Even in defeat, Geneva is a team
There was no drama at the end of the Geneva boys soccer team's season.
After Neuqua Valley topped Geneva 1-0 at the Class AA Benedictine supersectional in Lisle on Monday, there were no tears, negative attitudes or lame excuses out of the Vikings.
They got beat. It was as simple as that.
"I don't want to say we are content with finishing as sectional champions, because that's not the case. We obviously wanted to go further," Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook said. "We thought we had a team that could compete for the state championship. But it's easier to accept defeat when you know you played hard for the entire game.
"There's no shame in losing to a team like Neuqua Valley. We had a nice field to play on, the referees called a great game. There are no complaints on our part. It's easier to accept (losing) when that happens."
The Vikings began the 2007 season with a team trip to Iowa, where Estabrook is from. They used the trip to bond and form team chemistry.
Team chemistry, however, didn't exactly form right away. It took some time for the Vikings to get used to each other, which may explain why they started the season 3-5-2.
"We were shocked, but we knew we'd bounce back," Geneva senior Max Cary said.
"We just had a sketchy start," added Geneva senior Brian Holbrook. "We just had a chemistry issue earlier in the year. We played some decent teams and didn't put away our chances, but we figured it out and took care of things."
Geneva then had another team-bonding event around the middle of the season. It wasn't out of state -- it was at a bowling alley.
Who knew that would help the Vikings out. After the bowling outing, the team proceeded to win their next 16 consecutive games, took the Western Sun Conference title, won a regional, a sectional and was the last team standing in the Tri-Cities Area in the supersectional.
"It was awesome," Cary said of the winning streak. "We came together at the right time. I'm glad how everything turned out."
"We felt unstoppable for a lot of that," Holbrook added.
It's unfortunate, however, the Vikings ran into a Neuqua Valley team that is ranked fifth in the nation.
"(Neuqua Valley) is clearly the No. 1 team in the state," Estabrook said. "They still haven't lost to any teams in Illinois this year, so they are deserving of that as far as a national ranking."
The Vikings, however, hung in there and never looked out of the game. All the Wildcats (21-1-4) used was a single goal in the first half to advance themselves to the state tournament.
Perhaps any other day, Geneva would be the ones heading to state.
"Rankings really didn't mean anything to us," Holbrook said. "They are a good team, but we can play with anyone and we knew that. We just tried to play our hardest."
The Vikings capped their season 19-6-2.
"It was a good season, even though we are a little disappointed we didn't get to state," Geneva senior Andy Filipiak said. "We had a nice winning streak that really showed we were a solid team who could play with anybody."