Boys soccer: Geneva comes from behind to dump Huntley

Forced to play from behind after allowing a late first-half goal, Geneva's boys soccer team faced an uphill mental battle Saturday afternoon against nonconference foe Huntley.

It was a battle that the Vikings eventually won, 2-1, thanks in part to a pair of second-half goals from senior forward Ryan Albrecht.

Part of that battle may have started earlier this summer in of all places - Muscatine, Iowa.

"One of our preseason activities was shoveling 30 tons of heavy rocks," said Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook. "It took us three hours to do that. It was not necessarily a pleasant experience but it was an experience that did help develop toughness in ourselves - to go hard for every minute we're out there."

Huntley (1-2) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the first half on Aaron Ruffner's fourth goal of the young season.

Luke Loprieno's quick pass to his right found Ruffner, who delivered a low shot past Vikings junior keeper Jay Bode (7 saves).

"Huntley was real strong on their quick counter and finish," said Estabrook. "We had to pay for that."

The Vikings notched the equalizer just 4 minutes into the second half, as junior midfielder Jack Cottrell sent a long shot that caromed off the crossbar and fell straight down to the waiting foot of Albrecht at the corner of the net.

"He scored a brace today, however, normally he's the one setting players up," Estabrook said of Albrecht.

Eric Anderson and Jack Belloli combined to help set up the game-winning tally, drawing a hand ball call on the Red Raiders in the box.

Albrecht converted the penalty kick, giving the Vikings (1-2) their first lead in three games.

"I think the first goal and part of the second was because of dedication and 100 percent focus all 80 minutes," said Albrecht, who has scored all 3 of the team's goals this season. "We were obviously frustrated being scored on in the last minute (of the first half) but we knew going into it we had to get two goals and luckily we did."

"We'll take the goals but we know he's going to be consistent in putting us in dangerous positions," said Estabrook.

After season-opening losses to West Chicago and South Elgin, the time was right for the Vikings to post their first victory.

"Momentum is a powerful thing," said Estabrook. "Once it starts moving stronger in one direction, it's harder to reverse that course. I know our guys have a lot of character. We've come back from deficits twice this year."

Despite the loss, Huntley coach Kris Grabner saw plenty of positives.

"I thought we played good enough soccer to win the game," said Grabner. "We possessed the ball better today. We swung the ball side to side a little bit better today.

"We went up to Marian Central (Wednesday) and won 4-1 but really didn't play well. I left Marian Central being pretty upset about the way we played. I'm leaving here thinking a lot more positively."