(Sugar Grove, IL) – Waubonsee Community College's women's soccer team opened the Region 4 Division II Tournament with a hard fought 2-1 win over Kankakee Community College. On a bright and sunny fall afternoon in the far west suburbs the Chiefs (9-6) outshot the Cavaliers (7-7-2) in the match 26-12 en route to victory. Coach Brad Schlemmer's crew is set to host 18th ranked Bryant & Stratton College (11-1-1) from Wisconsin on Tuesday, November 1 at 2:30 p.m. in a final four match. The other semi-final match will pit 16th ranked South Suburban College (11-3-1) against the College of Lake County (4-7-2), which scored a huge upset win over 14th ranked and previously undefeated Triton College (10-1) on penalty kicks 5-4. The semi-final winners will square off for the Region 4 Championship a week from today on Saturday, November 5. 

Much of the action in the early going was on the Cavaliers end of the pitch. Waubonsee put pressure on the visitor's defense, but Kankakee keeper Kaitlyn Randle was able to turn back a couple of Chiefs' shots on goal. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers had a solid shot sail wide right of the net in the 25th minute, as the match remained scoreless. In the 33^rd minute Waubonsee got a three-on-one breakaway, but Randle came out from the net and made a sliding stop to thwart the Chiefs' scoring opportunity. As the first half wound down Waubonsee keeper Paige MacRitchie made a pair of nice saves to keep the Cavaliers off the board. The Chiefs finally broke through with Kankakee's assistance. In the 43^rd minute a foul on the Cavaliers in the box gave the Chiefs a penalty kick. Amy Flores then ripped a shot into the upper right corner as Randle lunged to the left to give Waubonsee a 1-0 lead. The spirited half of play finished with the Chiefs holding that 1-0 lead.

The second half then started with a diving stop by MacRitchie on the defensive end and a header by the Chiefs' Madison Stevens that went over the top of the cross bar as Waubonsee ramped up its attack. In the 51^st minute Randle made another nice play as she leaped in a crowd and punched away a Chiefs' corner kick. Two minutes later she dove to knock away another shot on goal by Ashleigh Wackerlin. Just moments later the Chiefs' Sarai Munoz cashed in when she drilled a left-footed shot from near the right post past a diving Randle and into the far side of the net for a 2-0 Chiefs' lead. Over the next five minutes of play Randle had to make three more saves to keep Waubonsee from adding to its lead.

MacRitchie then made a leaping grab to stop a Cavaliers' shot in the 73^rd minute to keep Kankakee from any thoughts of a comeback. Waubonsee nearly tacked on an insurance goal in the 80^th minute when Wackerlin poked a shot over Randle from 8 yard out. However, the shot bounced just outside the right post keeping the Cavaliers' slim hopes alive. The Chiefs' defensive unit of Flores, Anna Corneliusen, Arizbeth Sanchez, Molly Herbig and MacRitchie were able to keep the Cavaliers off the scoreboard until the 87^th minute. Kankakee broke the shutout when Isabella Fritz blasted a shot just out of the reach of MacRitchie and into the upper right corner from 7 yards out. Waubonsee was able to run out the clock the last three minutes to hang on and advance to the second round of the tournament. MacRitchie finished with six saves in net.