SYCAMORE — To say the odds were against the Lady Hubs varsity soccer team on Tuesday would be a bit of an understatement.

With two players missing due to injuries, the sixth-seeded Rochelle girls traveled to Sycamore High School for their IHSA Class 2A Regional Semifinal against the top-seeded Lady Spartans, who took home third place in the state finals last season and entered their regional contest with the Lady Hubs boasting a 16-1-4 overall record. Despite a willing effort by the purple and white, Sycamore’s high-powered offense proved far too difficult to contain, as the Lady Spartans scored nine goals in the first half en route to a 10-0 victory.

“They have a stellar team,” Rochelle head coach Chris Blevins said. “I told the girls coming in… Let’s be as aggressive as possible and let’s learn what we can because this is a team we can learn from.”

Sycamore (17-1-4) surged into Tuesday’s regional clash having won seven of its last eight games, while the Lady Hubs (2-13-3) took the field aiming to snap an eight-game losing streak. The Lady Spartans showed right away why they were the No. 1 seed in the regional bracket, scoring roughly one goal every four minutes in the first half thanks to some crisp side-to-side ball movement and a barrage of quick passes through the middle that wore the Rochelle defense down.

“A lot of things happened in the first half,” Blevins said. “I’m hoping the girls will be able to look at this game and remember what [Sycamore] did as well as the things we worked on and talked about this year… We’re trying to get to that level but it will be a challenge.”

Sophomore goalie Holli Drew tallied a season-high 21 saves for the Lady Hubs, but even her gutsy effort in net wouldn’t be enough to slow the Sycamore offense down. With the game practically out of reach, Rochelle switched some players around in the second half to try and create some new energy as the girls’ season came closer to its end.

“We told them to go out and have some fun in the second half,” Blevins said. “Nancy [Torres] and Olivia [Piloni] have been playing defense all year so we moved them up front… I thought everybody played well in the second half.”

Sycamore will face either Kaneland or Sterling in the regional finals Friday afternoon, while the Lady Hubs will enter the summer looking to gear up for next season. Five seniors (Abby Kerns, Ashley Kerns, Celeste Almaraz, Alyssa Stauch and Torres) will be leaving the program, but Blevins said he’s looking forward to building up the program as he continues to lead a rebuilding effort.

“We have a lot of girls who are in their first year and now they have some experience under their belts,” Blevins said. “I know we have some other girls talking about coming out next year as well, and I’m going to try and open up some eighth-graders to do open soccer in the fall. It was a great learning experience and the girls all had a great attitude at the end of it.”