Batavia back on track
with overdue Tri-Cities Night victory
Lady Bulldogs' 3-1 win over Geneva ends 2-game losing streak
By Dave Owen
GENEVA -- Between a win over a top rival, a touch of history and a bounce-back from a recent dip in fortunes, Batavia had a lot to celebrate Tuesday in their Tri-Cities Night match against Geneva.
Scoring in many forms (run of play, penalty kick and corner kick) and playing strong defense, Batavia (9-3-2, 4-1-0 in the DuKane Conference) built a 3-0 lead after 60 minutes and posted a 3-1 victory over the Vikings (10-5-0, 1-2-0).
The win snapped a two-game losing streak that had briefly cooled Batavia’s hot start to 2022. And while it was a small sample with just five previous Tri-Cities Night matches, the win also was the first ever in the cross-town doubleheader for the Lady Bulldogs.
“Lately, especially this past week, we’ve been struggling to keep pushing to get through the whole game,” said Batavia senior Carlin King. “With two losses behind us last week (each by one goal) this win was really important. And it's our rival, plus on Tri Cities Night it's always fun to play for a crowd.
“We really showed up and showed what we could do. I think we played to the best of our abilities, and it was good to show everyone what we can do. It was a good win.”
King was a defensive standout, and her precise corner kick send in the second half set up the goal that put Batavia up 3-0.
Up front, it was the offense of junior forward Lily Figueras that provided the team’s main scoring spark.
Outside of enduring two early Geneva chances (a Morgan Rudowicz 15-yard shot just 30 seconds in saved by goalkeeper Aubrey Hahn, and a Caroline Madden 25-yard shot just over the net in the 10th minute), Batavia had the offensive advantage much of the first half.
Ryan Gianfrancesco had Batavia's first near-finish. Off a Jaden Collins throw-in seven minutes in, Gianfrancesco's right-side header took a high bounce that required Geneva goalkeeper Jordan Forbes to leap, tip the ball high in the air and grab it near the right post.
Figueras would be narrowly denied on one of the next chances 16 minutes in, a low drive off a Johanna Schubert end line cross saved by Forbes.
Figueras’ next chance on the same combination would prove perfect.
With 18:58 to go until halftime, Schubert’s initial right-side liner was steered away by Forbes. But the ball rebounded to Figueras’ left side, and from there her liner found the right side of the net for a 1-0 Batavia lead.
“I think Jo was the one who played in a good ball,” Figueras said. “It was kind of bouncing around, and no one was really tracking me. I just ran in there, got a really nice volley off of it and was able to get a nice finish.”
That 1-0 Batavia lead stood up until halftime with only one big challenge. In the 24th minute, a Geneva attack into the box was denied first by a King clear from 10 yards out, and then a Riley DiBiase header back to goalkeeper Hahn on a Geneva resend.
“I just think we talked and worked well together,” King said of the defensive effort. “That's one thing we've been struggling with, not working together and talking. So today we had a good connection and were really talking.
“When one (defender) pressed, one stepped back. Especially with our center back because we play three in the back. So, our outside back stepping in when our center back steps … we really just worked well together.”
Brooke Carlson’s nice block and clear out of Batavia’s defensive end in the 27th minute was another notable first half defensive play.
Hahn was both solid in goal and an offensive weapon. She took multiple free kicks, one of them a 50-yard rocket with 14:10 left in the half that required Forbes to elevate a bit for a one-hop save.
With a 1-0 lead at halftime, Batavia wasted little time grabbing second half momentum.
Less than three minutes in, Figueras was again a central figure. Fouled in the box, she drew a penalty kick that Kailey Hansen converted to put Batavia up 2-0 with 37:10 left.
“I think it was Jo (Shubert) again who put in a nice cross (to set up the PK),” Figueras said. “I tried to head it, and the (Geneva) girl just kind of swept my feet. I was glad we were able to get a (PK) shot out of that.
“We just wanted to use that momentum (of the halftime lead). In past games we've been 1-0 at half, and I think we really learned from that, that teams are able to come back. We used that energy, and we were able to keep it up and get a few more.”
After a Hansen clear of Olivia Rawls’ end line cross to the front denied a Geneva bid to answer a minute later, Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match Figueras nearly struck again with 32:45 left. On a nice weave around defenders into the box, the speedster’s line shot from 12 yards was denied on a diving Forbes save.
Figueras came even closer with 22:50 to play when she burst up the middle and sent a low shot that appeared to graze the left post and missed inches wide.
Less than two minutes later, Batavia capped its scoring with a well-done set piece.
King’s left side corner kick send found Bella Lins near the back post. Lins angled her shot inside the left post to make the lead 3-0.
“I just kind of have a general thing,” King said of corner kick strategy. “I look at the six but back post, because I know someone's always back there and that's where we like to hit headers.
“Hit it back post but always aim at the six. Send it and see where it goes. And it worked out.”
The goal scorer was worthy of praise in her own right. After being sidelined for several games with a concussion, senior Lins scored her first goal of 2022.
“I think she missed three games,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “She is working her way back in. Tonight, we just rode her and Lily up-top, and just kept going with that, because the chemistry was working.”
Down 3-0, Geneva made an impressive final push to get back in the game.
That paid off with 14:36 left when, on a play initiated with a Rudowicz corner kick, Isabella Walls had a send from the right side. A racing Olivia Rawls redirected into the upper right corner from eight yards to make the score 3-1.
“Olivia is playing really well,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “She's really stepped up since last year and has been contributing a lot offensively.
“I think Batavia did a really good job of having numbers in the back, and there was just a lot of congestion back there and a lot of pressure by them. But she had a beautiful goal, and she's been scoring big goals in big games for us.”
Geneva followed with more pressure, but could not further dent the Batavia lead. With 7:30 to play, a Walls 40-yard free kick send was nicely cleared upfield by King.
Then with 2:30 left, the Geneva combination of Payton Dominguez and Alana Rawls produced a threat that Carlson nicely broke up. Carlson’s clear then generated a Batavia counterattack for Ryan Gianfrancesco, Shubert and Figueras that required good defensive end work by Geneva’s Walls and Cameron Bishop to clear.
“We were struggling to connect passes in the midfield,” Geneva’s Caroline Madden said, “because they (Batavia) had hard pressure and a lot of speed up-top, which made them hard to guard.”
After two seasons without a Tri-Cities Night, players were happy to be part of the spectacle regardless of the score.
“This is my first Tri-Cities Night,” said Madden, a sophomore. “It was a lot of fun. It was just really exciting with the huge crowd and everything. It's definitely one of the more fun games we've played. Everyone had a lot of effort. We just were working too much individually and not as a team.”
Madden’s play was one of Geneva’s bright spots on Tuesday.
“We're down a couple of midfielders with injuries,” Owens said, “so hopefully in the next few weeks they'll be back out there again. But Caroline is doing a great job of stepping up. She had a great game today.
“We struggled a little bit to connect up-top,” Owens added, “and there's a lot of distractions when you're the host school (for Tri-Cities Night) and running everything that's happening.
“It wasn't our best game of soccer. That happens. But we'll learn from it.”
The two Batavia goals by open forwards in the box were one of Geneva’s main woes.
“We need to work on our communication, especially on marking,” Madden said. “That's definitely causing problems for us, finding our marks. And I think being first to the ball in the air and on defense, and getting the ball up the field.”
After two regular-season losses to Geneva last year, Batavia won a regional rematch last spring. And now there’s Tuesday’s first-ever Tri Cities Night win that was dramatically summed up by the Batavia soccer Twitter page post: “We broke the curse and secured the W on Tri-City Night.”
Coach Gianfrancesco focused his postgame thoughts more on the performance Tuesday than Tri-Cities Night history.
“At times it didn't look pretty,” he said. “It definitely wasn't perfect, but we did some nice things and as the game progressed we got more comfortable, relaxed with the game, trying to find feet and working the ball. And you saw our transition as they (the Vikings) were pressing forward. That opened things up pretty well.
“I think that was good for our girls to see that (counterattack potential) and have the composure to work the ball out of there and take advantage of that.”
With a tournament in Burlington, Iowa, this weekend and key conference matches still remaining against St. Charles East and St. Charles North, Batavia hopes beating its rival can provide the ignition for a strong late-season push.
“It feels really good to beat them,” Figueras said. “We were able to connect really well, our communication was good and obviously we were able to finish.”
“It’s 3-1 (the final score), and we probably could have had a few more,” Gianfrancesco said. “But overall I'm happy with the result, and now we have to move forward from here and keep improving.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Aubrey Hahn
D Jaden Collins
D Mia Anzalone
D Carlin King
M Riley DiBiase
M Brooke Carlson
M Kailey Hansen
M Johanna Schubert
F Ryan Gianfrancesco
F Bella Lins
F Lily Figueras
Geneva
GK Jordan Forbes
D Cameron Bishop
D Isabella Wells
D Leyna Yonehara
D Morgan Slagle
M Caroline Madden
M Kendall Forbes
M Kya Trejo
F Alana Rawls
F Morgan Rudowicz
F Olivia Rawls
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Lily Figueras, jr. F, Batavia
Scoring summary
First half
B- Figueras (Johanna Schubert), 22’
Second half
B- Kailey Hansen (PK), 43’
B- Bella Lins (Carlin King), 59’
G- Olivia Rawls (Isabella Walls), 66’
with overdue Tri-Cities Night victory
Lady Bulldogs' 3-1 win over Geneva ends 2-game losing streak
By Dave Owen
GENEVA -- Between a win over a top rival, a touch of history and a bounce-back from a recent dip in fortunes, Batavia had a lot to celebrate Tuesday in their Tri-Cities Night match against Geneva.
Scoring in many forms (run of play, penalty kick and corner kick) and playing strong defense, Batavia (9-3-2, 4-1-0 in the DuKane Conference) built a 3-0 lead after 60 minutes and posted a 3-1 victory over the Vikings (10-5-0, 1-2-0).
The win snapped a two-game losing streak that had briefly cooled Batavia’s hot start to 2022. And while it was a small sample with just five previous Tri-Cities Night matches, the win also was the first ever in the cross-town doubleheader for the Lady Bulldogs.
“Lately, especially this past week, we’ve been struggling to keep pushing to get through the whole game,” said Batavia senior Carlin King. “With two losses behind us last week (each by one goal) this win was really important. And it's our rival, plus on Tri Cities Night it's always fun to play for a crowd.
“We really showed up and showed what we could do. I think we played to the best of our abilities, and it was good to show everyone what we can do. It was a good win.”
King was a defensive standout, and her precise corner kick send in the second half set up the goal that put Batavia up 3-0.
Up front, it was the offense of junior forward Lily Figueras that provided the team’s main scoring spark.
Outside of enduring two early Geneva chances (a Morgan Rudowicz 15-yard shot just 30 seconds in saved by goalkeeper Aubrey Hahn, and a Caroline Madden 25-yard shot just over the net in the 10th minute), Batavia had the offensive advantage much of the first half.
Ryan Gianfrancesco had Batavia's first near-finish. Off a Jaden Collins throw-in seven minutes in, Gianfrancesco's right-side header took a high bounce that required Geneva goalkeeper Jordan Forbes to leap, tip the ball high in the air and grab it near the right post.
Figueras would be narrowly denied on one of the next chances 16 minutes in, a low drive off a Johanna Schubert end line cross saved by Forbes.
Figueras’ next chance on the same combination would prove perfect.
With 18:58 to go until halftime, Schubert’s initial right-side liner was steered away by Forbes. But the ball rebounded to Figueras’ left side, and from there her liner found the right side of the net for a 1-0 Batavia lead.
“I think Jo was the one who played in a good ball,” Figueras said. “It was kind of bouncing around, and no one was really tracking me. I just ran in there, got a really nice volley off of it and was able to get a nice finish.”
That 1-0 Batavia lead stood up until halftime with only one big challenge. In the 24th minute, a Geneva attack into the box was denied first by a King clear from 10 yards out, and then a Riley DiBiase header back to goalkeeper Hahn on a Geneva resend.
“I just think we talked and worked well together,” King said of the defensive effort. “That's one thing we've been struggling with, not working together and talking. So today we had a good connection and were really talking.
“When one (defender) pressed, one stepped back. Especially with our center back because we play three in the back. So, our outside back stepping in when our center back steps … we really just worked well together.”
Brooke Carlson’s nice block and clear out of Batavia’s defensive end in the 27th minute was another notable first half defensive play.
Hahn was both solid in goal and an offensive weapon. She took multiple free kicks, one of them a 50-yard rocket with 14:10 left in the half that required Forbes to elevate a bit for a one-hop save.
With a 1-0 lead at halftime, Batavia wasted little time grabbing second half momentum.
Less than three minutes in, Figueras was again a central figure. Fouled in the box, she drew a penalty kick that Kailey Hansen converted to put Batavia up 2-0 with 37:10 left.
“I think it was Jo (Shubert) again who put in a nice cross (to set up the PK),” Figueras said. “I tried to head it, and the (Geneva) girl just kind of swept my feet. I was glad we were able to get a (PK) shot out of that.
“We just wanted to use that momentum (of the halftime lead). In past games we've been 1-0 at half, and I think we really learned from that, that teams are able to come back. We used that energy, and we were able to keep it up and get a few more.”
After a Hansen clear of Olivia Rawls’ end line cross to the front denied a Geneva bid to answer a minute later, Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match Figueras nearly struck again with 32:45 left. On a nice weave around defenders into the box, the speedster’s line shot from 12 yards was denied on a diving Forbes save.
Figueras came even closer with 22:50 to play when she burst up the middle and sent a low shot that appeared to graze the left post and missed inches wide.
Less than two minutes later, Batavia capped its scoring with a well-done set piece.
King’s left side corner kick send found Bella Lins near the back post. Lins angled her shot inside the left post to make the lead 3-0.
“I just kind of have a general thing,” King said of corner kick strategy. “I look at the six but back post, because I know someone's always back there and that's where we like to hit headers.
“Hit it back post but always aim at the six. Send it and see where it goes. And it worked out.”
The goal scorer was worthy of praise in her own right. After being sidelined for several games with a concussion, senior Lins scored her first goal of 2022.
“I think she missed three games,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “She is working her way back in. Tonight, we just rode her and Lily up-top, and just kept going with that, because the chemistry was working.”
Down 3-0, Geneva made an impressive final push to get back in the game.
That paid off with 14:36 left when, on a play initiated with a Rudowicz corner kick, Isabella Walls had a send from the right side. A racing Olivia Rawls redirected into the upper right corner from eight yards to make the score 3-1.
“Olivia is playing really well,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “She's really stepped up since last year and has been contributing a lot offensively.
“I think Batavia did a really good job of having numbers in the back, and there was just a lot of congestion back there and a lot of pressure by them. But she had a beautiful goal, and she's been scoring big goals in big games for us.”
Geneva followed with more pressure, but could not further dent the Batavia lead. With 7:30 to play, a Walls 40-yard free kick send was nicely cleared upfield by King.
Then with 2:30 left, the Geneva combination of Payton Dominguez and Alana Rawls produced a threat that Carlson nicely broke up. Carlson’s clear then generated a Batavia counterattack for Ryan Gianfrancesco, Shubert and Figueras that required good defensive end work by Geneva’s Walls and Cameron Bishop to clear.
“We were struggling to connect passes in the midfield,” Geneva’s Caroline Madden said, “because they (Batavia) had hard pressure and a lot of speed up-top, which made them hard to guard.”
After two seasons without a Tri-Cities Night, players were happy to be part of the spectacle regardless of the score.
“This is my first Tri-Cities Night,” said Madden, a sophomore. “It was a lot of fun. It was just really exciting with the huge crowd and everything. It's definitely one of the more fun games we've played. Everyone had a lot of effort. We just were working too much individually and not as a team.”
Madden’s play was one of Geneva’s bright spots on Tuesday.
“We're down a couple of midfielders with injuries,” Owens said, “so hopefully in the next few weeks they'll be back out there again. But Caroline is doing a great job of stepping up. She had a great game today.
“We struggled a little bit to connect up-top,” Owens added, “and there's a lot of distractions when you're the host school (for Tri-Cities Night) and running everything that's happening.
“It wasn't our best game of soccer. That happens. But we'll learn from it.”
The two Batavia goals by open forwards in the box were one of Geneva’s main woes.
“We need to work on our communication, especially on marking,” Madden said. “That's definitely causing problems for us, finding our marks. And I think being first to the ball in the air and on defense, and getting the ball up the field.”
After two regular-season losses to Geneva last year, Batavia won a regional rematch last spring. And now there’s Tuesday’s first-ever Tri Cities Night win that was dramatically summed up by the Batavia soccer Twitter page post: “We broke the curse and secured the W on Tri-City Night.”
Coach Gianfrancesco focused his postgame thoughts more on the performance Tuesday than Tri-Cities Night history.
“At times it didn't look pretty,” he said. “It definitely wasn't perfect, but we did some nice things and as the game progressed we got more comfortable, relaxed with the game, trying to find feet and working the ball. And you saw our transition as they (the Vikings) were pressing forward. That opened things up pretty well.
“I think that was good for our girls to see that (counterattack potential) and have the composure to work the ball out of there and take advantage of that.”
With a tournament in Burlington, Iowa, this weekend and key conference matches still remaining against St. Charles East and St. Charles North, Batavia hopes beating its rival can provide the ignition for a strong late-season push.
“It feels really good to beat them,” Figueras said. “We were able to connect really well, our communication was good and obviously we were able to finish.”
“It’s 3-1 (the final score), and we probably could have had a few more,” Gianfrancesco said. “But overall I'm happy with the result, and now we have to move forward from here and keep improving.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Aubrey Hahn
D Jaden Collins
D Mia Anzalone
D Carlin King
M Riley DiBiase
M Brooke Carlson
M Kailey Hansen
M Johanna Schubert
F Ryan Gianfrancesco
F Bella Lins
F Lily Figueras
Geneva
GK Jordan Forbes
D Cameron Bishop
D Isabella Wells
D Leyna Yonehara
D Morgan Slagle
M Caroline Madden
M Kendall Forbes
M Kya Trejo
F Alana Rawls
F Morgan Rudowicz
F Olivia Rawls
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Lily Figueras, jr. F, Batavia
Scoring summary
First half
B- Figueras (Johanna Schubert), 22’
Second half
B- Kailey Hansen (PK), 43’
B- Bella Lins (Carlin King), 59’
G- Olivia Rawls (Isabella Walls), 66’