Geneva strikes back

Geneva may have been clad in blue on Wednesday night, but the Vikings saw red from the moment they entered Batavia's soccer field.

Playing with last year's defeat by the Bulldogs searing inside them, the Vikings tore into Batavia from the beginning of the annual match between these old rivals. Geneva never let up either, and claimed a 3-0 Western Sun Conference victory.

"We really wanted to come back," Geneva senior Megan Spear said. "Last year, they beat us on our home field and we wanted to come out strong. We wanted to prove it to them that we're a top team. We want to prove it to everybody."

Geneva (6-5-1, 4-0) gained a bit of fortune on its first goal when a Demi Miller cross was deflected into the Batavia net by a Bulldogs defender. Fluke plays like that opening goal in the ninth minute have been commonplace this season for Batavia (4-4-2, 1-2-1.)

"We've had penalty kicks, we've had goals scored with no time left, and an own goal now," Batavia coach Jim McAlpin said. "We just have to fight through it. We got whipped thoroughly today. That's what happens. When things go bad, they tend to go from bad to worse, and today was a good example."

The Vikings began to dominate in all areas of the field. They possessed the ball more, created more chances and had significantly more shots on goal. So there wasn't a tremendous amount of surprise when Geneva doubled its lead 14 minutes into the match. Sarah Tennant played the ball forward to Abbey Schroeder, who volleyed the ball into the net.

"They were really motivated by last year," Geneva coach Megan Owens said. "We talked before the game that this game was about pride. They came into our place last year and beat us. We wanted to get that back, and we played a solid game."

The second half progressed much as the first, except that Geneva's dominance became greater. By the final quarter-hour of the match, the Vikings were dictating the pace at which the match was played.

"We were really doing a good job working up the field," Spear said. "The forwards were doing an awesome job, and so were the outside mids. Everyone did an awesome job."

But despite all that dominance, Geneva didn't add to its lead until Kailey Rote sent a pass with 13 minutes left to Natalie Johnson, who scored.

"We had a lot of chances and a lot of opportunities offensively," Owens said. "We moved the ball well, and it was great to see."

Spear is a threat on all fields with her long throw-in. Batavia's field is thinner than most, so that weapon was especially devastating. Time and again, those long throws put pressure on the Bulldogs defense.

"The goal's closer so it's nice," Spear said. "I'm able to lob it in there for there. And my team is there and they did a good job on it."

Surprisingly given the passionate nature of Batavia-Geneva matches, there was never a time when Batavia put sustained pressure on the Vikings.

"We just got outworked all night," McAlpin said. "We had 11 players but we didn't have a team. They were struggling to survive."

Geneva's Thursday game against Waubonsie Valley in the Naperville Invitational has been moved from Waubonsie Valley to Burgess Field due to Waubonsie Valley's field being waterlogged.

Kickoff is still 5 p.m. Owens said the Vikings will also play a home match on Friday night against an opponent to be determined to conclude their play in the tournament.