As the announcer counted down the final seconds of the 3A Girls’ Soccer Regional Final Friday night, students cheered and stormed the Waubonsie Soccer Field in celebration of girls’ soccer’s first win over Waubonsie Valley in school history. Oh, and a regional title.
After six losses and one tie in the rivalry, the Mustangs were finally able to defeat the Warriors and bring home some hardware too.
“We have worked so hard to prove that we are a team that other schools are afraid to play. Obviously beating Waubonsie felt awesome for me, but it has been a goal of the seniors throughout their high school careers, so I am grateful I got to be a part of that,” junior forward Madie Sandberg said.
Sophomore forward Jade Eriksen-Russo started the Mustang momentum with a goal around the fifteenth minute, assisted by Sandberg, putting the Mustangs at a 1-0 lead that would last through the first half.
“Scoring first gave us so much confidence in the game that helped us to finish strong,” Eriksen-Russo said.
Knowing they would need to keep the momentum on the Mustang side, the team made sure not to let up going into the second half. “We reminded ourselves at halftime that we needed to maintain our energy and keep playing our game. After Waubonsie tied the game 1-1 in the second half, we kept going until we got another goal to take the lead,” junior center defender Megan Morris said.
Maintaining that confidence is just what they did in the second half. After Sandberg scored the final, winning goal of the game midway through the second half, the Mustangs dominated play and put up four more shots on goal, and limited Waubonsie to only five shots on goal throughout the entire game.
The Mustangs have been working hard under new head coach Chris Whaley to prepare for this matchup and the rest of the postseason. “We have been doing a lot of drills that required high intensity and competition to get us ready to play,” senior midfielder Cailin LaRocque said.
As for the rest of the season, Whaley believes Friday’s game has proven the team’s winning potential for the rest of the year. “We have a strong group of girls and their potential is unlimited. We have worked really hard, and after Friday, the girls know they can keep it going,” Whaley said.
Despite losing ten seniors last year, this team has managed to continuing the program’s dynasty by winning the third regional title in program history. “After that game Friday, I told them I was really proud of them because it has not been an easy season. We lost a lot of girls from our roster last season and we have a lot of new faces, but they were all up for the challenge of trying to become a good team that can compete with the best teams in the area,” Whaley added.
Now, on a four-win streak, the squad will face Plainfield North Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the semifinal of the Metea Valley sectional at MV Stadium. The Mustangs tied the Plainfield North Tigers 2-2 earlier in the season, and defeated them 1-0 to advance to the sectional championship last season.
By Drew Danko
Photo courtesy of Sean King