Batavia answers Glenbard North big time
Bulldogs respond to deficit with 4 goals in regional semi win
By Ken Keenan
HOFFMAN ESTATES -- After gift-wrapping an early lead for Glenbard
North, Batavia turned stingy and rolled to a 4-1 win in first round
play at the Class 3A Hoffman Estates Regional on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs will face Conant -- which dispatched the host Hawks 5-1
in Round 1 -- in the regional final at 6 p.m. Friday.
Glenbard North grabbed a 1-0 lead 6:07 into the match, when Batavia
sophomore goalkeeper Jenny Scara lost the handle while attempting to
smother a loose ball in the box. That gave Panthers senior midfielder
Emily Dybowski an easy tap-in into an empty cage.
But it was all Batavia from there. Senior midfielder Karina Rosales
-- Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match -- scored the first of her
two goals to knot the score with 10:33 left in the first half. Less
than four minutes later, Batavia took a 2-1 lead when sophomore
forward Mackenzie Foster tapped in a loose ball after Glenbard North
senior keeper Ariana DePinto lost her grip, mirroring the Panthers'
tally.
Merely two-and-a-half minutes into the second half, Rosales settled a
pass from junior forward Megan McEachern (who also assisted on the
first goal) and rifled in a 15-yard shot from the right side to make
it 3-1. Senior midfielder Sammy Aron concluded the scoring, pounding
in a 20-yarder with 12:12 remaining.
Glenbard North couldn't maintain its good start.
"Our first goal gave us confidence. It kind of gave us a push," said
Dybowski, whose hustle to clear balls never wavered against the
swarming Bulldogs. "At 3-1, it was getting frustrating, but we all
tried our best."
Rosales said the early deficit did little to shake her team's
beliefs, as the Bulldogs responded with a relentless attack.
Powered by excellent ball control in the midfield, featuring pinpoint
passing and marvelous movement off the ball, Batavia made sure that
DePinto was the busiest player on the field.
"After the first goal, I thought our composure was great," Rosales
said. "Mistakes happen, but then the ball was in their end the whole
time, and we came out and scored four goals. We were pretty strong.
Our outside backs were pushing up and pressing their defense ...
sending balls through. We just dominated the whole game."
With the Bulldogs' backline rarely tested throughout the match,
senior defender Alison Grimm and Co. had a good view of the onslaught
up front.
"I think we did a good job staying composed after (Glenbard North)
scored," Grimm said. "We knew what we had to do to get it done. We
created so many opportunities, it was a matter of finishing."
Grimm pointed to the back of her shoes, which displayed small
stickers: one showing the number 3 and one highlighting 80. The entire
team's footwear is adorned in similar fashion.
"Our goal is always to score three goals and play a full 80 minutes,"
Grimm explained.
Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco, whose team improved to 14-3-4 with
the win, certainly was pleased with the Bulldogs' approach after
digging the 1-0 hole.
"Goals are going to happen, but I thought the girls did a great job
staying composed," he said. "It's, 'How do we respond? How do we look?
Is our head down?' We didn't get the equalizer quickly, and we could
have gotten frustrated. But we created a lot of chances, and we had
good movement off the ball, which is one of our focuses.
"The midfield play -- (senior) Alexis Bryl, (sophomore) Keegan Maris,
(junior) Anna Lins -- being composed with the ball, holding firm and
making a nice connection, and absolute good ball movement, it all
worked pretty well. And with Karina (Rosales) on the outside, and
Megan (McEachern) in the middle, that combination is very difficult
for other teams to handle."
Prior to tying the match, Batavia had a succession of opportunities.
In the ninth minute, McEachern was denied by a block in close,
followed by a left-footed turnaround shot on goal by Maris 45 seconds
later. Soon after, a steal by senior middie Olivia Callipari led to a
try for Rosales, who fired high and wide.
At least nine other solid attempts came before the equalizer,
including a shot by Rosales in the 12th minute, and a pair of
wide-angle tries by McEachern -- in the 13th and 16th minutes. The
second half featured more of the same, with a sliding try by soph
forward Mackenzie Foster trickling just wide in the 56th minute and a
free-kick rocket by Callipari that DePinto deflected over the crossbar
(with 16:20 left) among the best chances.
"Now we need to keep the positives going," Gianfrancesco said.
"There's a prize at the end -- a regional title."
Meanwhile, the Panthers were left to reflect on a lead that got away,
and on a campaign that ended at 7-8-3 overall.
"First of all, I can't speak highly enough about the quality of
Batavia," said Glenbard North coach David Stanfield. "They were tough.
We had to defend as hard as we could, and that third goal made it even
tougher.
"One behind is one thing, two is quite another. But it's been
a good season for us ... a lot of good memories. I can't complain too
much."
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK: Jenny Scara
D: Rachel Reinecke
D: Kayla Stolfa
D: Alison Grimm
M: Olivia Callipari
M: Alexis Bryl
M: Keegan Maris
M: Karina Rosales
F: Jenny McEachern
F: Lexi Slome
F: Mackenzie Foster
Glenbard North
GK: Araina DePinto
D: Sarah Peters
D: Katie Rissman
D: Ashley Class
M: Arianna Callard
M: Emily Dybowski
M: Jamie Scott
M: Sammy Aron
M: Aurellia Carulli
F: Jessica West
F: Filasha Finley
MVP of the Match: Karina Rosales, M, Batavia
Officials: Thomas Guidara, Victor Herrera, John Jakobsze
Bulldogs respond to deficit with 4 goals in regional semi win
By Ken Keenan
HOFFMAN ESTATES -- After gift-wrapping an early lead for Glenbard
North, Batavia turned stingy and rolled to a 4-1 win in first round
play at the Class 3A Hoffman Estates Regional on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs will face Conant -- which dispatched the host Hawks 5-1
in Round 1 -- in the regional final at 6 p.m. Friday.
Glenbard North grabbed a 1-0 lead 6:07 into the match, when Batavia
sophomore goalkeeper Jenny Scara lost the handle while attempting to
smother a loose ball in the box. That gave Panthers senior midfielder
Emily Dybowski an easy tap-in into an empty cage.
But it was all Batavia from there. Senior midfielder Karina Rosales
-- Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match -- scored the first of her
two goals to knot the score with 10:33 left in the first half. Less
than four minutes later, Batavia took a 2-1 lead when sophomore
forward Mackenzie Foster tapped in a loose ball after Glenbard North
senior keeper Ariana DePinto lost her grip, mirroring the Panthers'
tally.
Merely two-and-a-half minutes into the second half, Rosales settled a
pass from junior forward Megan McEachern (who also assisted on the
first goal) and rifled in a 15-yard shot from the right side to make
it 3-1. Senior midfielder Sammy Aron concluded the scoring, pounding
in a 20-yarder with 12:12 remaining.
Glenbard North couldn't maintain its good start.
"Our first goal gave us confidence. It kind of gave us a push," said
Dybowski, whose hustle to clear balls never wavered against the
swarming Bulldogs. "At 3-1, it was getting frustrating, but we all
tried our best."
Rosales said the early deficit did little to shake her team's
beliefs, as the Bulldogs responded with a relentless attack.
Powered by excellent ball control in the midfield, featuring pinpoint
passing and marvelous movement off the ball, Batavia made sure that
DePinto was the busiest player on the field.
"After the first goal, I thought our composure was great," Rosales
said. "Mistakes happen, but then the ball was in their end the whole
time, and we came out and scored four goals. We were pretty strong.
Our outside backs were pushing up and pressing their defense ...
sending balls through. We just dominated the whole game."
With the Bulldogs' backline rarely tested throughout the match,
senior defender Alison Grimm and Co. had a good view of the onslaught
up front.
"I think we did a good job staying composed after (Glenbard North)
scored," Grimm said. "We knew what we had to do to get it done. We
created so many opportunities, it was a matter of finishing."
Grimm pointed to the back of her shoes, which displayed small
stickers: one showing the number 3 and one highlighting 80. The entire
team's footwear is adorned in similar fashion.
"Our goal is always to score three goals and play a full 80 minutes,"
Grimm explained.
Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco, whose team improved to 14-3-4 with
the win, certainly was pleased with the Bulldogs' approach after
digging the 1-0 hole.
"Goals are going to happen, but I thought the girls did a great job
staying composed," he said. "It's, 'How do we respond? How do we look?
Is our head down?' We didn't get the equalizer quickly, and we could
have gotten frustrated. But we created a lot of chances, and we had
good movement off the ball, which is one of our focuses.
"The midfield play -- (senior) Alexis Bryl, (sophomore) Keegan Maris,
(junior) Anna Lins -- being composed with the ball, holding firm and
making a nice connection, and absolute good ball movement, it all
worked pretty well. And with Karina (Rosales) on the outside, and
Megan (McEachern) in the middle, that combination is very difficult
for other teams to handle."
Prior to tying the match, Batavia had a succession of opportunities.
In the ninth minute, McEachern was denied by a block in close,
followed by a left-footed turnaround shot on goal by Maris 45 seconds
later. Soon after, a steal by senior middie Olivia Callipari led to a
try for Rosales, who fired high and wide.
At least nine other solid attempts came before the equalizer,
including a shot by Rosales in the 12th minute, and a pair of
wide-angle tries by McEachern -- in the 13th and 16th minutes. The
second half featured more of the same, with a sliding try by soph
forward Mackenzie Foster trickling just wide in the 56th minute and a
free-kick rocket by Callipari that DePinto deflected over the crossbar
(with 16:20 left) among the best chances.
"Now we need to keep the positives going," Gianfrancesco said.
"There's a prize at the end -- a regional title."
Meanwhile, the Panthers were left to reflect on a lead that got away,
and on a campaign that ended at 7-8-3 overall.
"First of all, I can't speak highly enough about the quality of
Batavia," said Glenbard North coach David Stanfield. "They were tough.
We had to defend as hard as we could, and that third goal made it even
tougher.
"One behind is one thing, two is quite another. But it's been
a good season for us ... a lot of good memories. I can't complain too
much."
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK: Jenny Scara
D: Rachel Reinecke
D: Kayla Stolfa
D: Alison Grimm
M: Olivia Callipari
M: Alexis Bryl
M: Keegan Maris
M: Karina Rosales
F: Jenny McEachern
F: Lexi Slome
F: Mackenzie Foster
Glenbard North
GK: Araina DePinto
D: Sarah Peters
D: Katie Rissman
D: Ashley Class
M: Arianna Callard
M: Emily Dybowski
M: Jamie Scott
M: Sammy Aron
M: Aurellia Carulli
F: Jessica West
F: Filasha Finley
MVP of the Match: Karina Rosales, M, Batavia
Officials: Thomas Guidara, Victor Herrera, John Jakobsze