ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Lady Hub varsity soccer team honored its six senior members on Thursday evening, when the purple and white faced off against the Dixon Duchesses.

In a hard fought match that featured a 30-minute lightning delay during the second half, Rochelle nearly pulled off a last-minute rally, with junior midfielder Emma Kennay scoring in the 76th minute to bring the Lady Hubs within one of the Duchesses, who held a 1-0 halftime advantage before adding a second goal midway through the second half. But the Lady Hubs fell just short in the end, conceding a 2-1 loss in their second-to-last home match of the season.

Rochelle (2-17, 0-10 Interstate 8) recognized six seniors including Haley Bozinovich, Dalila Garcia, Kara Martinez, Sydney Thorne, Danica Ward and manager Samantha Thorne in a post-match ceremony on Thursday evening. The Lady Hubs will host Oregon on Saturday before concluding the regular season with a road match at Pecatonica on Tuesday evening.

“It’s always nice to recognize our seniors and all of the work they’ve put in,” head coach Brad Male said. “It’s a bittersweet day, but the seniors have put in a lot of effort this year and we’re hoping that we can win one or two matches. I think we’re continuing to improve on the defensive line and we played tough defense today. We have a lot of young players back there and our goal has been to continue improving. I think we’ve learned a lot as a team this season.”

Dixon possessed the ball in the Rochelle zone for most of the match. The Duchesses struck first during the 25th minute, when a flurry of Dixon players invaded the Rochelle penalty area and placed multiple shots on goal before one rolled into the back of the net. Injuries mounted for the Lady Hubs throughout the match, as junior defenders Betty Flores and Anahi Cervantes both departed during the first half and Flores didn’t return for the remainder of the match.

Despite the injuries, Rochelle fought to keep the Duchesses within striking distance. The 1-0 match continued into the 55th minute, when the lightning delay forced both teams off the field. Action resumed around 30 minutes later, with Dixon scoring on a close-range shot in the 66th minute that floated over the head of the Rochelle goalkeeper Ward and into the net.

The Lady Hubs found late life in the 76th minute, when a long-range shot on goal from junior midfielder Makayla Lara deflected off the hands of the Dixon goalkeeper and rolled directly to Kennay, who booted the ball into the net for Rochelle’s first goal of the match. But the Lady Hubs were unable to find an equalizer, as Dixon continued pressuring in the final minutes.

Oregon

The Rochelle Lady Hub varsity soccer team played its final home match of the season on Saturday morning, when the purple and white hosted Oregon in nonconference play.

Junior forward Jeannette Valle scored Rochelle’s lone goal, finding the net during the first half as the Hawks defeated the Lady Hubs 8-1. Rochelle (2-18, 0-10 Interstate 8) will conclude the regular season with a road match against Pecatonica on Tuesday evening.