Boys soccer: Batavia blanks West Chicago

After going scoreless in its first two games, Batavia's boys soccer team managed to find the back of the net during Wednesday night's nonconference match with West Chicago.

Davis DiBiase scored on a breakaway off a feed from Luke Laurich just 5 minutes into the game and junior teammate Erik Faessler added an insurance goal midway through the second half during the Bulldogs' 2-0 victory over the Wildcats (1-3-1).

"It has been an indoctrination so to speak," said Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco, whose team graduated several standouts from last year's group that finished 19-3-3 and reached the sectional championship.

"We have six returning guys," the coach added. "Three got significant minutes last year and three others came off the bench. However, none of them had to carry a heavy load last year. That means 15 others haven't been here. To play at the varsity level, it's completely different from JV or playing with your club. Everyone is bigger and stronger."

DiBiase's left-footed shot sneaked past Wildcats keeper Anthony Garcia (10 saves), providing the Bulldogs (2-2-1) with a rare early lead so far on the young season.

"Davis scoring the first goal - that was huge," said Gianfrancesco.

West Chicago went on the attack during the first 10 minutes of the second half, as senior forward Sesar Nieves was turned away twice by Batavia keeper Jimmy Perreault (10 saves). Moments later, a header by junior midfielder Eduardo Suarez sailed just wide of the far post.

"The way we moved the ball in the second half is a much better indication of how we want to play," said Wildcats coach Jose Villa. "However, at the end of the day, it's not the result that we're looking for."

West Chicago peppered 14 second-half shots against the Bulldogs but more than half (8) missed the target.

"It's unfortunate for the outcome but I thought we played with a great sense of urgency in the second half," said Villa. "We created a lot of opportunities but it was a combination of us not hitting the frame or the goalie making a couple of saves."

"They had several quality opportunities in front of the net," said Gianfrancesco, whose team had to play short-handed in the second half due to a red card.

"Our guys did a good job sticking with the game plan even after getting the red card. We stayed focused. We don't want to get used to playing with 10 men though. We had one (red card) last game, too."

Faessler made sure senior teammate Matt Allen's hard work paid off when he scored the Bulldogs' second goal with 27:47 remaining.

"He (Allen) just kept going with it and then put in a good cross," said Faessler. "There was a little bit of miscommunication on their (Wildcats') part but I tapped it in. The center back and goalie went for it at the same time and it popped out right to me."

"Erik creates a lot of mismatches for himself," said Gianfrancesco. "With him being up top, it makes a huge difference for us."