Batavia looks to claim Fox Trophy
Bulldogs can complete sweep of Tri-Cities
rivals with Tuesday win over St. Charles North
By Chris Walker
The only one left in Batavia’s path is St. Charles North.
The Bulldogs have already beaten St. Charles East and Geneva. They visit the North Stars at 7 p.m. Tuesday as part of the Tri-Cities Classic.
It’s been a busy few days leading up to Tuesday. Batavia had a big 1-1 nonconference tie with Wheaton Academy on Saturday. The Bulldogs were also scheduled to play Waubonsie Valley on Monday night in an opening game in the Warrior Invite. In 2013 Waubonsie Valley ended Batavia’s season and beat them during the regular season.
St. Charles North (8-5-3, 3-1-1) would love to pull off the upset, especially since its playing at home, as well as coming off a difficult, 5-1 loss, to St. Charles East on Saturday.
“It’s a fun night to be a part of,” North Stars coach Eric Willson said. “I think it’ll be good. It’s at our place, which it hasn’t been at in awhile. We’ll have to let (Saturday’s loss) go and start preparing for Batavia on Monday.”
Batavia (13-1-2, 6-0-0) can win the Upstate Eight River Conference outright with a victory. Ian Larson continues to have one of the best senior seasons in the state and finding a way to stop him will be a key for St. Charles North. Larson, as a matter of fact, provided the difference last year, scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over the North Stars.
St. Charles North cannot afford to make mistakes with Larson on the field.
The number of mental mistakes the North Stars made on Saturday surprised Willson. They came unexpectedly, and it’s something he said they’ll need to correct quickly against a very good Batavia squad.
“I don’t know if it’s the bigness of the game or what, but mental mistakes are very uncharacteristic for us,” he said. “We have to go back to training and see if we can get this figured out by Tuesday.”
The earlier game at 5 p.m. at St. Charles North will feature St. Charles East (13-2-0, 4-1-0) and Geneva (6-4-3, 2-3-1).
St. Charles East rebounded from a tough 3-2 loss to Wheaton Academy by beating St. Charles North 5-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Geneva dropped a 2-0 game to Streamwood last Tuesday and settled for a scoreless tie with St. Francis on Saturday.
“It’s going to be a real test,” Saints coach Paul Jennison said. “The Tri-Cities night is a great time to showcase what you have going on. Unfortunately, we can’t win it and retain the Fox Trophy but we’ll just try to be the second-best team of the four.”
The Saints aren’t sure whether or not Zach Manibog’s hamstring injury will have improved enough by Tuesday for him to participate. He did not play Saturday or last Thursday.
“We’ll reassess it on Monday and go from there,” Jennison said. “The lads have been excellent and allowed the coaching staff to switch some players around to see who is going to step up most for us.”
Depth has been huge for the Saints. For instance, even without Manibog, the Saints were able to score seven goals in their past two games against Wheaton Academy and St. Charles North.
“It’s something you can’t really strategize against when you’ve got guys coming off the bench that are just as fresh and just as skilled as the guys that are out their starting,” said St. Charles East senior Ryan Stackhouse. “That’s hard to defend against.”
Geneva is just 1-2-2 in its last five games. They haven’t scored since a 1-1 tie against Wheaton Warrenville South on Sept. 27.
St. Charles East blanked the Vikings, 2-0, in last year’s meeting. Tyler Robbins, who scored twice against St. Charles North on Saturday, had a goal in last year’s game. The senior forward has stepped up big-time with Manibog sidelined.
The Saints have enjoyed the company of the clay, travelling Fox Trophy for the past two seasons. Batavia, which was winless against the three other Tri-Cities teams in 2012, is looking to win it for the first time since 2011.
Geneva won the trophy in 2009 and 2010.
Bulldogs can complete sweep of Tri-Cities
rivals with Tuesday win over St. Charles North
By Chris Walker
The only one left in Batavia’s path is St. Charles North.
The Bulldogs have already beaten St. Charles East and Geneva. They visit the North Stars at 7 p.m. Tuesday as part of the Tri-Cities Classic.
It’s been a busy few days leading up to Tuesday. Batavia had a big 1-1 nonconference tie with Wheaton Academy on Saturday. The Bulldogs were also scheduled to play Waubonsie Valley on Monday night in an opening game in the Warrior Invite. In 2013 Waubonsie Valley ended Batavia’s season and beat them during the regular season.
St. Charles North (8-5-3, 3-1-1) would love to pull off the upset, especially since its playing at home, as well as coming off a difficult, 5-1 loss, to St. Charles East on Saturday.
“It’s a fun night to be a part of,” North Stars coach Eric Willson said. “I think it’ll be good. It’s at our place, which it hasn’t been at in awhile. We’ll have to let (Saturday’s loss) go and start preparing for Batavia on Monday.”
Batavia (13-1-2, 6-0-0) can win the Upstate Eight River Conference outright with a victory. Ian Larson continues to have one of the best senior seasons in the state and finding a way to stop him will be a key for St. Charles North. Larson, as a matter of fact, provided the difference last year, scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over the North Stars.
St. Charles North cannot afford to make mistakes with Larson on the field.
The number of mental mistakes the North Stars made on Saturday surprised Willson. They came unexpectedly, and it’s something he said they’ll need to correct quickly against a very good Batavia squad.
“I don’t know if it’s the bigness of the game or what, but mental mistakes are very uncharacteristic for us,” he said. “We have to go back to training and see if we can get this figured out by Tuesday.”
The earlier game at 5 p.m. at St. Charles North will feature St. Charles East (13-2-0, 4-1-0) and Geneva (6-4-3, 2-3-1).
St. Charles East rebounded from a tough 3-2 loss to Wheaton Academy by beating St. Charles North 5-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Geneva dropped a 2-0 game to Streamwood last Tuesday and settled for a scoreless tie with St. Francis on Saturday.
“It’s going to be a real test,” Saints coach Paul Jennison said. “The Tri-Cities night is a great time to showcase what you have going on. Unfortunately, we can’t win it and retain the Fox Trophy but we’ll just try to be the second-best team of the four.”
The Saints aren’t sure whether or not Zach Manibog’s hamstring injury will have improved enough by Tuesday for him to participate. He did not play Saturday or last Thursday.
“We’ll reassess it on Monday and go from there,” Jennison said. “The lads have been excellent and allowed the coaching staff to switch some players around to see who is going to step up most for us.”
Depth has been huge for the Saints. For instance, even without Manibog, the Saints were able to score seven goals in their past two games against Wheaton Academy and St. Charles North.
“It’s something you can’t really strategize against when you’ve got guys coming off the bench that are just as fresh and just as skilled as the guys that are out their starting,” said St. Charles East senior Ryan Stackhouse. “That’s hard to defend against.”
Geneva is just 1-2-2 in its last five games. They haven’t scored since a 1-1 tie against Wheaton Warrenville South on Sept. 27.
St. Charles East blanked the Vikings, 2-0, in last year’s meeting. Tyler Robbins, who scored twice against St. Charles North on Saturday, had a goal in last year’s game. The senior forward has stepped up big-time with Manibog sidelined.
The Saints have enjoyed the company of the clay, travelling Fox Trophy for the past two seasons. Batavia, which was winless against the three other Tri-Cities teams in 2012, is looking to win it for the first time since 2011.
Geneva won the trophy in 2009 and 2010.