AURORA -- On almost any other night, the goal Bri Rodriguez scored would have been the only thing people wanted to talk about today.
It was something to be remembered, the way Rodriguez danced up the field with the ball clinging to her feet. The way she shifted left then right, then back left to keep a lone St. Charles North defender mystified as to where she would go next. The way she drilled a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the net to give the Warriors a pivotal 1-0 Upstate Eight Conference victory over the visiting North Stars on Tuesday.
But as good as the goal was, it wasn't quite enough to overshadow the status of her Waubonsie teammate, Vanessa DiBernardo, who left the game in the 25th minute with a leg injury.
"It was in the back of our minds whether she was all right or not," said Rodriguez, who scored her seventh goal of the season. "But we knew we also wanted to win it for her. When she went down, our hearts sank. But we picked it back up."
DiBernardo, a sophomore midfielder who leads the Warriors with 11 goals, was taken to the hospital during the game by her parents. Reached at home later, Angelo DiBernardo said an X-ray on Vanessa's right leg was negative, but doctors won't rule out a possible fracture until an MRI is taken today. Regardless, DiBernardo estimated his daughter will be out least 10 days.
Despite controlling the game even without DiBernardo, the Warriors (13-0-1, 6-0 UEC) didn't get a goal until Rodriguez's in the 68th minute. The play started near midfield with a turnover. Jessica Price then sent a quick pass to Rodriguez, who did the rest of the work on her own for the final 40 yards.
"I looked right before I got the pass, and I had a lot of space," Rodriguez said. "I was trying to get on an angle so I would get myself a nice shot. (The defender) didn't know which way I was going to go. I got her off balance and hit one. I had a lot of momentum going."
The goal gave the Warriors some breathing room, but the North Stars (10-4, 5-1) applied pressure for the final 10 minutes, the only extended period they were able to do that all night. Still, Warriors goalie Claire Hanold needed to make only two saves as Waubonsie extended its unbeaten streak to 45 games (43-0-2), while winning its 11th in a row - all by shutout.
"At this point in the year, a 1-0 loss doesn't bother me," said North Stars coach Ruth Vostal, whose team lost to Waubonsie 2-1 last year. "It's always going to be competitive with us. You're looking at trying to compete for the conference championship and it's always going to be a heated battle."
The victory moves the Warriors a step closer to defending their UEC title. They can do that by winning out the remaining four conference games. But they may have to do it without DiBernardo.
"Vanessa's a big part of our offense and it was hard having her go out of the game," Waubonsie forward Jessica Blake said. "But people stepped up and Bri had a very nice goal. It was really important that we were able to pull it out."
Girls Soccer: Waubonsie Valley 1, St. Charles North 0
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