Larson’s last-second shot beats Geneva
Ian Larson sort of vanished and was forgotten as he slipped into the club scene last year.
What he did for host Batavia on Thursday night though won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
The Batavia junior scored with 11.4 seconds left to lift the Bulldogs to a stunning 1-0 victory over local rival Geneva in an Upstate Eight River Conference match.
Larson, who assisted on two goals as a freshman to help the Bulldogs win a regional title, 2-1, over Waubonsie Valley in 2011, didn’t play for the Bulldogs last fall.
On Thursday, he made the biggest play during 80 minutes of back and forth action that saw both teams struggle to create chances. Ultimately, Larson took a pass from Adam Heinz to net the game-winner and shock the crowd, which was about ready to settle on a scoreless draw.
“That created a nice atmosphere where anything can happen so you better not leave,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “The guys might not listen to us now, but they’re building memories they won’t forget.”
Larson had an open look a little more than 10 minutes earlier but his attempt ended up more field goal worthy as it flew well above and beyond the goal. With a final chance coming his way, he made sure to deliver with only a few ticks left on the clock.
“Before I received the ball I looked up at the clock and saw there were 15 seconds left,” Larson said. “I just tried to get a shot off before the buzzer.”
Geneva (3-4-0) had a decent amount of chances leading up to Larson’s game-winner, but never could deliver the big blow.
“We didn’t have many good looks on goal tonight and overall our touches were without much rhythm,” Vikings coach Ryan Estabrook said. “It’s frustrating to hold (Batavia) without any chances until the end, but then Ian (Larson) makes a great, a brilliant goal, and great players do that and unfortunately we gave him too much space.”
Batavia (7-2-1) continues to play well after a sluggish start.
“We missed a lot of passes and didn’t do a lot of things well but the guys stuck with it,” Gianfrancesco said. “They showed great maturity and battled through it and got the win.”