Boys soccer: Geneva charges back to tie Streamwood

"Smorgasbord" is a Swedish term for a buffet style meal where lots of hot and cold dishes are served.

Geneva, home of midsummer Swedish Days and where the school nickname is Vikings served a varied table on the Burgess Field artificial turf during Tuesday's Upstate Eight Conference River Division boys soccer match with Streamwood.

The Vikings scored within the opening two minutes of play, then went cold while the visiting Sabres heated up for 3 unanswered goals. A halftime rain provided limited relief before the teams served a frantic second half, in which Geneva rallied in the final quarter-hour for a pair of goals that ended the match in a 3-3 tie.

"At least it's early in the season, and not late in the season, but the guys will have to learn from it," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said.

As stirring as the comeback was for Geneva (1-3-3, 0-0-1), the Vikings were aware they very nearly lost the match.

"I think this is a game we can look back at as a defining game, even though we only got a tie," Geneva's Matt Waldoch said. "Even if we hadn't gotten a tying goal, we would have learned from this game about how much a mental lapse can kill us."

Geneva scored early and late in the match. The Vikings got a Robert Glass goal following a run up the right wing on its first serious attack of the match.

Stung into action, Streamwood (4-2-1, 0-0-1) moved straight to attack, and scored 3 minutes after Glass' goal when Donnie Sosa shot, forced a rebound and forced home a second shot while Geneva's defense dithered.

"What really hurt us was giving up that first goal," Polovin said. "That was really uncharacteristic of us. Coming off a great week and a great tournament and then playing our first conference game, that never should have happened."

The match swung from end to end in the opening 20 minutes before the Sabres took control. Geneva nearly regained the lead when Waldoch hit a shot from 10 yards into the half firmly off the right post.

Then Streamwood's speed of play increased and Geneva struggled. Fifteen minutes into the match, Edwin Rueda hit a low, long shot that deflected off a Vikings defender and went into the net. Nine minutes later, on a quick break into the penalty area, Aldo Lazaro was tripped and Sosa converted the penalty kick for his second goal of the match.

"We have a lot of speedy guys on the wings and also in the midfield," Sosa said. "That works out pretty well for us. Goals are nice, but I'd rather walk out of here with a win. It's frustrating, and we'll probably have a quiet bus ride home. But tomorrow's a new day."

The match had started 10 minutes early to lessen the impact of a swift-moving storm, and that heavy rainfall came in the final minutes of the first half. Despite trailing 3-1, Geneva struggled through the opening 20 minutes of the second half to gain traction.

"We played Morton (4-0 loss) and learned a lot about the way they were able to play so quickly," Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook said. "We learned that if we don't mark players off the ball, skillful, talented players are going to pick up apart."

Then, when it seemed the Sabres would apply the finishing touches and cruise to victory, Geneva found another gear and surged. Awarded a corner kick with 12 minutes to play, the Vikings kept the ball near the penalty area and Drew Klaus hammered his team's second goal.

Six minutes from the end of the match, Geneva's Drew Geismann sent a shot just outside the right post and Streamwood survived. There was no reprieve with 1:44 left when a Streamwood defender handled the ball in the penalty area and Ryan Albrecht hammered the penalty kick into the net.

"This match shows our fighting spirit," Waldoch said. "We came back strong that last 15 minutes. Unfortunately, it had to come to that. It's never good to give up three unanswered goals, but it's nice the way we came back."