Geneva edges Batavia with late goal
Back in the days when the Late Late Show was a staple on TV, everyone knew those middle of the night films usually figured drama and horror in the very dark hours before dawn.
Geneva’s girls soccer match with Batavia didn’t stretch that long, but it was a dark and drizzly night and the Vikings left it nice and late — again — to secure victory, which led to anguish for the visiting Bulldogs.
“We had a lot riding on this game,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “The girls knew that they had to leave it all on the field in the second half. And they did a great job. They fought to the very end.”
Catherine Allon was the heroine in this drama, running onto Molly Stanfa’s defense-splitting through ball before volleying into the net with 6:56 to play.
“After halftime, we were so frustrated,” Allon said. “We had so many shots on goal. I had one wide open and I slipped and that was very frustrating. At halftime, Owens pumped us up and said ‘you need to get this in.’ We didn’t want to lose to our rivals.”
Tuesday’s win can be added to the Vikings’ 2-1 come-from-behind win over St. Charles North and their more recent 1-0 win over Barrington as matches where the winning goals were scored in the final quarter-hour of play.
“It’s great that we’re able to put things in the last 10 minutes,” Geneva junior Caitrin Griffin said. “It would be optimal to put it in during the first 10, it’s always a relief when we put in that last goal.”
Allon was one of a number of Vikings to suffer offensively in the first half. She hit the post 14 minutes into the match. Shortly after, Amanda Lulek shot wide from an Allon pass. With the Vikings pressing, the play took place almost exclusively in Batavia’s defensive half.
But the half still ended scoreless, leaving Geneva with some mental regrouping to do at halftime.
“With the wetness, it’s hard to maintain possession,” Owens said. “We had our opportunities. We just couldn’t bury them.”
Batavia got itself organized as well and entered the second half prepared to move forward. Just 2 minutes into the half, Hannah Schweigert shot over the crossbar from a long-range free kick. After 14 minutes, Jordyn Kuhn hit a shot toward goal that Caitrin Griffin headed away.
“It was relieving, to say the least, when that play was over,” Griffin said.
Griffin has played numerous positions this year for Geneva and helped the defense on Tuesday, as she did as a sophomore in 2010. Solid senior defender Demi Miller has a knee injury and though an MRI has yet to be performed, the Vikings are preparing for the worst.
“I’ve had some experience working in the back,” Griffin said. “It’s going to be different we’ll have three freshmen and me in the back and I’ll have to take on a leadership role.”
The match achieved its most even play midway through the second half and both teams came close to scoring.
But the final effort came to Allon, who atoned for her earlier miss and moved the Vikings (9-4-4, 4-0-1) to the brink of the Upstate Eight Conference River title. Geneva has only to beat Elgin to claim the title in its first year in the conference.
“There’s been quite a few games where we’ve scored in the last 10 minutes,” Owens said. “It speaks to their character that they never give up and they fight all the way to the end.”
Despite losing, Batavia (7-6-1, 2-2) recovered from its own rocky start and came very close to taking the lead a number of times in the second half.
“The second half, I thought we played quite well,” Batavia coach Jim McAlpin said. “We had four or five really good opportunities. We just didn’t finish it, that’s all.”
With two weeks left in the season, Batavia still has some key matches, including one with St. Charles East as well as the postseason to prepare for.
“We had some nice combination plays,” McAlpin said. “We made some adjustments to the contour of the pitch and played it a little more to the center and we got some shots on goal.”