Girls soccer: Geneva, Batavia battle to 1-1 deadlock

It was almost an indignity for the two archest of rivals Tuesday night in Batavia.

When Geneva freshman Annie Brolly authored the equalizer, there would be no more scoring in the Upstate Eight River girls soccer match.

Coming three-plus minutes after Batavia forward Anna Holcombe opened the scoring for the Bulldogs, the teams ultimately had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

As is typically the case when it comes to Batavia and Geneva meeting in an athletic encounter, there were many potential outcomes.

"I wish we won, but I thought we played a pretty good game," said Holcombe, who broke a scoreless halftime match with a brilliant maneuver and goal almost nine minutes into the second half.

"We should have won this game, to be honest," Geneva coach Megan Owens said.

But the Vikings earned a minor consolation prize as the draw snapped the Bulldogs' 10-match winning streak.

Batavia is 10-1-2 after opening the season with a loss and draw.

The Bulldogs are 3-0-1 in the River play.

Geneva is 7-5-2 and 2-1-1.

Brolly is a defensive back, but the freshman was forcing the action in the Bulldogs' end when she scored from the penalty area with 27 minutes, 46 seconds to play.

"I saw the back of the net," Brolly said. "I focus on the getting up the field and supporting the midfield."

The remainder of the match was a tactical affair as neither team truly had an outstanding opportunity to break the deadlock.

But that was certainly not the case to close out the frenetic play of the opening half.

After being stymied defensively by the Bulldogs, Geneva had a non-scoring flourish to remember in a roughly 60-second span with roughly four minutes to play.

Geneva had no fewer than three corner kicks during the sequence.

Seemingly on the doorstep for the first goal more than once, Geneva could not truly solve the Bulldogs' back row during the span.

"I don't how we didn't finish there," Owens said.

Holcombe was a central reason as the junior was instrumental in the Vikings' Caitlin Farrell not breaking the ice.

Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco is accustomed to strategic ploys against fellow Tri-Cities opponents.

"The middle was the key in the whole match," Gianfrancesco said. "When we were doing well in there, we looked pretty good."

But Gianfrancesco also noted that when the Vikings held a similar position, "they stuffed it down our throat,"

But Batavia had another intangible, according to Holcombe. "We played pretty physical the whole game," Holcombe said.

"They have a nice team and a nice record," Owens said of the Bulldogs. "We showed we're right there with them."