STREATOR — The Rochelle varsity girls soccer team had a difficult time containing the Streator offense when the Lady Hubs squared off against the Bulldogs last season. This year’s matchup proved to be a far more defensive battle.

Looking to avenge their 7-0 home loss to Streator last year, the Lady Hubs hit the road Tuesday looking for another nonconference victory after topping Oregon this past week. Both teams played a scoreless first half before the Bulldogs broke the game open with three goals in the second half to win by a final score of 3-0. Rochelle fell to 1-2 overall with the loss.

“I thought we attacked well and I thought we communicated well,” head coach Brad Male said. “We did some nice things in the first half. The conditions of the field got us in the second half. The ball took some odd bounces on us, and I think that once we lost our momentum, we were never able to get back into the game.”

Sophomore Vianey Perusquia took two shots on goal over the first six minutes of the game, but the Lady Hubs were unable to strike first. The Rochelle defense held Streator to four shots on goal in the first half. Carrying a scoreless game into the second half before the Bulldogs jumped ahead 1-0 with a goal in the 45^th minute.

Shortly after Rochelle freshman Lizbeth Milan put a shot on goal, the Bulldogs added to their lead, scoring in the 53^rd minute to go ahead 2-0. Another goal in the 64^th minute put Streator in cruise control for the remainder of the second half. Junior Viviana Belmonte finished with seven saves for the Lady Hubs.

“We have to continue looking for each other and we have to stay spread out on the field,” Male said. “We need to move the ball a little quicker and we need to continue making our runs forward… Viviana’s done an exceptional job back there. She’s had a lot of shots against her and she’s done admirably. I’m looking for her to keep improving and running the defense more.”