Geneva girls, Batavia boys looking to bounce back

The Geneva girls lacrosse team won one game last spring … by just one goal.

"It was a tough season," sophomore midfielder Maddy Diamond recalled. "Definitely our learning season."

The 2021 campaign was challenging because more than a dozen seniors decided to graduate early and thus were ineligible to play. That left just one varsity team - no junior varsity squad - made up of young players for the most part, many new to the game.

But things are different for Geneva this season. There are varsity and JV2 teams, and the varsity group, led by Diamond and sophomore attack Kayla Schultz, is already 3-5.

You might wonder if that's progress, but to Diamond, it sure is.

"It's definitely a lot of progress and it's really exciting, too," she said, "because we have all finally learned how to play and have grown as a team. It's good to see all of our hard work pay off."

It's gratifying as well for coach Kailey Robbins, who played her high school lacrosse at Wisconsin power Hartland Arrowhead before starting the Geneva program six years ago.

"Oh my gosh, yes, it's awesome," Robbins said. "It's nice to have some experience back on the field. I keep telling them, your growth is already showing."

Prior to COVID-19, Geneva was averaging roughly 40 players per season, split roughly 20-20 between varsity and JV. This year, there's been a bounceback, to 27 total players split into two teams.

The goal, Robbins said, is for varsity to play .500 ball this season, which is an attainable goal for several reasons, the most important of which is attitude, not to mention hard work in the off-season in club programs.

"They are super-positive," Robbins said. "It's been cool to see their team chemistry come together. They had the whole varsity team playing together last season and so far this season."

Diamond is an interesting case. Her sister was on Robbins' first Geneva team. In eighth grade, her gameplan was to play club lacrosse, but then COVID-19 happened. That meant her freshman year - last season - was the start of her career. In the off-season, she got substantial playing time with the YETI club program. And it's paying off this spring.

As for Schultz, her positive mental attitude has allowed her to flourish on the field, Robbins said.

"This year, she's really developed and showed us more of her potential on the field," she said.

Bounceback for Batavia boys:

Another program that struggled through a tough 2021 season was the Batavia boys, which went 3-11. This year so far, the Bulldogs are 5-2, following a tough 6-4 loss to Lockport on Saturday.

Like Geneva, COVID-19 was not kind to Batavia. The cancelled 2020 season saw the graduation of 22 seniors, more than half of the entire program. Last season, Batavia had just 23 players total and only 7 that had ever played a game of lacrosse.

In 2022, under head coach Scott Williams, back after coaching the team from 2017-19, 21 of 23 members of last year's team are back and he's added 10 new players, many with experience.

That includes junior midfielder Kaden Fetterolf, who is the team's primary faceoff specialist, winning 56 percent of his faceoffs including the Lockport game.

Now compare that to last year, when the Bulldogs won just 19% of their faceoffs between several players.

Part of the reason Fetterolf is so effective, Williams said, is because he's the state's runner-up wrestler at 138 pounds.

"From last year, the main difference is we were able to bring in some new players," Fetterolf said. "We were able to add some offensive weapons."

Another key newcomer is sophomore defenseman Jack David, a football player. He didn't play a year ago due to the overlap of spring football, but this season, he's started all seven games and has corralled 10 ground balls in those contests.

Now add veterans like sophomore attackman Aiden Tutt, who has 21 goals and 6 assists in 7 games, and senior attackman Myles Prodoehl, who has 12 goals and 16 assists, not to mention junior goaltender Padruig Roberts, with a 70% save percentage, and things are looking up for Batavia.

"We're having a great time this year," Williams said. "The chemistry is extremely strong on this team. I've told these guys from Day One, I don't care if you are a senior or a freshman, everybody is on one team, and they have bought into that."

Added Fetterolf: "It's like a brotherhood."

LAX For Love for St. Charles:

Perhaps the most heartwarming story of the season thus far comes from St. Charles, where the East-North girls co-op team hosted its LAX For Love event April 6 during its game with Geneva.

The Special Olympics-focused event was designed to raise funds through T-shirt and wristband sales to buy the St. Charles East Adaptive Physical Education Program an adaptive bike for students with disabilities.

But it was more than that. The Special Olympics team, made up of students from both schools, entered the field through a tunnel with lacrosse sticks between that day's JV and varsity games, and were announced by the public address announcer and stayed on the field as the varsity players were introduced. They also stood on the sidelines for the first half.

East junior midfielder Caroline Theis and senior defender Olivia Kiefer were the impetus behind the event. Theis has been working with her school's Special Olympics program for the past couple of years, and so the event made sense.

"I felt like giving back to the community behind us," Theis said. "What better way to get the lacrosse community involved than doing a fundraiser?"

Added Kiefer: "At East for basketball we have Hoops for Hope. We've never done a lacrosse (event). The Special Olympics team are people from both schools and we wanted to make sure we were giving back."