Batavia gets energy boost
to overcome West Chicago
Bulldogs close in on conference crown
By Matt Le Cren
BATAVIA -- Batavia was well aware that West Chicago had upset previously unbeaten Morton 2-1 last Friday.
The Bulldogs were determined to make sure West Chicago didn’t pull a second straight upset.
Kevin Collins scored 50 seconds into the match and Batavia never looked back en route to a 2-0 victory in Upstate Eight Conference River Division action Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs (13-1-1, 6-0), who have won seven straight matches, need only to beat St. Charles North next Tuesday to win the conference title outright.
“We always shoot [trying to score in] the first five minutes,” Collins said. “When you’re up a goal that early, it gives you that momentum boost.
“It kind of gives our team that satisfaction as if, ‘OK, we know we can kick the ball around a little bit, now let’s get on our feet and try to score another one.’ ”
The Bulldogs didn’t get their second goal for another 56 minutes, but the first set the tone and proved to be all the hosts needed.
Ian Larson sent a long ball to Brandon Yonker on the left side of the box. Yonker quickly crossed into the middle to Collins, who headed it home for his fourth goal of the season.
“We didn’t seem like we were ready to play from minute one, and they took it to us in that first opportunity. Then what you’re doing is chasing the rest of the game, which kind of makes things complicated,” West Chicago coach Jose Villa said. “Batavia is a really good team. It shows in their record and it shows with their work ethic.”
The Wildcats (6-7-2, 1-3-2) lacked a similar work ethic, according to Villa.
“I don’t think we had the energy today that we’ve shown in previous games, so that’s where it’s a little bit frustrating and disappointing, where guys don’t step up to challenge,” Villa said. “I don’t think we worked as hard as we needed to to win today.”
That Wildcats were coming off one of their biggest victories in recent memory. Angel Santana and Miseal Duran scored in the upset of Morton (14-1-2), which two days later beat Lyons 3-2 on penalty kicks to win the prestigious PepsiCo Showdown.
With Batavia enjoying its best season in two decades, Villa figured his team wouldn’t have any trouble rising to the challenge of playing one of the UEC’s best teams, but it wasn’t to be. While the Bulldogs held just a 10-8 advantage in shots and the Wildcats had plenty of free kicks in the Batavia end, West Chicago created few decent chances.
“That’s the disappointing part,” Villa said. “We know that we can compete against teams like that and then we come here and show lack of effort.
“We have to put [the Morton game] behind us. Yes, it was a great win, but move forward, especially [because] when you do beat a team like Morton, teams are going to come out and play their best soccer against you.
“If we think just because we beat Morton, now we’re hot stuff, we need to check ourselves because this is a reality check.”
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, aren’t taking any game for granted.
“We knew that they beat Morton, which is a really good team, so we knew coming into this that we needed to come out and play our game, like we do every game,” Batavia junior midfielder Luke Laurich said. “We managed to get the win.”
Laurich played a key role in the Bulldogs victory. He scored his second goal of the season with 23:27 to go in the second half off a cross from sophomore Erik Faessler. It was Batavia’s first shot of the second half and one of just two the Bulldogs would manage after intermission.
“You have to give a lot of props to Kevin and Faessler,” Laurich said. “They both did really well. I just made a run into the box, and Faessler played a great ball. I managed to find the bottom corner.”
Collins, a senior forward who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, started the play with a neat diagonal pass between two defenders to Faessler streaking up the right wing.
“I saw the ball being played and I saw some space to my right so I cut back to the right and saw Eric making a corner run to the flag,” Collins said. “I saw about a 10-yard space and just tried to feed his feet.”
Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco commented, “We started [the game] playing Eric in the back because of couple of injuries and then we put him up top. You can see once we put him up there it’s a little bit different with him up there. He tracks the ball really well, he checks well, which is great. It definitely changed our look.”
Batavia goalie Kevin Fiddelke made three saves in the first half and shared the shutout with fellow senior John Faraone. The latter didn’t make a save while playing the second half but did make a triumphant return after being shaken up on a nasty hit midway through the period.
Batavia’s back line, led by Joe Jorgenson, Daniel Zagoren and Nick Konopacki, also played well, getting beat only once when West Chicago’s Freddy Flores rolled a shot past Faraone but wide of the left post with 23 minutes left in the second half.
“I can’t say enough about my teammates,” Collins said. “They’ve put in all the effort. A lot of supporting roles are stepping up.
“Everyone is filling their role. Everyone has joined together. A lot of us have been playing together since we were 5 years old, so it’s just trying to build team chemistry.”
That chemistry has allowed the Bulldogs to perform with a consistency matched by few teams this fall. West Chicago, thus far, is not one of them.
“We have to have that same consistency throughout the whole season,” Villa said. “It’s been an inconsistent season. We can compete against some top teams and have good results and then we have some games where we just don’t show up and we’re chasing from minute 1. We need to figure out a way to focus.”
Starting lineups
West Chicago
GK Ricardo Porcayo
D Renato Bonilla
D Jesus Fernandez
D Sean Sweeney
D Antonio Velazquez
M Oswaldo Estrada
M Misael Duran
M Hajhar Agha
F Ulises Rios
F Angel Santana
F Pancho Correa
Batavia
GK Kevin Fiddelke
D Daniel Zagoren
DJoe Jorgensen
D Nick Konopacki
D Erik Faessler
M Adam Heinz
M Ian Larson
M Luke Laurich
M Brandon Yonker
F Kevin Collins
F David DiBiase
Man of the Match: Kevin Collins, Batavia
to overcome West Chicago
Bulldogs close in on conference crown
By Matt Le Cren
BATAVIA -- Batavia was well aware that West Chicago had upset previously unbeaten Morton 2-1 last Friday.
The Bulldogs were determined to make sure West Chicago didn’t pull a second straight upset.
Kevin Collins scored 50 seconds into the match and Batavia never looked back en route to a 2-0 victory in Upstate Eight Conference River Division action Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs (13-1-1, 6-0), who have won seven straight matches, need only to beat St. Charles North next Tuesday to win the conference title outright.
“We always shoot [trying to score in] the first five minutes,” Collins said. “When you’re up a goal that early, it gives you that momentum boost.
“It kind of gives our team that satisfaction as if, ‘OK, we know we can kick the ball around a little bit, now let’s get on our feet and try to score another one.’ ”
The Bulldogs didn’t get their second goal for another 56 minutes, but the first set the tone and proved to be all the hosts needed.
Ian Larson sent a long ball to Brandon Yonker on the left side of the box. Yonker quickly crossed into the middle to Collins, who headed it home for his fourth goal of the season.
“We didn’t seem like we were ready to play from minute one, and they took it to us in that first opportunity. Then what you’re doing is chasing the rest of the game, which kind of makes things complicated,” West Chicago coach Jose Villa said. “Batavia is a really good team. It shows in their record and it shows with their work ethic.”
The Wildcats (6-7-2, 1-3-2) lacked a similar work ethic, according to Villa.
“I don’t think we had the energy today that we’ve shown in previous games, so that’s where it’s a little bit frustrating and disappointing, where guys don’t step up to challenge,” Villa said. “I don’t think we worked as hard as we needed to to win today.”
That Wildcats were coming off one of their biggest victories in recent memory. Angel Santana and Miseal Duran scored in the upset of Morton (14-1-2), which two days later beat Lyons 3-2 on penalty kicks to win the prestigious PepsiCo Showdown.
With Batavia enjoying its best season in two decades, Villa figured his team wouldn’t have any trouble rising to the challenge of playing one of the UEC’s best teams, but it wasn’t to be. While the Bulldogs held just a 10-8 advantage in shots and the Wildcats had plenty of free kicks in the Batavia end, West Chicago created few decent chances.
“That’s the disappointing part,” Villa said. “We know that we can compete against teams like that and then we come here and show lack of effort.
“We have to put [the Morton game] behind us. Yes, it was a great win, but move forward, especially [because] when you do beat a team like Morton, teams are going to come out and play their best soccer against you.
“If we think just because we beat Morton, now we’re hot stuff, we need to check ourselves because this is a reality check.”
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, aren’t taking any game for granted.
“We knew that they beat Morton, which is a really good team, so we knew coming into this that we needed to come out and play our game, like we do every game,” Batavia junior midfielder Luke Laurich said. “We managed to get the win.”
Laurich played a key role in the Bulldogs victory. He scored his second goal of the season with 23:27 to go in the second half off a cross from sophomore Erik Faessler. It was Batavia’s first shot of the second half and one of just two the Bulldogs would manage after intermission.
“You have to give a lot of props to Kevin and Faessler,” Laurich said. “They both did really well. I just made a run into the box, and Faessler played a great ball. I managed to find the bottom corner.”
Collins, a senior forward who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, started the play with a neat diagonal pass between two defenders to Faessler streaking up the right wing.
“I saw the ball being played and I saw some space to my right so I cut back to the right and saw Eric making a corner run to the flag,” Collins said. “I saw about a 10-yard space and just tried to feed his feet.”
Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco commented, “We started [the game] playing Eric in the back because of couple of injuries and then we put him up top. You can see once we put him up there it’s a little bit different with him up there. He tracks the ball really well, he checks well, which is great. It definitely changed our look.”
Batavia goalie Kevin Fiddelke made three saves in the first half and shared the shutout with fellow senior John Faraone. The latter didn’t make a save while playing the second half but did make a triumphant return after being shaken up on a nasty hit midway through the period.
Batavia’s back line, led by Joe Jorgenson, Daniel Zagoren and Nick Konopacki, also played well, getting beat only once when West Chicago’s Freddy Flores rolled a shot past Faraone but wide of the left post with 23 minutes left in the second half.
“I can’t say enough about my teammates,” Collins said. “They’ve put in all the effort. A lot of supporting roles are stepping up.
“Everyone is filling their role. Everyone has joined together. A lot of us have been playing together since we were 5 years old, so it’s just trying to build team chemistry.”
That chemistry has allowed the Bulldogs to perform with a consistency matched by few teams this fall. West Chicago, thus far, is not one of them.
“We have to have that same consistency throughout the whole season,” Villa said. “It’s been an inconsistent season. We can compete against some top teams and have good results and then we have some games where we just don’t show up and we’re chasing from minute 1. We need to figure out a way to focus.”
Starting lineups
West Chicago
GK Ricardo Porcayo
D Renato Bonilla
D Jesus Fernandez
D Sean Sweeney
D Antonio Velazquez
M Oswaldo Estrada
M Misael Duran
M Hajhar Agha
F Ulises Rios
F Angel Santana
F Pancho Correa
Batavia
GK Kevin Fiddelke
D Daniel Zagoren
DJoe Jorgensen
D Nick Konopacki
D Erik Faessler
M Adam Heinz
M Ian Larson
M Luke Laurich
M Brandon Yonker
F Kevin Collins
F David DiBiase
Man of the Match: Kevin Collins, Batavia