Batavia, Geneva finish hard-fought battle in tie

Whether they were playing in the Little Seven, the Suburban Prairie, the Western Sun or, as they will next year in the Upstate Eight - Geneva and Batavia have always saved that little extra edge for their encounters with each other.

Wednesday's girls soccer match between the two rivals was similar to many in this long-standing rivalry which took place for the last time as a Western Sun Conference match and which ended in a 1-1 tie. The word "classic" will never be used to describe the taut battle. Words like "scrappy" and "hard-fought" fit better.

But after Batavia scored the opening goal 5 minutes into the match, everyone knew there would be a Geneva response at some point - whether it ended in a goal or not. And then that Vikings resurgence resulted in a game-tying goal 13 minutes into the second half, it was inevitable that the Bulldogs would lift themselves too.

And while red-clad Batavia and white-shirted Geneva both walked off the Burgess Field grass, each unhappy for failing to win - everyone seemed to feel the result reflected the play on the pitch itself.

"I think it was a good match," Batavia senior Tory Kinnard said. "We got the early goal. But they're tough and they're scrappy. They know they're good. We could have won, but they were good too."

Tara Rush gave the Bulldogs the lead when she knocked in the ball following a goalmouth scramble just under 5 minutes into the match. That scramble started with a Becky Bartos corner kick.

"A lot of heads went up and a lot of bobbles were happening," Rush said. "I saw an opening and headed it in there."

From a Geneva perspective, the fact that the ball bounced around so much inside their penalty area was a cause for concern and discussion.

"For them to get three headers in a row to score that goal is a lack of effort on our part," Geneva coach Megan Owens said.

Batavia (6-3-3, 2-0-2) rode the momentum of that goal through the midpoint of the half. Geneva (9-5-2, 3-0-1) slowly worked its way back into the match and began to create chances though the Bulldogs kept their lead at halftime.

"We were a little flat in the beginning," Geneva's Sammi Hill said. "It showed in the first half. We needed to pick it up."

Free space was a luxury in the match. But 13 minutes into the second half, Amanda Lulek got loose on the right wing, beat her defender for pace and dribbled in on the right edge of the penalty area. Lulek sent a ball across the six-yard box on the ground and Hill met that ball at the left post and scored.

"I wish it could have been a win," Hill said. "But it felt good to get a goal and to tie it up."

Now Geneva created the best chances to score a second goal, notably from a Kristin Rodriguez volley that hit the crossbar and a Hill flick that just went wide.

"The mood changed," Kinniard said. "It went from happy to nerve-racking. It was just everywhere and everyone started to freak out."

Then Batavia surged again and had a series of opportunities as the match neared its end. Bartos had a ball headed away, Liz Barnes put a free header wide and Hillary Cooper shot wide.

"We had the momentum going," Kinniard said. "If only we had five more minutes, we could have gotten one in."

Ironically, Geneva was hoping for a 45-minute second half as well. "It took us a while to find our groove," Geneva's Sarah Tennant said. "I thought we could win it at the end. But their defense was strong."