBernardo’s effort on the play.

“Not only was that a great ball played through, but novice fans don’t understand what good of a run Vanessa made to get lost,” Watson said. “It is classic how our girls look out and go, ‘Oh look, (DiBernardo) is one of the 11 girls on the field.’ Well, no it is not one of 11 – she has to be understood as marked at all times.”

Watson adjusted his squad’s formation after Waubonsie’s goal, which helped cut down on the Warriors’ offensive threats.

“We left way too many scoring chances out there – especially in the first half,” Klancic said.

Central (2-0-2) pulled even when it converted on a restart opportunity in the 25th minute.

Alex Coon played the direct kick into the Waubonsie box where Hillary Scott managed to get her head on the ball and she flipped it past Warriors goalie Allison Fox.

“I was surprised it went in,” said Scott, who has two goals. “I thought I was way too far back for it go in – the whole play seemed like it was in slow motion. I thought it was going wide and it went in.”

Coon received a lot of praise for her effort on the restart.

“Alex is critical to our restarts,” Watson said.

DiBernardo said Central’s goal was one play where she realized how the Warriors will miss Rachel Bostick’s 6-foot presence.

“We’re lacking the height this year,” DiBernardo said. “We’re missing Rachel, but we’re still getting used to each other and we’ll fix these problems as we move along throughout the season.”

The second half saw fewer scoring chances, but the Warriors tested D’Amico in the 69th minute when Megan Green placed a shot just below the crossbar which forced D’Amico to jump and make the save.

At times, the Warriors had some communication issues on defense.

“Our entire back is almost a brand new defense, so they are still getting used to each other there were a lot of new starters – it is something we’ll continue to get better at as the year goes on,” DiBernardo said.

Defender Green said the Warriors did fine considering the fact a few players were playing out of position and or in new positions because Waubonsie was without the services of starters Jenna Romano and Jessica Price.

“We did the best we could considering who was missing,” Green said. “(On offense) we had a lot of opportunities. I think we’re at a good spot, but we have the whole rest of the season to fix areas that need to be fixed. I thought we dominated, but didn’t get the win and we’ll learn from it. When it counts later on -- we’ll get it done.”

One bright spot for the Redhawks was the return of three-time all-sectional player Taylor Heatherly. Central had been without her services since Heatherly left the first half of the season opener against Oak Park-River Forest with a groin injury. Then two days after suffering the leg injury Heatherly came down with pink eye.

“It felt good to get out there,” Heatherly said. “I’m just so happy to be back playing again. Our team has been doing great these first few games, but it was hard for me to not be out there helping.”

Watson said it was nice to have Heatherly back in the fold.

“Taylor makes a difference when we have her on the field,” Watson said. “She played 80 minutes today and now we’re going on spring break and she will get a nice rest and when we get back --I’m expecting that the injury will be in the past. I didn’t want to have to play her the whole game today, but she is a senior and it is Waubonsie and it means something to her. I thought she played very well for us in the back.”

Both teams are now off for spring break and won’t return to action until the week of April 5.