Girls soccer: Dominguez, Geneva blank South Elgin

A word of warning for Geneva girls soccer opponents this spring:

Don't let Kyleigh Dominguez roam in open space within the 18-yard box.

She'll make you pay.

That's what happened to South Elgin on Monday in the teams' Upstate Eight crossover matchup at Millennium Field, a contest the Vikings won 2-0.

It only took the 5-foot-5 senior forward 6 minutes to tally against a South Elgin club that was sporting a 3-game winning streak, corralling a rebounded ball halfway down the 18-yard box, then depositing it in the right corner of the net.

Turns out that's all the scoring Geneva would need, but it was Dominguez's sheer speed and agility that caused fits for South Elgin's back line of juniors Alyssa Kalka, Arielle Walters and Gracie Franks and senior Corinne Hildebrandt. Even when they locked down on her, she made things happen.

Take Dominguez's assist on Geneva's second goal, in the 29th minute. She juked a defender at the top-left side of the 18-yard box, fired a pinpoint pass to sophomore forward Jaden Ciesielski, who raced past her defender and sliced the ball into the right corner of the net, past diving Storm goalkeeper Jackelyn De La Mora.

Sure, it was a pretty solid performance, but it's all part of a long-term plan for Dominguez, who will be playing for the University of Cincinnati next year.

"I'm doing a lot of weightlifting and speed training outside of this," said Dominguez, who leads her team with 10 goals. "I'm working 10 times harder on and off the field just to make sure I'm ready for college. I know it's going to be a life change thing, so I've got to get myself ready before it hits me."

But her coach, Megan Owens, was quick to point out that Dominguez is just one weapon.

"Overall, we've been creating lots of offense, which is a big positive," said Owens, whose team improved to 7-1-1. "We have tons of opportunities, it's just fine-tuning them. It's just finishing every single one. We have some very nice finishers this year we're working with. We're off to a fast start."

Dominguez's performance left even South Elgin coach Tiffany Disher impressed.

"We tried to keep a close eye on her because she was pretty dangerous," said Disher, whose team got outshot 19-7 and fell to 5-7 after defeating Plainfield South 1-0 on Saturday in the PepsiCo Showdown. "Fast, aggressive, smart and great placement with the ball, so it's nice Geneva had the finisher. I think if we had the finisher, the score would have been different."

De La Mora had 7 saves, while her Geneva counterpart, junior Emma Harkleroad, had 4.