Waubonsie hot, cold in first two games

By Gary Larsen

If you asked a thousand players to describe in one word what the most important ingredient in soccer is, heart might well top the list.

Waubonsie Valley knows the main reason for Friday’s 3-1 loss to visiting Benet.

“It’s not a great pitch, it’s all torn up, but they came out and showed what they had,” said Waubonsie senior Nik Patel. “They were composed, they got their touches on the ball, and they wanted it more than we did.”

The practice field at Waubonsie made for a physical game, and Benet brought the fight to the Warriors throughout.

 “They played with a heck of a lot more heart, and that was the difference,” said Waubonsie Valley coach Angelo DiBernardo.

“I was happy with (Jack) Dickens’ effort, because he went hard every chance he got to fight for the ball. He was the only fighting spirit we had.”

“The question is why him and not all of us? Against Neuqua, they played hard and gave themselves a chance. Today, they didn’t give themselves a chance.”

The Warriors battled hard against the state’s top-ranked team in cross-town rival Neuqua Valley on Tuesday in a 1-0 loss.

“We played a decent first half against Neuqua,” DiBernardo said. “But they’re obviously much deeper than we are, they’re a well-rounded team, and I think in the second half we started to feel the effort, physically.”

“But Jason O’Brien gave us a lot of energy. Against Neuqua he played a very good first half."

Waubonsie’s best chances against Neuqua came in the first half. In the 38th minute, Johnny Akl sent a corner into the box and teammate Olive Mayer made solid contact with the ball only to watch Neuqua goalie Jack Turanchik (three saves) make the save.

In the early stages of the final half the Warriors best chance came when Reuel Erastus sent a cross into the Wildcats’ box, but teammate Amar Pandya was unable to make a play on the ball as it danced across the box untouched.

DiBernardo hopes to have his regular varsity field back by next week because the Warriors are replacing Naperville Central as one of the host sites in the Best of the West Tournament due to construction at Central.

The veteran coach admitted the conditions were not ideal, but since it was Waubonsie’s home match all efforts were made to play it in Aurora.

“Playing on a small field like this doesn’t help anybody,” he said. “It doesn’t help us, it doesn’t help (Neuqua). It hurts the game as a whole. But under the circumstances, with our main field is not playable right now, we have no choice. It was our home match and our kids wanted to play in our home surroundings, so we played here.”

The Warriors play Carl Sandburg, Fremd, and Naperville Central next week, as part of the annual 8-team Best of the West tournament. Patel guaranteed that his squad would bounce back in Tuesday’s game versus Sandburg.

“The effort will be there,” Patel said.

“We’re a young team, but everybody works hard in practice. They just have to realize they can step up their potential in the games, and bring it every single game no matter who we play.”

2009 Schedule