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Boys soccer: Geneva throws a surprise at Naperville North

Geneva was looking for someone to replicate Naperville North's trademark long throw-ins during practice.

Ethan Hipp performed so well in that role during practice on Wednesday that he did it again on Thursday to help the Vikings shock the Huskies 2-1 in a Best of the West Tournament game.

"We actually found Ethan Hipp could make the really long throws just by happenstance," Vikings coach Jason Bhatta said. "We were trying to duplicate what they do and I asked the guys who could replicate this or to just throw it overhand and he could throw it pretty far. It's kind or ironic. How many times did teams give up that kind of throw-in to them?"

After Naperville North senior Zach Smith had tied the game with about five minutes remaining, Hipp delivered his long throw-in while eyeing 6-foot-5 senior teammate Stuart Turnbull. The big guy got a touch on the throw-in and the Huskies couldn't clear it, setting the stage for sophomore Christian Diaz to score the biggest goal of his young life.

"Turnbull got a head on it and it went right between the feet of a defender who couldn't clear it," Diaz said. "I saw my opportunity and just got it and poked it in. We worked hard for that result."

As one would expect, the Vikings (3-1-1) are on top of the world.

"I'm on Cloud 9," Hipp said. "It's nuts. Coach said we're going to work on guarding their big guy on deadballs and he had me throw it into the box three times in a row and he said, 'Why haven't we ever tried you for throw-ins?' Little did any of us know that it would be the deciding play of the game."

While the Geneva soccer program has been competitive and enjoyed success over the years, it hasn't had a win of this magnitude in a long time, especially when one considers that the Vikings last won a regional when they blanked York 3-0 in Roselle in 2010.

And who could've expected it? This is a Vikings squad, after all, that was beaten soundly by Benet 5-0 on Tuesday?

"We watched the film from Benet and it all came down to effort stuff and a lack of focus," Bhatta said. "I wasn't really happy so I was looking for a response. After Tuesday's game I didn't recognize the team so this was night and day from the team and the effort I saw tonight out of our boys."

Naperville North (1-2-2) had better possession than Geneva in the first half, but it didn't stop the Vikings from scoring first, taking a 1-0 lead into halftime after Matt Fuller scored unassisted, securing possession in a scrum and converting his shot attempt.

"Our only chances were counterattacks," Bhatta said. "We eventually switched to a 4-4-2 midway through the first half just to control the ball in the middle and finally we were able to hold it for a bit."

With time running out it appeared as if the Huskies might lose by shutout for the first time since Naperville Central beat them 1-0 on Sept. 9, 2017, but senior Zach Smith netted the equalizer.

The late response from the Huskies was typical. The immediate response from the Vikings was atypical and magical.

"It was neat to watch Geneva play," Huskies coach Jim Konrad said. "They played for each other, they played hard and they got the result. We need to get back to that mentality. The game is hard. Nothing is going to come easy. Obviously, we've been slapped around the first five games so we have to recalibrate. I have no doubt we'll figure it out, but we have a little bit of work to do."

Last year Naperville North went 26-0 while Geneva went 4-12-3.

The Huskies, the three-time defending Class 3A champions, aren't collecting wins like they did last fall. Playing another extremely difficult schedule doesn't make it any easier, but it certainly will help the team grow.

"People forget that we won 12 games by one goal (last year) and 10 games 1-0," Konrad said. "We found ways to win by squeaking in a goal and then defended really hard. We're giving up some soft goals this year so we've just got to get better on both ends of the field."

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