Boys soccer: Batavia comes back to upend Neuqua Valley

Batavia had a better second half in more ways than one.

not only did Neuqua Valley dominate the opening half statistically, the visiting Wildcats owned a halftime lead and extended it before the Bulldogs' offense clicked enough to earn a 4-3 victory in Wednesday's nonconference boys soccer match.

"Even before they scored, I thought we jumped out with more focus and intensity in the second half," Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco insisted. "It was more like their confidence level led to those goals."

Neuqua coach Arnoldo Gonzalez essentially agreed the Wildcats' season opener could be viewed as two halves.

"We were a lot better with our ball movement in the first half," Gonzalez said. "And the second half was a lack of movement. We didn't get men open."

David Kuhn came off the bench early and quickly finished a 9-yarder off a Matt Miller cross just 8:58 into the contest.

Batavia's Joe Corno Jr., who had both goals in the Bulldogs' season-opening 2-2 draw with South Elgin the day before, stole a weak pass for a 1-v-1 opportunity against Wildcat goalie Dylan Soto and slipped a 14-yard answer just 15 seconds later.

The Wildcats put 8 of 10 attempts on frame en route to a 2-1 intermission lead. Billy Heiniades' pass was headed off a defender and in for the lead. Just over five minutes into the second half, Jose Navaro set up Heiniades for a finish past Batavia's Trever Ritko-Siros, who took over in net from Jacob Mefford.

But then a six-minute span was all it took for Batavia to erase the deficit. Miguel Garcia fed Brandon Knapp to start a textbook give-and-go triangle leading to an 8-yard strike at 48:45. Sal Garcia converted a penalty kick at 53:15 to draw the Bulldogs even.

With 25:14 left for regulation, Batavia took the lead as Sal Garcia centered the ball to Max Hardin for a head flick that ducked under the crossbar.

"Getting the tie was great but taking the lead after we were down is just the best feeling," Sal Garcia said. "I think the second half was an example of a lot of heart, plus we never give up."