Wildcats complete hat trick vs. Warriors

Reuel Erastus (14) of Waubonsie Valley and Bryan Ciesiulka (5) of Neuqua Valley zero in on the ball as Yvan Foonde of Waubonsie watches from behind Saturday in Aurora. The Wildcats won the regional championship and their 22nd straight game.
Jon Cunningham / For The Sun

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Beating a team three times in a season is a difficult task for any squad, but the 2009 Neuqua Valley Wildcats are not like most teams.

Neuqua dominated its District 204 rival for a third time and scored an impressive 3-0 victory over Waubonsie Valley to claim a Class 3A regional championship on Saturday afternoon at Metea Valley. It was Neuqua's 22nd straight victory.

"If we want to be a great team, beating a team three times is just part of it," Neuqua forward Pat Doody said. "You have to be able to beat teams as many times as they come at you. (Waubonsie) was just another team in the road that we had to get past."

Waubonsie sat back and allowed Neuqua to take the action to the Warriors. The Wildcats (25-0-1) had plenty of shots at the net but had difficultly finishing until Will Butler's restart in the 13th minute. Butler sent his restart in toward the Waubonsie net, the ball deflected off a Warriors defender to the far post, where Keegan Balle was waiting and finished with a header to give the Wildcats an early lead.

Neuqua continued to apply pressure and struck for its second goal shortly before halftime.

Balle sent a restart high toward the Warriors' net, where goalie Sean Elvert bobbled the ball. Neuqua's Scott Davis quickly managed to gain possession and dropped a pass to Doody, who sent a shot past Elvert.

"Scotty hustles -- that is all he does is hustle -- nobody else plays like he does," Doody said. "Once he got possession, I called 'drop' and he laid a perfect ball right in the middle of the pile, and I was able to get a good foot on it."

Waubonsie coach Angelo DiBernardo said Neuqua's second goal hurt.

"We can't make that kind of mistake at this level at this time of the year," he said. "It deflates you a little bit. I was proud of how we fought throughout the second half because they could have just packed it in after a mistake of that magnitude."

The Warriors were held without a shot on net in the first half, but they changed to a much more aggressive style in the second half and managed to get three shots on Neuqua goalie Jack Turanchik.

The Wildcats put the game on ice when Bryan Ciesiulka had his direct restart blocked, but he managed to retain possession, dribbled around the Warriors defense and fired a right-footed shot past Elvert.

"We scratched out some goals off restarts and it was good enough for today," Neuqua coach Tony Kees said.

DiBernardo's squad finished 13-7-1, with three losses coming to Neuqua and its relentless pressure.

"They never stop," he said. "They continue to counter and it doesn't matter who you bring in from the bench -- the level of play doesn't go down. They have a good, solid team. It is hard to find a high school team that is as good as this one." WAUBONSIE VALLEY REGIONAL FINAL