Batavia breaks through against Geneva

For nearly an hour on Tuesday, Batavia's girls soccer team neutralized Geneva in a way very rare in this rivalry. The Bulldogs maintained possession, kept the Vikings from having a shot on goal and scored a pair of goals themselves.

Then Geneva scored from its first true attacking move of the match, hit the crossbar and made the final moments of the Upstate Eight River contest very heated on an incredibly cold night.

But that strong start was enough to propel Batavia to a 2-1 victory that is the first against the Vikings for Batavia's Class of 2015.

"We've been waiting four years to finally get a win against Geneva," Batavia senior Olivia Callipari said. "So this feels nice. It was great shots and I'm really proud of my team for what we accomplished."

Batavia (8-1-3, 3-1) opened the match powerfully and nearly scored within 3 minutes when Karina Rosales hit the right post. Two minutes later, the Bulldogs had the lead when a Callipari corner kick was half-cleared only as far as Megan McEachern, who scored.

"The first 10-15 minutes, we had a focus and an intensity and we were on them," Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. "We got the goal by pressuring them and we controlled a lot of the play the first 50-60 minutes."

The strong wind which blew through most of the match cut across the field, leaving neither team at an advantage of moving into a headwind. But Geneva (4-5-2, 1-2-2) was still pinned into its half of play and had to deal with a succession of corner kicks and other threatening moves.

Ultimately that pressure resulted in the second goal, when Rosales turned and hit a shot from the top of the penalty area into the net with 81 seconds left before halftime.

"My team was playing very hesitant and very intimidated," Geneva coach Megan Owens said. "We didn't wake up until they scored, which has been a pattern lately. We're young and we're working on it."

Through the first half and early in the second half, the Bulldogs took great advantage of space allowed their midfield players to start attacks.

"There was a lot of space to be able to look up and see the other side of the field and switch the play," Callipari said.

Batavia's momentum continued into the early minutes of the second half and Rosales forced Geneva keeper Carrie Ostergard into a save 7 minutes into the half.

Seventeen minutes into the half, Geneva broke up the left wing and the ball came to Maddie Stellick, whose thunderous 30-yard shot went high into the net.

"We're a work in progress and we're working to get to where we need to be," Owens said. "But it's baby steps because we're so young. There's been so much turnover that there's been a lot of learning and adjusting."

While the match never fully became end-to-end, Geneva broke forward frequently. Three minutes after Stellick's goal, the Vikings earned their first corner kick of the match and with 8 minutes to play, they nearly tied the score when a Megan Fitz free kick hit the upper left corner where the crossbar and goal post come together.

"We have the right components," Owens said. "We just have to learn to put everything together at the right time. In the second half, we played great. Now we have to learn to put two halves together."

Though pressed in the final minutes of the match, the Bulldogs earned their victory.

"It's a learning process," Gianfrancesco said. "I don't think we should have been working as hard as we were in the last 10 minutes. We had a lack of communication, but it's something we'll work at."

In the moments when Batavia's defense needed to tighten, it did. Keeper Jenny Scara played confidently, punching the ball when needed and coming out of her penalty area to clear the ball from danger as well.

"I thought probably the best game in the back was Rachel Reinecke," Gianfrancesco said. "She stepped up and won a lot of balls and was composed and broke a lot of pressure. She and (Scara) were very composed."