Dominguez scores twice, leads Geneva past Kaneland
Jenna Dominguez hasn't missed a beat.
The Geneva senior scored twice during Friday's season opener at Burgess Field as the Vikings defeated Kaneland, 2-1.
"I think we created a lot of opportunities up top and we finished the ones that we finished but there were still some little ones that we didn't get," she said. "We'll get them next time. We're going to keep coming in the next few games and we're not going to stop."
Dominguez, who scored 24 goals a season ago, pushed her career total to 53.
It didn't appear that her goal with 11:51 left to play would be needed, but the Knights answered less than two minutes later to cut Geneva's 2-0 lead in half.
Going against the wind, Geneva senior Stephanie Howe perfectly lofted a pass far post that Dominguez was able to run down and head past Kaneland keeper Emma Ball.
"I play outside back in club and I have a lot of experience playing in the wind," Howe said. "With me and Jenna's chemistry the last three years, it's been really great. I've been working on crosses so we understand right where we're going to be. We love working off each other so we know where each other is going to be to place it."
Stopped on a penalty kick in just the 8th minute, Dominguez made up for the missed opportunity when she received the ball from Annie Brolly and was able to slip through a pair of defenders and fire in a shot from 22 yards away in the 36th minute for a 1-0 advantage.
The Vikings (1-0) had created numerous chances throughout the first half, but it took some time to finally break through.
"We had a ton of opportunities, but we were just a little rusty," Geneva coach Megan Owens said. "We could have had 3 or 4 more in the back of the net, but overall I saw a lot of positives. We're excited."
Kaneland (0-2) was able to muster its first goal of the year after getting blanked 3-0 by Batavia, another 3A school, on Wednesday.
"A much better effort than the Batavia game," Kaneland coach Scott Parillo said. "Just facing these kind of teams forces you to get better or otherwise you're going to get blown out. I thought we hung tough. We had some chances in the first half and again in the second half."
The Knights pulled to within 2-1 off an indirect free kick with 9:33 remaining. The Knights were fortunate to get a second opportunity after Geneva was called for encroachment of its defensive wall from just 5 yards out after goalkeeper Katie Montgomery had accidentally picked up the ball on a pass from a teammate.
Kaneland sophomore Taylor Carlson tapped the ball quickly to senior Rachel Lutter who finished high but just inside the net.
"It felt like we really competed this game, especially when we got that goal it really fired the team up," Lutter said. "We didn't get blown out of the water or anything like that so it felt good to come here and show we can compete with them."