Elgin, Batavia battle to 1-1 tie

The Batavia boys soccer team knew it had its work cut out for it trying to preserve its unbeaten record against host Elgin at Memorial Field Tuesday.

The Bulldogs got out without a loss but just barely after playing to a 1-1 tie in Upstate Eight River action.

Batavia controlled the ball for much of the first half, but the Maroons (5-2-2) came away with the only goal when Jonathon Sandavol scored with 22 minutes left in the half.

Batavia (8-0-1) evened it up when Calvin Baez scored with about 30 minutes to go in the game. Both goals came from almost exactly the same spot on the field.

“What it boiled down to was two good teams,” said Elgin coach Dave Borg. “They had their chances as well as we did. It was a great Upstate Eight battle. It’s great to see some new faces doing well.

“In terms of our play, our defense speaks for itself. We gave up one goal to a team that (some polls) had ranked fourth. We liked our chances today. I don’t know if anybody else liked ours.”

Tony Benitez made several acrobatic saves in goal to keep the Maroons in the game.

“We knew it was going to be tough,” said Batavia coach Mark Gionfrancesco. “They take advantage of their opportunities.

“In the first half, they only had 2 shots on the frame and one went in. We fell asleep on the corner kick. We pretty much dominated, but we weren’t getting shots necessarily on goal and finishing.”

After Baez tied the game, the Bulldogs, ranked No. 7 in the latest Daily Herald Top 20, did have some chances to take the lead but couldn’t finish.

Cody Witkowski had an open shot, but it was deflected at the last second and Benitez made the save. Minutes later, Cody Balogh found himself all alone on the left side. He tried to chip a ball over Benitez, who had come out, but sailed it just a bit too high.

In a well-played game, the teams chased each other all over the field. Batavia controlled the ball early, but Sandavol’s goal seemed to swing the momentum to 17th-ranked Elgin for the middle portion of the game.