Boys soccer: Huntley blanks Geneva

Huntley's Alexander Ligeza had the right strategy for the situation.

Ligeza's 30-yard direct kick with 8:48 left in the first half lofted over the outstretched hands of Geneva goalie Jason Morales for the lone goal of the goal as the Red Raiders narrowly defeated Geneva 1-0 in nonconference boys soccer action in Huntley Thursday night.

It was the first win of the 2015 season for the Red Raiders (1-0-1).

"We as a team ran the play and executed the play perfectly," said Ligeza. "We did a good job of distracting the goalie and we had him a little out of position. I felt the ball was going in when it left my foot. It is good to get our first win of the season against a quality Geneva team."

Huntley coach Kris Grabner gave all the credit to Ligeza for reading the play perfectly.

"It was basically a senior making a great read and a great decision." said Grabner. "He had the goalie a little distracted and off balance and made a great shot. It was good get to our first win against a good team."

Huntley outshot Geneva 10-3.

Red Raider goalie Michael Parks made saves on all 3 of Geneva's shots. His best effort came with 17:56 left in the first half. Geneva's Eric Anderson blasted an uncontested shot from 5 yards out but Parks was able to get a hand on the shot and deflect the ball over the net.

"It was just a reaction play," said Parks. "I got good position and was able to get on the ball. My defense all night was outstanding."

Grabner praised Parks effort.

"He has great reaction skills and gets himself in good position to make the save," said the Huntley coach. 'It was a key play in the game."

If it weren't for Jason Morales' acrobatics in the nets for Geneva (1-1) Huntley could have scored 3 or more goals.

"Jason is an intelligent kid who made some great saves," said Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook. "He kept us in the game. Huntley has a lot of seniors and their combinations were tough to deal with."

Grabner would like to see his team get better quality shots.

"We got enough shots," said Grabner. "We need better shots and we need to be more creative with out shots. Their goalie made some great saves but we could have challenged him more."