Neuqua Soccer Topples Waubonsie, 1-0

AURORA – Coming off of its first regular-season loss since 2008, Neuqua Valley's boys soccer team had much to prove against district rival Waubonsie Valley Tuesday.

Score-wise, the Wildcats did get back on track, posting a 1-0 win in their Upstate Eight Valley opener. But the performance still left coach Tony Kees wanting to see more.

"I think today we looked average," Kees said. "We spent a lot of time playing average football. At moments, we can play great. It's frustrating because we know as a staff that they can do it more often. For whatever reason, they fall into these lapses, and fairly long lapses, where they play average."

One of the moments of greatness Kees referred to came on the game's only goal. With 34 seconds left in the first half, Neuqua worked the ball up the field with over 10 passes, the final one coming off the foot of Sammy Al-Quady that connected with a sliding Will Butler for a sparkling goal.

 "Our team has been working on keeping possession, swinging it, getting it in the box and scoring," Butler said. "I just happened to be in the right spot for that one. I just got to slide in and score it."

 The Wildcats (5-1-1 overall) did dominate the pace of play despite only scoring once and junior goalkeeper Hunter Hollingshead pitched a shutout in net. Thursday, they get one of the biggest tests they will have all year as one of the nation's top teams, Jesuit of Carmichael, Calif., comes to Naperville to take on the Wildcats.

"Today was better, but we still have a lot of work to do," Butler said. "It's not exactly where we want to be. We want to be better."

Waubonsie (2-4-1, 1-1-1) countered with a roster that features six sophomores, and the Warriors did manage to keep the score within reach. But coach Angelo DiBernardo knows that his young group has some work to do.

"Today, we got an idea of where we stand against one of the best teams in the state," DiBernardo said. "When you really analyze the play, they had possession of the ball 65 percent of the time, maybe more. They didn't hurt us, but we wasted a lot of energy chasing them around. We have a long way to go to compete with teams like that, but you can overcome that if you believe you can win."