Metea Valley comes back to earn draw against Batavia

Metea Valley first-year girls soccer coach Chris Whaley was disappointed when snow forced a postponement of a nonconference game against Batavia last month.

He still did whatever he could to ensure it would be rescheduled because he knew playing the senior-heavy Bulldogs would ultimately be beneficial to his team.

During Monday's game the Mustangs fell behind 3-1 but rallied to earn a 3-3 draw in Aurora.

"It was a good night," he said. "Batavia has got a good team with a lot of experience and that's what I wanted for our girls."

Metea Valley (2-1-3) became the first team to score against the Bulldogs this spring as sophomore Jade Eriksen-Russo gave the Mustangs an early 1-0 lead with 27:47 remaining in the first half.

"Momentum is a real important thing and I think after we got that goal we had a lot of confidence," Eriksen-Russo said. "I think it really helped us, even after they went ahead, we still felt like we could come back."

Batavia (3-0-3) hadn't allowed a goal coming in, so giving up that first one was major, but it didn't prove to be something to faze them in the least.

Junior Megan McEachern notched the equalizer at 16:15, using her speed to accelerate up the right wing and then connect with a pass from Keegan Maris.

"I just had to finish far post," McEachern said. "All the credit should go to Keegan. She had the ball in the middle and just chipped it to me on the side."

McEachern would then put the Bulldogs ahead 2-1 with her second goal at 14:09 before Alexis Bryl converted a penalty kick at 9:20, as the Bulldogs seized momentum with a 3-1 lead.

"Being down 3-1, the girls showed a lot of resilience and perseverance," Whaley said. "They battled back and there probably was a point there where Batavia probably thought it was going to be an easy night, especially after the penalty kick."

Metea Valley senior Alena Sidwell's goal just before half with only 2:26 remaining pulled the Mustangs to within 3-2 and seemed to give the team the confidence it needed to complete the rally.

"I think it says a lot about how our team keeps fighting," Sidwell said. "We got down, but we finished strong. We would've liked to win, but we still got a strong result."

Eriksen-Russo scored with just less than 17 minutes remaining in the game off a rebound shot to draw the teams even at 3-3.

"I just picked up the scraps," she said. "It got blocked a bit and I just did what I could."

Both teams had a couple scoring chances the rest of the way but nothing that seriously challenged either keeper. Both teams now turn their attention to a busy week of conference action.