New faces producing familiar results at Geneva

Every year, at every high school, a new season brings a series of new faces, new expectations and the nervous excitement of not knowing who will star, who will struggle and how the team will fare when it goes and plays its games.

Then there is Geneva's girls soccer team, which has those things to a near-ridiculous level this season. There are teams whose teams have suffered turnover, but the Vikings came as close to fielding a new team as it is possible without actually doing so.

Geneva ended its 2007 campaign with nine seniors on the field at the start of its sectional semifinal loss to St. Charles East. Those players, and a couple of key senior subs all graduated, leaving this year's on-field squad not only fresh-faced to fans, but inexperienced to boot.

"I've never had anything come close to this," Geneva girls soccer coach Ryan Estabrook said. "Part of it was that we had such a strong senior class. Some girls never had their opportunity until others graduated. We also had some young talent that wasn't ready. It ended up being a perfect storm that led to an overhaul for our varsity team."

In its last game, the total of games started for the 11 starters totaled 563. Saturday night, Geneva met St. Charles East in the finale of the Saints girls soccer invitational, and the total number of games started was 124.

"Normally, I have a lot of thoughts about a team before a season begins," Estabrook said. "I'll think about the formation we're going to play or the style that will best suit the personnel we have. I wasn't able to plan going into this season. I felt I was at Square One."

Think how the players themselves felt. Of the holdovers from the 2007 squad, senior Elise Farrelly has the most starts -- 59.

"I knew Emily Hinchman and we kind of stuck together," Farrelly said. "I knew Bri Santacaterina, who is back with us this year. Other than that, it was pretty much a real surprise. Coming to tryouts, I was pretty nervous, knowing it was my senior year and we lost so many players. So far, we've shown well."

Farrelly plays defense, and that is the one area where the Vikings have some continuity. Hinchman returned to a role that sees her play some defense and some midfield, Alex Waldie had some considerable playing time while not starting many matches and Santacaterina returned after playing club soccer for two seasons.

"Defense is a great position to build your team around," Estabrook said. "We're fortunate that we feel so strong at the back."

Through four matches this season, that defense has been strong. The Vikings allowed a goal against Naperville Central and another to St. Charles East and entered this week with a 3-1 record.

"I don't think that it's the results that we get so much as it is that we need to get games in and play well while getting good results," Farrelly said. "It's important that we have our final lineup set and that we know what we're doing out there."

Long-time Geneva girls soccer-watchers probably had the Vikings lineup memorized heading into the 2007 campaign. Annie Wyer and Callie Hemming played up front, Janel Schmitt played central midfield, Kaitlyn Cunningham patrolled one wing, Colleen Baker and Megan Rowland were there in central defense.

"Schmitt, Hemming, Wyer and Baker were four-year starters," Estabrook said. "We never won a world championship like the Chicago Bulls, but it was the same situation like when Michael Jordan finally retired. All of a sudden, he's gone, (Scottie) Pippen is gone and there was a whole new cast of players."

One of the downsides to having such a stable lineup for such a long time was that some very good players never got the chances they felt they should have had. Estabrook said the number of upperclassmen attending tryouts was not as high this year as it has been recently.

"We had some girls get frustrated in not making the varsity squad and they decided to move on to other things," Estabrook said. "By the same token, those kids' decisions opened up a lot of spaces for other girls, and they are beneficiaries of a good circumstance."

Geneva has been one of the most successful programs in the area, finishing third in the state tournament in 2002 and 2005. The shirts are still White and Blue and have a school logo on them, and Estabrook said this counts for a lot.

"I think there are a lot of these kids who know the legacy that's come before them," he said. "Whether they compare themselves to players like Callie Hemming or Annie Wyer or whether they knew players from before like Laura Klatter and Katie Lindemnuth, they know what has come before."

There are teams whose graduates become a weight on the current squad. Nothing could be further from the truth in the world of Geneva girls soccer.

"I'm still close with a handful of those girls, and I talk to them almost every week and tell them what we're doing," Farrelly said. "I know that on their spring break, some of them had a chance to come to our practices. It's nice to show them that we still have a good team. It's not like they left nothing behind."

While Geneva's start is good, there is a long way still to go. The Vikings will be as stretched as never before in their regular season, despite a Western Sun slate that is not as tough as some conference schedules.

"We play three of the four Naperville teams this year," Estabrook said. "We play the strongest three Wheaton teams. We also see New Trier and Hinsdale Central and we're bound to see good competition through the course of the season."

Against such competition, Geneva's young and inexperienced squad may hit some bumps. How they handle those situations could be one of the keys to the team's season.

"I don't want some of the girls on the squad to think that we won a couple of games and that's it," Farrelly said. "I know that's not our mentality. We know that nothing comes easily. We'll see what happens with the season, but I think we know we have to keep working at it."

Farrelly has some expectations for the season, and some of them involve the program's future.

"Obviously I want to go as far as possible," Farrelly said. "We have a pretty good reputation for girls soccer. Hopefully we can carry that on and have people continue to respect Geneva girls soccer."

With attitudes like that, the future of the program will be in good hands -- and the future won't look so bad either.