Batavia 4, Geneva 1

One team playing at Geneva on Wednesday had struggled to score all season while the other built itself a relative defensive redoubt.

The thing is, the teams on either side of the 4-1 victory were the "wrong" ones. Batavia erased a year's worth of offensive frustration while Geneva bore the brunt of that offensive onslaught.

Pass by pass, Batavia gained confidence throughout a 3-0 first half, though it took nearly 20 minutes for the first goal to go in. Kara Lydon got that goal, the first of 2 she scored in the match.

"I haven't beaten Geneva my whole high school career," Lydon said. "I was on varsity as a freshman, so this is pretty exciting."

Batavia (4-4-1, 3-1) entered the match on the heels of back-to-back losses, games in which the Bulldogs created more than enough chances to win.

"We definitely wanted to come out with a lot of energy, keep charging the ball and win the 50-50 balls," Lydon said.

Kailey Gear doubled Batavia's lead in the 24th minute of the opening half when she knocked in a ball at the left post that came in from the right and hadn't been cleared by Geneva's defense.

Four minutes after Gear's goal, Torrey Kinniard hit a 30-yard free kick over Geneva's wall and in at the left post.

"We really didn't have a sense of urgency in our own box," Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook said. "It was really frustrating. We looked loose and complacent and that's something that's going to have to get fixed."

The opening half left its imprint on the game, leaving Geneva (4-5, 1-1) with a mountain to climb -- something it was unable to do.

"The first 40 minutes were a nightmare at best," Estabrook said. "I can't take a lot of positives out of that half other than the fact that I don't think we can play that poorly for 40 minutes again."

Lydon made the score 4-0 in the second minute of the second half. She dribbled through Geneva's defense, then moved left-to-right at the top of the penalty area and shot back to the left post.

"It's very nice to be finishing," Lydon said. "We've all come so close finishing. We just weren't executing the last couple of games and now we are. I wanted to score. I just kept going to the ball, but so was everyone."

Playing just behind the front runners, Mary Wandolowski had freedom to move. Though she didn't score, she moved the ball into open spaces and clearly enjoyed the freedom the withdrawn role allowed.

"I just get to sit back and distribute to everyone," Wandolowski said. "I'm just happy with whoever scores. I don't care, so long as we win."

Wandolowski has struggled with injuries since her standout freshman season, even suffering a bone bruise that limited her effectiveness in preseason training this year. But she is healthy again.

"It's just good to get back out and play against (Geneva)," Wandolowski said. "We know they're a great team. We just outworked them today. Senior year, I really wanted to beat them."

Geneva got on the scoreboard with 20 minutes to play when Megan Spear put away a ball after a sequence in which Geneva had a number of potential shooting chances.

While Geneva threatened after scoring, the final quarter of the match went by without major incidents.

"They were definitely the dominant team," Estabrook said, "not only on the scoreboard but in quality of play. They looked great and we really didn't."