It only makes sense that a girls soccer game featuring a nearly constant downpour of rain would be played in a town called Waterman.
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WATERMAN — It only makes sense that a girls soccer game featuring a nearly constant downpour of rain would be played in a town called Waterman.
But despite the difficult conditions, the Lady Hubs varsity soccer team drew Indian Creek by a score of 1-1 to move to 1-3-1 on the season. Head coach Chris Blevins said he was proud of his team’s effort on Monday after a pair of tough losses to Streator and Yorkville in which Rochelle was outscored by a combined total of 10-0.
“The rain makes it tough, especially for the girls,” Blevins said. “Fortunately we didn’t have any wind today… The effort overall was really good today. We just have to keep pushing ahead and we have out first conference game against Ottawa coming up so we’ll see how that goes.”
Looking to avoid a fourth shutout in five games, Rochelle took a 1-0 lead in the first half when senior defender Celeste Almaraz (38’) pushed the ball down the left sidelined and fired a left-footed kick into the Indian Creek goal. Both teams spent a lot of time in the other’s territory, but the goal was a welcoming sight for both Blevins and the Lady Hubs.
“It’s vitally important to get that first goal in,” Blevins said. “That first shot motivated the girls but they were working hard and they just got tired at the end. We weren’t keeping the pressure on… Our defense did a good job and we came in with more of a defensive approach so we wouldn’t give as many goals away.”
For most of the second half it looked like the Lady Hubs were bound to collect their second win of the season, but Indian Creek continued to push the Rochelle players back into their own zone. With roughly 10 minutes to play, the Timberwolves launched a ball from the right sideline over the Lady Hub defenders and just over the top of Rochelle sophomore goalkeeper Holli Drew to tie the game at 1-1.
The Lady Hubs attempted to jump back ahead with one final push in the final three minutes, but Indian Creek’s defense would stand tall as the buzzer sounded and the rain finally began to subside.
“We had some good things going up front over the last 3-4 minutes but it just didn’t play out in our favor,” Blevins said.
