Girls soccer: Batavia edges Geneva to claim regional title
Conference season is supposed to be over with the high school girls soccer postseason in full swing.
But for Batavia it's lasting a little while longer.
The Bulldogs, seeded fourth in the Class 3A Schaumburg sectional, prevailed 1-0 on Friday night in their own regional final over longtime Tri-Cities rival and current DuKane Conference opponent, fifth-seeded Geneva.
The win pushed the Bulldogs to 17-4-2 and Batavia now heads to Schaumburg on Wednesday to face another DuKane squad, top-seeded St. Charles North in a sectional semifinal at 4:30 p.m.
The North Stars defeated St. Francis 5-1 on Friday to win the St. Francis regional.
Like against Geneva (11-6-2), Batavia will be going for its second win of the season against the North Stars.
"We'll approach it the same as before," said Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco. "St. Charles North is physical and aggressive and they have that winning attitude they bring. If you are not ready to play, they will steamroll you."
This game gave off the impression early that one goal from either team was going to win it and that came true. Batavia got on the scoreboard with 18:27 remaining until halftime. Junior Grace Salyers took advantage of a deflection off a Geneva defender and deposited the ball in the opposite end of the net to put the Bulldogs ahead.
"A defender approached me. I cut inside, then outside and then went toward the goal and got the shot in," Salyers said.
She continues to be a big factor for the Bulldogs despite not being 100 percent physically.
"I'm in the training room every day after school and they (the staff) keep me recovering," Salyers said.
In addition to her goal, Salyers had other solid scoring chances throughout the 80 minutes of play.
"Even if she's hurt, she keeps going. She's not 100 percent, but she's huge," Gianfrancesco said.
The goalkeepers from both teams saw a little more action in the second half than in the first. Geneva's Katie Montgomery made five of her seven saves in the final 40 minutes. Batavia's Hailey Flannagan made four saves in the second half including three tough saves on excellent shots from the Vikings' Jenna Dominguez, Sydney Gratz and Katie Niermann.
"Even though we went up in the first half, it still came down to who wanted it more," said Batavia's Kate Schoenfelder.
Geneva coach Megan Owens said it simply came down to the Vikings' inability to finish scoring chances.
"We played well. We struggled to connect, but the effort was there. An unlucky deflection led to their goal. You can't control the outcome, but you can control effort," she said. "Batavia is a great team."