Red-hot Geneva continues roll,
Bartlett latest victim
Vikings remain perfect in 2017 with 9th-straight win
By Dave Owen
GENEVA -- Success is getting more and more contagious at Geneva.
Fresh off a Class 4A state championship in girls basketball, the Vikings (9-0-0) girls soccer team continued their own championship-caliber and successful play Tuesday with a 2-0 nonconference win over Bartlett.
Geneva, which jumped up from 10th to 5th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 this week, has now outscored its 2017 opponents by a staggering 41-1 margin. Last weekend the Vikings started the Augsburg-Drach Invitational with victories over Naperville Central and Schaumburg. In the de facto title game of round-robin event, Geneva delivered a message against then no. 6 St. Charles East -- a 4-0 win over a team that beat the Vikings twice by 3-0 scores in 2016.
“It was a solid game for us,” coach Megan Owens said of the team's eighth shutout of the season. “We came off a big weekend, and we came out, I think, a little flat. But we played through it, and on a little bit of an off night for us we scored two goals which is great to see.
“Bartlett was pretty physical, so that took a little adjusting on our part. But we just kept working through it -- we had some tired legs, but we capitalized when we needed to. They worked hard and kept fighting. Now we have a few days to rest and recover.”
Bartlett (4-5-1) could use a week of R & R in Acapulco after its recent stretch. Before the huge test at Geneva, the Hawks dropped three games to top Missouri teams at the St. Louis Classic over the weekend. In the match before that, Bartlett tied defending state third-place finisher and formerly fourth-ranked Rams of Glenbard East 2-2.
“We’ve been playing a lot of difficult competition these last two weeks, but we’ll learn from it,” Bartlett coach Vince DiNuzzo said.
“It is (frustrating), but playing nonconference games like this – it’ll affect your seeding. But if you take the learning experience of playing (Missouri powers) Rockwood Summit (Incarnate Word and St. Joseph's Academy), and Geneva, you’ll be ready to win a battle in conference play and the postseason.
"That’s what our focus is at the beginning of the season. This scheduling wasn’t done by accident.”
Bartlett defender Miranda Hedeen sees both the long-term gain and current pain of the grueling schedule.
“It’s been kind of a confidence downer honestly,” she said. “We’re a good team, and I think we can go far, but playing really tough teams just kind of weighs on our confidence. But playing those teams also shows what we need to work on and what we need to do to get better as a team.”
Bartlett was up to the challenge of Geneva on Tuesday. It took two big offensive plays by Vikings sophomore standouts Stephanie Howe and Jenna Dominguez to make the difference in the game.
The two teams essentially traded chances in the first 30 minutes of play.
The first big threat came off a Bartlett throw-in 14 minutes in, when Geneva goalkeeper Emma Harkleroad made a nice diving save at the left post to deny a Jenna Dombrowski shot.
Geneva answered with a mega chance 21:10 before halftime. Off a Caitlin Farrell pass, Dominguez lined a 10-yarder that was squelched on a nice sliding catch by Bartlett goalkeeper Jenna Noesen.
The theme continued in the next 10 minutes. Bartlett’s Mikayla Brown sent a shot just over the crossbar off a Dombrowski pass with 19:30 left in the half, then a 29th-minute corner kick by Geneva’s Alicia White went across the crease to Dominguez for a 10-yard shot that went over the net.
Despite long distance, the Vikings’ next set piece chance broke the stalemate.
With 9:38 to go in the half, Leah Groven’s 55-yard free kick reached Dominguez left of the goal. Dominguez flicked the ball to the front of the net, where Howe sent a low 12-yard liner inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
“They finished their chances, we didn’t,” DiNuzzo said. “I don’t know how many quality chances they had, but I felt like we had the same amount.
“Three in front of the goal, and we hit (the ball) right at the keeper. They had three in front, our goalie saved one and they scored the other two. That’s the difference. I thought the game went back and forth pretty evenly, and it was good competition.”
The well-played tug-of-war continued with a 1-0 Geneva lead until just 13:01 left to play, when the Dominguez-to-Howe combination struck again in style.
Initiated by a Jaden Ciesielski pass upfield, Howe burst in on left wing and dropped a pass to Dominguez. Drawing the defense to the middle, Dominguez rolled a perfect touch pass between two defenders to Howe, who lined an 8-yard drive inside the far (right) post for a pretty insurance goal.
“The three of us on top (Howe, Dominguez and Alicia White) were moving well side to side together,” Dominguez said, “and the combinations we had on the give-and-gos with me and Steph – Steph was always giving me a give-and-go, and I’d give it right back. That’s how we scored those two goals.”
Tuesday’s two goals gave Howe 13 this season; her counterpart Dominguez has eight.
“Me and Jenna have known each other for a long time, and we’re just playing better and better as the season goes on,” said Howe, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. “And the whole team’s starting to mesh – it’s been a great team effort throughout the season.”
That effort certainly extends to the defense, which added talented Bartlett to its list of shutouts. Only Schaumburg has scored on the Vikings so far, that coming in a 4-1 Geneva win.
“I feel like communication has been important,” Harkleroad said of the defense. “We’ve been working on communication a lot, and our four-back formation is working really well this year.
“We work well together, communicate well, and we’re getting the job done.”
Harkleroad has also come up big when needed. With 5:10 left in the first half Tuesday, a hustling 50/50 ball win by Bartlett’s Carrigan Sablik set up a Brooke Bednarke pass to Dombrowski. But Dombrowski’s low 15-yard shot was denied on Harkleroad’s diving block at the right post.
And if it isn't an athletic save in net, Geneva has been able to rely on solid plays in front.
“Leah Groven’s doing a solid job in back,” Owens said. “We’ve had a few injuries back there so we’ve lacked a little consistency, but she’s done a great job organizing the defense.
“At midfielder Sydney Gratz has done a great job helping set up our forwards, and Lauren Albrecht, Jenni Santacaterina and Maddy Rapach-Lagowski have been solid defensively for us as well.
“Everyone is playing really well,” Owens added. “Props to all the girls for how well they’re playing and the fight they’re showing.”
As for fight, Bartlett’s 11 had plenty of that as well despite facing the latest in a caravan of elite opponents.
When Geneva's White sent a dangerous corner kick 2:10 into the second half, Bartlett’s Paige Bednarke made an excellent clear at the back post to thwart the threat.
Alyssa Modugno followed 90 seconds later with good end line defense on Howe to create a Hawks goal kick. Then with 32:55 to play, Bartlett senior Hedeen blocked a Dominguez shot for one of her many excellent plays on the night.
“It was more of a pressure cover situation,” Hedeen said of her team’s approach to the powerful Geneva attack. “Me and our other center back Paige Bednarke kind of moved with her (Dominguez), and we kept her in front of us at all times and made sure we knew where she was at all times.”
The strong defensive effort followed the difficult weekend in St. Louis.
“In the past few games we haven’t been possessing the ball as much,” Hedeen said. “That’s one of our strengths as a team, and we haven’t been showing it. I think today we really improved on that.”
Bartlett's Makenna Hughes had a nice block and clear of a Dominguez shot off an Emily Hauser throw-in with 23:45 left, and Hedeen nicely blocked Lagowski’s shot off her dribble into the box wiith 14:50 to go.
“I thought our back four in general played a lot better than they had in the last three game,” DiNuzzo said. “They were a lot more relaxed and patient on the ball, with less of the long-ball stuff.
“Individually I thought Jessie Mirsky played really well wide – she caused a lot of problems for the opponents,” DiNuzzo added. “Jenna Dombrowski did a good job of getting involved, and the same thing with Maddie Donnelly in the middle. They had their hands full because they (Geneva) were playing a 4-2-3-1 – we only had two in the middle so they had a lot to deal with, and I thought they did a good job.”
Bartlett’s chances early in the second half included a Hughes 28-yard direct kick over the net with 34:45 left, and a Sarah Jurek 25-yard shot over frame 11 minutes in.
After Geneva went up 2-0, Bartlett answered with two quality chances – a Dombrowski shot from the right corner wide of the far post with 12:25 to go, and Mirsky's 15-yard shot that forced Harkleroad to make a diving catch with 9:50 left.
The last five minutes included a final back-and-forth – Bartlett’s Kelsey Sniatynsky’s block broke up a combined attack by Geneva’s Lagowski, Albrecht and Molly McGavin, then Vikings defender Groven made a nice play 15 yards out with 2:45 left to deny a Bartlett attack and clear the zone.
Geneva's soccer success is adding to a great senior year for Harkleroad, who also played on the Geneva state championship basketball team.
“With each win, it (confidence) skyrockets,” Harkleroad said. “It’s great.
“I feel like expectations are high for this season. We have a really good team and that we can definitely go far.”
The Vikings’ play has provided few chances for opponents, and few complaints for coaches.
“I’m just really happy where we’re at,” Owens said. “We’re solid in net, we’re creating a lot offensively, so we’re off to a very strong start. Now we’re working on keeping that momentum and that focus as the season progresses.
“We played solid defensively and created a lot offensively,” Owens added. “We walk away with a lot of good things.”
Geneva’s response to its recent run against quality opponents is another reason for soaring optimism.
“I think the team’s doing really well,” Howe said. “We’ve kept improving as the season goes on. We have high expectations for the season, and we hope to keep our (winning) streak alive.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK Teagan Noesen
D Makenna Hughes
D Miranda Hedeen
D Paige Bednarke
D Alyssa Modugno
M Maddie Donnelly
M Jessica Mirsky
M Jenna Dombrowski
M Sarah Jurek
F Brooke Bednarke
F Tabitha Evans
Geneva
GK Emma Harkleroad
D Jaden Ciesielski
D Emily Hauser
D Leah Groven
M Sydney Gratz
M Maddy Rapach-Lagowski
M Lauren Albrecht
M Jenni Santacaterina
F Alicia White
F Stephanie Howe
F Jenna Dominguez
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Stephanie Howe, so. F, Geneva
Bartlett latest victim
Vikings remain perfect in 2017 with 9th-straight win
By Dave Owen
GENEVA -- Success is getting more and more contagious at Geneva.
Fresh off a Class 4A state championship in girls basketball, the Vikings (9-0-0) girls soccer team continued their own championship-caliber and successful play Tuesday with a 2-0 nonconference win over Bartlett.
Geneva, which jumped up from 10th to 5th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 this week, has now outscored its 2017 opponents by a staggering 41-1 margin. Last weekend the Vikings started the Augsburg-Drach Invitational with victories over Naperville Central and Schaumburg. In the de facto title game of round-robin event, Geneva delivered a message against then no. 6 St. Charles East -- a 4-0 win over a team that beat the Vikings twice by 3-0 scores in 2016.
“It was a solid game for us,” coach Megan Owens said of the team's eighth shutout of the season. “We came off a big weekend, and we came out, I think, a little flat. But we played through it, and on a little bit of an off night for us we scored two goals which is great to see.
“Bartlett was pretty physical, so that took a little adjusting on our part. But we just kept working through it -- we had some tired legs, but we capitalized when we needed to. They worked hard and kept fighting. Now we have a few days to rest and recover.”
Bartlett (4-5-1) could use a week of R & R in Acapulco after its recent stretch. Before the huge test at Geneva, the Hawks dropped three games to top Missouri teams at the St. Louis Classic over the weekend. In the match before that, Bartlett tied defending state third-place finisher and formerly fourth-ranked Rams of Glenbard East 2-2.
“We’ve been playing a lot of difficult competition these last two weeks, but we’ll learn from it,” Bartlett coach Vince DiNuzzo said.
“It is (frustrating), but playing nonconference games like this – it’ll affect your seeding. But if you take the learning experience of playing (Missouri powers) Rockwood Summit (Incarnate Word and St. Joseph's Academy), and Geneva, you’ll be ready to win a battle in conference play and the postseason.
"That’s what our focus is at the beginning of the season. This scheduling wasn’t done by accident.”
Bartlett defender Miranda Hedeen sees both the long-term gain and current pain of the grueling schedule.
“It’s been kind of a confidence downer honestly,” she said. “We’re a good team, and I think we can go far, but playing really tough teams just kind of weighs on our confidence. But playing those teams also shows what we need to work on and what we need to do to get better as a team.”
Bartlett was up to the challenge of Geneva on Tuesday. It took two big offensive plays by Vikings sophomore standouts Stephanie Howe and Jenna Dominguez to make the difference in the game.
The two teams essentially traded chances in the first 30 minutes of play.
The first big threat came off a Bartlett throw-in 14 minutes in, when Geneva goalkeeper Emma Harkleroad made a nice diving save at the left post to deny a Jenna Dombrowski shot.
Geneva answered with a mega chance 21:10 before halftime. Off a Caitlin Farrell pass, Dominguez lined a 10-yarder that was squelched on a nice sliding catch by Bartlett goalkeeper Jenna Noesen.
The theme continued in the next 10 minutes. Bartlett’s Mikayla Brown sent a shot just over the crossbar off a Dombrowski pass with 19:30 left in the half, then a 29th-minute corner kick by Geneva’s Alicia White went across the crease to Dominguez for a 10-yard shot that went over the net.
Despite long distance, the Vikings’ next set piece chance broke the stalemate.
With 9:38 to go in the half, Leah Groven’s 55-yard free kick reached Dominguez left of the goal. Dominguez flicked the ball to the front of the net, where Howe sent a low 12-yard liner inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
“They finished their chances, we didn’t,” DiNuzzo said. “I don’t know how many quality chances they had, but I felt like we had the same amount.
“Three in front of the goal, and we hit (the ball) right at the keeper. They had three in front, our goalie saved one and they scored the other two. That’s the difference. I thought the game went back and forth pretty evenly, and it was good competition.”
The well-played tug-of-war continued with a 1-0 Geneva lead until just 13:01 left to play, when the Dominguez-to-Howe combination struck again in style.
Initiated by a Jaden Ciesielski pass upfield, Howe burst in on left wing and dropped a pass to Dominguez. Drawing the defense to the middle, Dominguez rolled a perfect touch pass between two defenders to Howe, who lined an 8-yard drive inside the far (right) post for a pretty insurance goal.
“The three of us on top (Howe, Dominguez and Alicia White) were moving well side to side together,” Dominguez said, “and the combinations we had on the give-and-gos with me and Steph – Steph was always giving me a give-and-go, and I’d give it right back. That’s how we scored those two goals.”
Tuesday’s two goals gave Howe 13 this season; her counterpart Dominguez has eight.
“Me and Jenna have known each other for a long time, and we’re just playing better and better as the season goes on,” said Howe, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. “And the whole team’s starting to mesh – it’s been a great team effort throughout the season.”
That effort certainly extends to the defense, which added talented Bartlett to its list of shutouts. Only Schaumburg has scored on the Vikings so far, that coming in a 4-1 Geneva win.
“I feel like communication has been important,” Harkleroad said of the defense. “We’ve been working on communication a lot, and our four-back formation is working really well this year.
“We work well together, communicate well, and we’re getting the job done.”
Harkleroad has also come up big when needed. With 5:10 left in the first half Tuesday, a hustling 50/50 ball win by Bartlett’s Carrigan Sablik set up a Brooke Bednarke pass to Dombrowski. But Dombrowski’s low 15-yard shot was denied on Harkleroad’s diving block at the right post.
And if it isn't an athletic save in net, Geneva has been able to rely on solid plays in front.
“Leah Groven’s doing a solid job in back,” Owens said. “We’ve had a few injuries back there so we’ve lacked a little consistency, but she’s done a great job organizing the defense.
“At midfielder Sydney Gratz has done a great job helping set up our forwards, and Lauren Albrecht, Jenni Santacaterina and Maddy Rapach-Lagowski have been solid defensively for us as well.
“Everyone is playing really well,” Owens added. “Props to all the girls for how well they’re playing and the fight they’re showing.”
As for fight, Bartlett’s 11 had plenty of that as well despite facing the latest in a caravan of elite opponents.
When Geneva's White sent a dangerous corner kick 2:10 into the second half, Bartlett’s Paige Bednarke made an excellent clear at the back post to thwart the threat.
Alyssa Modugno followed 90 seconds later with good end line defense on Howe to create a Hawks goal kick. Then with 32:55 to play, Bartlett senior Hedeen blocked a Dominguez shot for one of her many excellent plays on the night.
“It was more of a pressure cover situation,” Hedeen said of her team’s approach to the powerful Geneva attack. “Me and our other center back Paige Bednarke kind of moved with her (Dominguez), and we kept her in front of us at all times and made sure we knew where she was at all times.”
The strong defensive effort followed the difficult weekend in St. Louis.
“In the past few games we haven’t been possessing the ball as much,” Hedeen said. “That’s one of our strengths as a team, and we haven’t been showing it. I think today we really improved on that.”
Bartlett's Makenna Hughes had a nice block and clear of a Dominguez shot off an Emily Hauser throw-in with 23:45 left, and Hedeen nicely blocked Lagowski’s shot off her dribble into the box wiith 14:50 to go.
“I thought our back four in general played a lot better than they had in the last three game,” DiNuzzo said. “They were a lot more relaxed and patient on the ball, with less of the long-ball stuff.
“Individually I thought Jessie Mirsky played really well wide – she caused a lot of problems for the opponents,” DiNuzzo added. “Jenna Dombrowski did a good job of getting involved, and the same thing with Maddie Donnelly in the middle. They had their hands full because they (Geneva) were playing a 4-2-3-1 – we only had two in the middle so they had a lot to deal with, and I thought they did a good job.”
Bartlett’s chances early in the second half included a Hughes 28-yard direct kick over the net with 34:45 left, and a Sarah Jurek 25-yard shot over frame 11 minutes in.
After Geneva went up 2-0, Bartlett answered with two quality chances – a Dombrowski shot from the right corner wide of the far post with 12:25 to go, and Mirsky's 15-yard shot that forced Harkleroad to make a diving catch with 9:50 left.
The last five minutes included a final back-and-forth – Bartlett’s Kelsey Sniatynsky’s block broke up a combined attack by Geneva’s Lagowski, Albrecht and Molly McGavin, then Vikings defender Groven made a nice play 15 yards out with 2:45 left to deny a Bartlett attack and clear the zone.
Geneva's soccer success is adding to a great senior year for Harkleroad, who also played on the Geneva state championship basketball team.
“With each win, it (confidence) skyrockets,” Harkleroad said. “It’s great.
“I feel like expectations are high for this season. We have a really good team and that we can definitely go far.”
The Vikings’ play has provided few chances for opponents, and few complaints for coaches.
“I’m just really happy where we’re at,” Owens said. “We’re solid in net, we’re creating a lot offensively, so we’re off to a very strong start. Now we’re working on keeping that momentum and that focus as the season progresses.
“We played solid defensively and created a lot offensively,” Owens added. “We walk away with a lot of good things.”
Geneva’s response to its recent run against quality opponents is another reason for soaring optimism.
“I think the team’s doing really well,” Howe said. “We’ve kept improving as the season goes on. We have high expectations for the season, and we hope to keep our (winning) streak alive.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK Teagan Noesen
D Makenna Hughes
D Miranda Hedeen
D Paige Bednarke
D Alyssa Modugno
M Maddie Donnelly
M Jessica Mirsky
M Jenna Dombrowski
M Sarah Jurek
F Brooke Bednarke
F Tabitha Evans
Geneva
GK Emma Harkleroad
D Jaden Ciesielski
D Emily Hauser
D Leah Groven
M Sydney Gratz
M Maddy Rapach-Lagowski
M Lauren Albrecht
M Jenni Santacaterina
F Alicia White
F Stephanie Howe
F Jenna Dominguez
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Stephanie Howe, so. F, Geneva