ROCHELLE — The Lady Hubs varsity soccer team suffered a tough loss against Mendota to start the 2018 season on Monday, but the Rochelle girls returned to their home field and turned in a solid rebound effort when the purple and white hosted Oregon for nonconference play on Wednesday.

While Rochelle trailed for nearly all of its 8-1 loss at Mendota, the Lady Hubs controlled Wednesday’s matchup with Oregon from the start. Junior midfielder Olivia Piloni (3’) put Rochelle on the scoreboard right away, and the Lady Hubs cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Hawks to improve to 1-1 on the season.

“The win helps us boost our confidence,” Piloni said. “Monday was our first game all playing together and it was rough, but getting a win at home really helps us… We’re so excited to play this year and we have a lot of new girls… This is our home field and we really gained a better understanding of who’s going to play what position.”

The opening goal was Piloni’s second of the season, and the strike came on an assist by junior midfielder Sarah Craven, who connected with Piloni for Rochelle’s lone goal against Mendota on Monday. Leading 1-0 over Oregon, the Lady Hubs took a commanding 2-0 lead after freshman Vianey Perusquia (13’) booted in her first goal of the season.

“It was really nice to see the girls bounce back,” head coach Chris Blevins said. “Monday was a day where they could get a feel of where they fit on the field, and after working on some things in practice Tuesday, the girls really got a feel for what to do… They were keeping their spacing, making runs and making better passes.”

Oregon scored its only goal of the evening at the 22-minute mark to cut Rochelle’s lead to 2-1, but the Hawks couldn’t muster up much offense during Wednesday’s contest. Blevins emphasized controlling the outsides of the field before kickoff, and Blevins said his defenders including junior Keelyn Sarmiento stepped up to help Rochelle remain tough on the outsides.

“There weren’t any real major mistakes today and overall I thought they played really good soccer,” Blevins said. “Our defenders were holding their lines and pushing up. They trusted that the outside midfielders were going to be there. Our forwards did a good job staying connected and our center midfielders did a great job controlling the field and not leaving any holes.”

Senior forward Alyssa Cepeda (55’) put Rochelle ahead by two goals once again in the second half, scoring off a pass by Jocelyn Lopez to put the Lady Hubs ahead 3-1. Rochelle’s final goal came from junior Gillian Higby (68’) who tapped in a soaring corner kick from Perusquia to ice the Lady Hub victory. Sophomore Viviana Belmonte recorded four saves in net for Rochelle.

“We’re definitely going to continue working on making runs up front,” Blevins said. “Our center midfielders need to continue doing what they did today and continue moving the ball to the outsides.”