Girls soccer: Batavia takes DKC victory from Glenbard North

Chloe Valentino's valedictory performance Thursday night took all of about five seconds.

The Batavia midfielder stole the ball from a Glenbard North defender and scored just 16 seconds into the second half.

It was the first of 3 second-half goals for the visiting Bulldogs, who went on to a 4-0 DuKane Conference victory in Carol Stream. The game was called because of lightning with 4:38 remaining.

"One of their outside defenders was playing it back to their center back and she had a bad touch on it," Valentino said. "I saw that and went in and got past her.

"The goalie came out and tried to get me, but I passed it past her into the goal."

Valentino's goal gave Batavia (8-2-1, 2-0) a 2-0 lead and ended any thoughts the Panthers (2-4-2, 0-1) had of pulling an upset. Glenbard North rarely got the ball past midfield and was outshot 26-0, but a stalwart defense and great play from senior goalkeeper Karissa Chalus kept the Panthers in contention.

"We needed to keep it wide and get more services in," Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. "They did a nice job of kind of packing that center there.

"It doesn't matter whether it's 1-0 or 4-0 or 7-0, it's still a victory. We moved the ball around well. Just got to finish some of those chances."

Valentino's finish was important because it set the tone for a dominant second half by the Bulldogs.

"It meant a lot because it was 1-0 for a long time and we had a lot of chances," Batavia forward Anna Holcombe said. "Her scoring really got our momentum going and then we scored another one."

Batavia scored its first goal on the first shot of the game when Grace Salyers tapped home a ball that was bouncing in a crowd in the crease with 37:32 left in the first half.

The Bulldogs took 11 more shots before halftime, but Chalus was outstanding, coming up with 8 of her 15 saves.

Holcombe, an Indiana State recruit, dominated the action but was 0-for-12 shooting. Chalus recorded saves on 8 of those shots.

But Holcombe did get on the score sheet when she assisted on Batavia's third goal. Kennedy Rud volleyed home a corner kick from Holcombe at the 22:46 mark of the second half.

Northern Illinois-bound Abby Zipse completed the scoring 12 minutes later off an assist from Morgan Toronyi.