Batavia captures Warrior
Invite over Metea Valley
Bulldogs do their scoring early in 3-0 win
By Derek Wolff
AURORA — After 80 minutes of play, the Batavia Bulldogs celebrated and took photos with the championship trophy from the 2014 Waubonsie Walley Warrior Invite.
But the party had started much earlier when Batavia (16-1-3) scored twice in the first five minutes en route to a 3-0 win over Metea Valley on Saturday afternoon.
Senior forward Kevin Collins opened the scoring for Batavia in the second minute with a chip shot over the head of Mustangs goalkeeper Kevin Fiddelke.
Then, Ian Larson doubled the lead in the fifth minute, taking a pass from the right side of the 18 and scoring near-post on a beautiful left-footed strike.
Metea Valley (9-10-1) coach Josh Robinson had high praise for the senior midfielder postgame.
“Ian Larson is the best player in state, by far,” Robinson said. “You see it in the way he plays; pure class in the finish on the second goal.”
Adam Heinz added the Bulldogs' third goal in the 19th minute, receiving a pass on the run from midfielder Matt Allen, helping to punctuate what’s been a staple of the Bulldogs offense this season.
“We’ve made a big deal of getting our three goals and putting (the other team) down 3-0 early this year,” said Heinz, who was selected as Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. “They had a ball in our half and we were playing defensively. The ball broke out to Matt Allen, and he took it down the one side so the other side of the field opened up. He played me a great ball, and I finished it in.”
Batavia scored twice more in the second half, but both goals were ruled offside.
Still, Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco was pleased with his side’s efforts on the attack and ability to find open space.
“It’s nice to see those runs and the transition,” Gianfrancesco said. “We’re doing the right things. It was unfortunate that those got called back, but we’re doing the right things and we’ve got the right idea. We need to keep that momentum moving forward.”
Robinson said the early first-half deficit was largely caused by defensive miscues by his team. Metea Valley made a number of personnel adjustments at the half.
“We gifted in the first half,” he said. “They’re a dangerous team. If you give them that much, they’re going to score, obviously, but first goal we passed right to them; second goal we passed right to them. But at that same time they (Batavia ) are phenomenal kids."
Even with games remaining for several teams, Batavia won the tournament due to points for, with one point being allotted for each goal and three points for each win.
Winning a tournament had always been one of the team’s goals, Heinz said, but doing it near the end of the regular season was an added benefit.
“It feels really good,” Heinz said. “It’s been one of our goals this season. We had a couple of goals: win conference, we’ve done that. Down Morton was the other goal that we had. We wound up not getting that one, so it feels really good to win this one.”
Metea Valley picked up its play in the second half, and while quality scoring chances were few and far between, the defense held its shape much better.
Both sides replaced their starting keepers at the half, with Joey Coryell coming on for the Mustangs.
“Organization at the back was key in the second half,” Coryell said. “We pulled a lot of our starters, but our guys off the bench were able to pick it up for us and give us more intensity and start communicating.”
With a tough matchup against Neuqua Valley looming in the postseason, the Mustangs will need to find a way to maintain the intensity that Robinson said they displayed in the second half.
“Second half we did well, and when we work with our intensity ... we didn’t match their intensity early on,” Robinson said. “They came with something to do and did well in the first half and got the game, but we matched that intensity in the second half and did some good things defensively.”
Coryell said the Mustangs might be able to avoid slow starts like they had on Saturday if the team held one another accountable.
“We’re just going to have to get on guys," he said. "Some guys need a little bit of a push to get going, and we just need to pick each other up and play like a team.”
Batavia’s win meant that the Bulldogs have now gone a full month without losing a game.
Larson said the difference between this team and its 2013 counterpart was marginal, but the focus that this year’s team has displayed has been critical to the success it has enjoyed so far.
“We’re pretty similar but we have a lot of younger kids coming up, and they’re putting in great effort on the field and helping us out a lot,” Larson said. “This year I think we have better chemistry off the field, and I think that definitely helps on the field.
“We have a lot of meetings off the field, to focus on our task. Focus as a team, that’s probably the biggest thing we have this year, as well as intensity. We’ll use those two to get us as far as we can.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK-Kevin Fiddelke
D-Nicholas Konopacki
D-Mason Parlatore
D-Daniel Zagoren
M-Adam Heinz
M-Ian Larson
M-Luke Laurich
M-Brandon Yunker
M-Erik Faessler
F-Kevin Collins
F-Joseph Jorgensen
Metea Valley
GK-Jimmy Wyma
D-Jonathan Ramos
D-Brandon Howard
D-John Lynch
M-Matthew Stigler
M-Dakota Rowsey
M-Esteban Castillo
M-Brian Diebold
M-Michael Lothridge
F-Dominic Duffy
F-Michael Adams
Officials: John Wilson, Jennifer Wegner, Mike Lichtfuss
Man of the Match: Adam Heinz, Batavia
Invite over Metea Valley
Bulldogs do their scoring early in 3-0 win
By Derek Wolff
AURORA — After 80 minutes of play, the Batavia Bulldogs celebrated and took photos with the championship trophy from the 2014 Waubonsie Walley Warrior Invite.
But the party had started much earlier when Batavia (16-1-3) scored twice in the first five minutes en route to a 3-0 win over Metea Valley on Saturday afternoon.
Senior forward Kevin Collins opened the scoring for Batavia in the second minute with a chip shot over the head of Mustangs goalkeeper Kevin Fiddelke.
Then, Ian Larson doubled the lead in the fifth minute, taking a pass from the right side of the 18 and scoring near-post on a beautiful left-footed strike.
Metea Valley (9-10-1) coach Josh Robinson had high praise for the senior midfielder postgame.
“Ian Larson is the best player in state, by far,” Robinson said. “You see it in the way he plays; pure class in the finish on the second goal.”
Adam Heinz added the Bulldogs' third goal in the 19th minute, receiving a pass on the run from midfielder Matt Allen, helping to punctuate what’s been a staple of the Bulldogs offense this season.
“We’ve made a big deal of getting our three goals and putting (the other team) down 3-0 early this year,” said Heinz, who was selected as Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. “They had a ball in our half and we were playing defensively. The ball broke out to Matt Allen, and he took it down the one side so the other side of the field opened up. He played me a great ball, and I finished it in.”
Batavia scored twice more in the second half, but both goals were ruled offside.
Still, Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco was pleased with his side’s efforts on the attack and ability to find open space.
“It’s nice to see those runs and the transition,” Gianfrancesco said. “We’re doing the right things. It was unfortunate that those got called back, but we’re doing the right things and we’ve got the right idea. We need to keep that momentum moving forward.”
Robinson said the early first-half deficit was largely caused by defensive miscues by his team. Metea Valley made a number of personnel adjustments at the half.
“We gifted in the first half,” he said. “They’re a dangerous team. If you give them that much, they’re going to score, obviously, but first goal we passed right to them; second goal we passed right to them. But at that same time they (Batavia ) are phenomenal kids."
Even with games remaining for several teams, Batavia won the tournament due to points for, with one point being allotted for each goal and three points for each win.
Winning a tournament had always been one of the team’s goals, Heinz said, but doing it near the end of the regular season was an added benefit.
“It feels really good,” Heinz said. “It’s been one of our goals this season. We had a couple of goals: win conference, we’ve done that. Down Morton was the other goal that we had. We wound up not getting that one, so it feels really good to win this one.”
Metea Valley picked up its play in the second half, and while quality scoring chances were few and far between, the defense held its shape much better.
Both sides replaced their starting keepers at the half, with Joey Coryell coming on for the Mustangs.
“Organization at the back was key in the second half,” Coryell said. “We pulled a lot of our starters, but our guys off the bench were able to pick it up for us and give us more intensity and start communicating.”
With a tough matchup against Neuqua Valley looming in the postseason, the Mustangs will need to find a way to maintain the intensity that Robinson said they displayed in the second half.
“Second half we did well, and when we work with our intensity ... we didn’t match their intensity early on,” Robinson said. “They came with something to do and did well in the first half and got the game, but we matched that intensity in the second half and did some good things defensively.”
Coryell said the Mustangs might be able to avoid slow starts like they had on Saturday if the team held one another accountable.
“We’re just going to have to get on guys," he said. "Some guys need a little bit of a push to get going, and we just need to pick each other up and play like a team.”
Batavia’s win meant that the Bulldogs have now gone a full month without losing a game.
Larson said the difference between this team and its 2013 counterpart was marginal, but the focus that this year’s team has displayed has been critical to the success it has enjoyed so far.
“We’re pretty similar but we have a lot of younger kids coming up, and they’re putting in great effort on the field and helping us out a lot,” Larson said. “This year I think we have better chemistry off the field, and I think that definitely helps on the field.
“We have a lot of meetings off the field, to focus on our task. Focus as a team, that’s probably the biggest thing we have this year, as well as intensity. We’ll use those two to get us as far as we can.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK-Kevin Fiddelke
D-Nicholas Konopacki
D-Mason Parlatore
D-Daniel Zagoren
M-Adam Heinz
M-Ian Larson
M-Luke Laurich
M-Brandon Yunker
M-Erik Faessler
F-Kevin Collins
F-Joseph Jorgensen
Metea Valley
GK-Jimmy Wyma
D-Jonathan Ramos
D-Brandon Howard
D-John Lynch
M-Matthew Stigler
M-Dakota Rowsey
M-Esteban Castillo
M-Brian Diebold
M-Michael Lothridge
F-Dominic Duffy
F-Michael Adams
Officials: John Wilson, Jennifer Wegner, Mike Lichtfuss
Man of the Match: Adam Heinz, Batavia