Girls Soccer: Lady Hubs kick off season at Harlem

Ward nets 14 saves as Rochelle falls 7-0

Russell Hodges
Posted 3/18/22

The Rochelle Lady Hub varsity soccer team kicked off the 2022 season with a nonconference road matchup against the Harlem Huskies on Thursday. The Lady Hubs hung tough early in the first half, but the Huskies proved too strong in the end, capitalizing on the quick turf field and their back-wind advantage to score a 7-0 victory over Rochelle.

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Girls Soccer: Lady Hubs kick off season at Harlem

Ward nets 14 saves as Rochelle falls 7-0

Posted

MACHESNEY PARK — The Rochelle Lady Hub varsity soccer team kicked off the 2022 season with a nonconference road matchup against the Harlem Huskies on Thursday. The Lady Hubs hung tough early in the first half, but the Huskies proved too strong in the end, capitalizing on the quick turf field and their back-wind advantage to score a 7-0 victory over Rochelle.

Sophomore Danica Ward battled in net for the Lady Hubs (0-1), totaling four of her 14 saves over the first 15 minutes of regulation to keep the match scoreless. Harlem broke the match open with a flurry of goals midway through the first half, however, scoring in the 15th, 16th and 19th minutes to take a 3-0 lead. Goals in the 26th and 40th minutes put the Huskies up 5-0.

“It wasn’t the score we wanted, but I thought we battled in the first half and we had some injuries that hurt our momentum there,” head coach Brad Male said. “I think Danica has come a long way and she’s shown great leadership on our team. I’m looking for her to keep our girls organized in the back and keep them on the ball so we can minimize our shots on goal. I thought she had some tremendous saves during the match and I thought she never gave up.”

Rochelle started the second half strong on defense, holding the Huskies without a goal for nearly 25 minutes until Harlem found the net in the 64th and 66th minutes. The Huskies outshot the Lady Hubs 32-7 and 21-3 in shots on goal. Sophomore Kara Martinez led Rochelle with two shots on goal in the second half, while freshman Makayla Lara added one on goal.

“We’re always talking with our girls about how we have to look for the quick passes,” Male said. “We can’t be dribbling the ball around for too long and I thought we started to move the ball more quickly during the second half, which allowed them to put some quality shots on goal.”