WW South, Batavia battle to 3-3 tie

While the play was frenetic and the defending was often error-strewn, the one thing Batavia and Wheaton Warrenville South couldn't find on Monday night was a game-winning goal.

The teams tried hard enough to emerge victorious in what ended as a 3-3 nonconference tie. But after leading 1-0 and 2-1 and then trailing 3-2, host Batavia tied Wheaton Warrenville South when freshman Paige Renfus knocked in a shot with 33 minutes to play.

“I was pretty impressed with the way the freshmen played,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “I started five of them. I was impressed that we jumped on them, pressured them and created some opportunities.”

Both Batavia and Wheaton Warrenville South feature youthful squads this spring. As Gianfrancesco noted, the Bulldogs started five freshmen while the Tigers' starting lineup included three freshmen and two sophomores.

“We were meshing the new and the old on the field and we haven't played on grass in a long time and then we had to adapt to the narrowness of the field,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said. “There's not much that I would take from it other than the fact that we got to see some kids play in a seasoned environment.”

Batavia opened the scoring in the fifth minute when freshman Karina Rosales took the ball and hit a sharp shot from the right portion of the penalty area into the goal at the left post.

“It was nerve-wracking, but it was good though,” Rosales said. “It was my first game but I was really excited.”

That lead lasted just 37 seconds. Wheaton Warrenville South moved quickly upfield and freshman Nikki Molino won the ball in the penalty area and stabbed home her shot.

“We were all nervous,” Molino said. “We were all excited and talking. But once you get out there, we just played our game.”

Shelby Stone put Batavia back into the lead with 18 minutes left in the first half when she top-poked the ball into the goal.

Once again, the Bulldogs' lead was short-lived. Two minutes after Stone's goal, Molly Rossell broke free of Batavia's defense and was taken down in the penalty area. Lexi Peterson converted the resulting penalty kick and the teams were tied 2-2 at halftime.

Peterson, a senior, put Wheaton Warrenville South in the lead for the first time 99 seconds into the second half when she hit a left-to-right shot into the net.

“We have some new people and it will take some time, but I think we had a good start tonight,” Peterson said.

That left the final heroics to fall to Renfus, who won the ball from a defender in the penalty area and scored.