Geneva falls in shortened match

There was an abundance of water at St. Charles East's Norris Stadium on Thursday where a doubleheader in the host school's girls soccer invitational should have taken place.

But on a night when only 40 minutes of play was possible, Naperville Central found its glass perhaps a little more full than Geneva thanks to a 1-0 victory.

Schaumburg and St. Charles East never got to fill their glasses, though not for a lack of water. Lightning canceled the Geneva-Naperville Central contest at halftime and the Saxons-Saints contest was canceled as well.

The tournament continues tonight with St. Charles East facing Naperville Central and concludes Saturday. The Saints-Saxons contest may be rescheduled later in the season, but open playing dates are limited for all schools in this weather-blighted soccer season.

Naperville Central (3-2) moves into the driver's seat to win the title if it defeats St. Charles East tonight. Geneva (2-1) needs to defeat St. Charles East on Saturday and hope other results go its way to win the championship.

"We had spurts there were we looked like a decent soccer team," Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook said. "Central had us on our heels for a large portion of that game."

The best chance of the half resulted in the game's only goal. Casey Short took advantage when left open just outside the right corner of the penalty area. Short's 25-yard shot went into the upper left corner of the Geneva net.

"The ball kind of squirted out," Short said. "I took advantage of it and shot it. After I hit it, I got that feeling. I hit the sweet spot."

The goal came with 16:35 left. Short had the Redhawks' other bona fide chance when she hit a free kick dangerously on goal with 5 minutes to play. Geneva goalie Veronica Lopez parried the shot.

"I was pleased with how we played," Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. "Our clearance in the back is still a little suspect. But when you take eight days off that happens."

The rain started falling early in the match and increased in intensity throughout the first half. A lightning strike at halftime brought a mandatory delay. The rain never relented and the field became waterlogged and continued play was impossible.

"It would have been nice if the field was in good shape, to go back out," Watson said. "I'm sure Geneva would have liked 40 more minutes at us. I just think it's important for the girls to play at this time of the year. But it was the right decision to make."

Geneva played Schaumburg on Wednesday in the opening match of the tournament and won 4-0. Having Thursday's contest called off after 40 minutes was frustrating not only because the Vikings were trailing but because it was the closest to extended game play the team has had this season.

"I wish we could have played a second half," Estabrook said. "I think we would have grown more through this game and we would have seen how we would have adopted. But it was pointless to go on."

Geneva lost midfielder Emily Hinchman midway through the half. A player whose basketball season was marked by a broken nose suffered more pain when she had a hand stepped on.

"She's experienced pain before but she was in a lot of pain when she came off the field," Estabrook said. "We're not sure if there's a chipped bone or if there's a bad dislocation. It didn't look good. But the good news is that it's just a hand and she's not a goalkeeper. I think there were more tears because she knew she wasn't going to get to play any more in the game."

Mary Beth Nolan/mnolan@dailyherald.com

Naperville Central's Morgan Alberts moves the ball up the right side as Geneva's Alexandra Waldie defends Thursday in the Rose Augsburg Drach soccer tournament at St. Charles East.