Batavia hands West Aurora first loss of season

Batavia headed into Wednesday's nonconference boys soccer match in pursuit of its first victory of the season while visiting West Aurora entered undefeated and riding a 6-game winning streak.

That all began to change when a 35-yard shot by Batavia's Cam Callipari somehow eluded West Aurora backup goalkeeper Fernando Ortiz with 6 minutes and several seconds remaining in the opening half.

Batavia would carry the momentum into the second half, scoring three additional goals to bury the Blackhawks, 4-1.

"Batavia played really well, but it was our worst game of the year," West Aurora coach Joe Sustersic said. "Not sure if it was too hot in school today but some of these guys wilted before the game. No excuses though. They deserved the butt kicking and I hope they learn from it and take it to Oswego (Saturday)."

Batavia (1-1-1) wasted little time, giving itself a cushion when junior Cody Witkowski scored on a breakaway less than 2 minutes into the second half.

"Lalo (Cuautle) played a great ball and I just had to beat the defenders and finished," Witkowski said. "Coach said we need to keep attacking and get an early goal in the second half and to just keep pushing and the goals would come."

The goals would certainly continue to come.

"You saw a lot more intensity after we scored that second goal," Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. "You saw a lot more sense of urgency. We were playing the ball quicker, we started communicating and prior to that you can't say that was happening."

West Aurora (6-1-0) created some opportunities for Mario Alvarez, Josue Martinez and Danny Talancon to score, but the Blackhawks weren't able to finish.

"Offensively we're going to have some trouble, we know that," Sustersic said. "The truth is, and I've said it to the boys, is that we are consistently inconsistent. A guy looks good, then he's mediocre and then he's spectacular so we're still trying to figure things out."

That was one of the main reasons why the Blackhawks mixed things up, playing 17 players in the first half alone.

Batavia extended its lead to 3-0 with 22:33 remaining on a header by Anton Kondaurov. The Bulldogs would tack on an additional goal from senior Sam Schlicher with 3:57 remaining

"We're just getting better," Gianfrancesco said. "A nice young nucleus of guys that come out and play, and had some seniors that popped in like Anton and Sam Schlicher, who had an assist and a goal, and when you're not expecting stuff out of those guys and they come out and do that, that's nice."

The Blackhawks avoided the shutout close to midway through the second half when Robert Chavez curled a shot past goalkeeper Ben Steskal.

The status of the Blackhawks own starting keeper, Abel Diaz, is uncertain. Diaz, who had 12 shutouts in 2009, might return from a recent injury as soon as Saturday.