Batavia breaks through, downs
WWS for 1st victory of season
Lillig scores twice, Bulldogs score 3 unanswered goals in 3-1 win
By Chris Walker
WHEATON -- Still searching for its first victory and with time running out to get it during this abridged spring boys soccer season, Batavia could probably perseverate the reasons why win no. 1 has remained elusive. Instead the Bulldogs have stuck together as a team and fought in pursuit of it.
That’s simply the program’s way of doing things and their commitment to each other paid off handsomely. The Bulldogs did not succumb after conceding an early goal Tuesday and answered with three-straight scores to defeat Wheaton Warrenville South, 3-1 in DuKane Conference play.
“We don’t get hard on each other,” Batavia senior Mark Lillig said. “We’ve all been close for many years despite the age differences and stuff and that’s one of the things, we don’t blame each other.
“We’re a team. We take everything as a unit and we lift each other up, and that’s one of the main things myself and my teammates like to bring into the game, just positivity, because negativity can bring down a team tremendously.”
Wheaton Warrenville South (3-7-2, 2-7-2) struck quickly getting a solid score from junior Jason Weisheit not even three minutes into the action.
“Sometimes too early, like they say,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. “I don’t think there was a false sense of security given the early goal. I think we then played another good 20 minutes.”
Dribbling inside the left side of the penalty area after receiving a ball from Ryan Kahley, Lillig drew the Bulldogs even with 22:29 left in the first half.
“I just got the lucky with the wind from the goal kick, and I didn’t connect with it completely,” Lillig said. “I feel that’s what threw the goalie off.”
Callipari had recently made some substitutions and his players didn’t acclimate themselves quickly enough.
“They quickly capitalized right on the opportunity, and they split our outside back and our center back,” he said.
“Principle would say stay compact, force them outside, but we were wide. I had seen them try to do it twice on the right side, so it wasn’t that anybody should be surprised that he was going to put his head down and try to go through and maybe get a foul or get in and get a shot off.
“And he made the best of the opportunity so granted that was their one opportunity in the first half, and now we’re in a game. It’s 1-1.”
Batavia (1-9-2, 1-8-2) scored what proved to be the game-winner with 33:56 left to play in the game when Will Bardol connected.
“I knew it was going to play back out if they didn’t score,” he said. “I knew the keeper was going to bounce it back out, so I was just getting ready for the volley and to put it in the corner.”
Feeding off the momentum of the recently acquired lead, the Bulldogs quickly netted an insurance goal with 29:20 remaining when Lillig, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, delivered for the second time of the night, gaining possession from Rodrigo Maldonado.
“It went a little overhead but I tracked it and was able to still get up to it,” Lillig said. “And I put it by the keeper with my head.”
That same head that stayed up despite the early 1-0 hole.
“We’re really good at keeping our heads up and bouncing back,” Lillig said. “I know earlier on in the season, I think it was Lake Park, we scored a short-handed goal with 10 players.
“We’ve always been able to fight back and come off with intensity even after taking it down one or two goals. I think that’s one of the strengths of our team, we don’t get down on each other. We stay as a team and fight all the way through no matter what the score is, or what the record.”
Having been close to tasting victory a few times this spring, with four losses by a single goal and a pair of ties, the Bulldogs limited the Tigers from creating many chances during the second half, properly sealing the deal and getting the win.
“Right at the end for several games we’ve been winning or we’ve got them dead to rights and then stuff just happens, the wheels fall off or something goes wrong and whatnot, or we’d have another two or three wins, arguably,” Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “What a comeback. Three unanswered after that. To just come back and stick with it. They’ve been there before, and once they got the first (goal) I think they started to see some confidence in them going forward and then the second one came and you saw more as it progressed.”
With matches against ranked Geneva, St. Charles East and St. Charles North to wrap up the truncated seasons, the timing is right for the Bulldogs to carry their momentum forward into those battles and show the Vikings, Saints and North Stars what they are made of and get a measure of revenge after losses to the teams in March.
“No matter what it’s a winning season despite the circumstances,” Lillig said. “We’re out here getting to play soccer, and a few months ago if you asked me if I thought we’d have a season I’d honestly wouldn’t know what to say.
“The fact that we’ve been able to get in this many games and have this much flexibility within the schedule and stuff means a lot because as a senior I thought it wasn’t looking too hot, especially in the fall when we originally didn’t have a season.
“I’m just happy to be out here, happy to be out here with my team and no matter what the score is we’re having a great time.”
Wheaton Warrenville South had enough scoring chances to be dangerous, but they struggled in the final third to finish them and came up empty against a team that stunned them with a goal in the final seconds on March 18 to earn a 1-1 draw.
“We didn’t take care of business as probably we should’ve been in the final third. We let a lot of opportunities go astray,” Callipari said. “We’re not as comfortable maybe in and around the area, a little panic-stricken especially when you get behind and there is a little bit of pressure on them, thinking they’re creating opportunities but are not getting anything from it.
“That builds a bit on you mentally, but then you have got to give credit where credit is due. Batavia, they grit and they grind and they’re capable in certain areas, and they’ll take care of those advantages. They had three quality chances that they created opportunities with and finished on them, and that’s the difference in the game.”
Quality wins have not eluded the Tigers this season. They’ve beaten St. Charles East and Geneva. They’ve proven they can compete with anyone, but every time out is a new challenge a new day, and the results have varied.
“Our makeup is very similar (to Batavia’s),” Callipari said. “They’re always going to feel like they’re in it in every game and they’re going to be competitive with everybody and some days are going to be better than most. We beat Geneva and St. Charles East but then we’ll lose 5-2 on another day.”
That makes it interesting for those following the conference to to be entertained, but it isn’t necessarily for the squeamish.
“The flip side at the end of the day, there isn’t a game that I don’t go into thinking that we can’t win,” Callipari said. “I don’t feel like we’re overmatched on paper or on the field.
“I don’t know how it’s going to be played out. We may be cold or we might be hitting balls all around the goal but not a frame as it was today, and then another day you get six shots and three of them go in and we learn how to manage a game and play good defense, and now we’re victorious.”
The Tigers welcome Wheaton North to Red Grange Field on Thursday. They lost to the Falcons 4-2 earlier this year, but still are in the fight for the Wheaton Cup. They were scheduled to play in the PepsiCo Showdown, but the event has been canceled for this season. The hopes of playing for tournament hardware will have to wait until the fall.
“We still have the Wheaton Cup,” said Callipari. “We decided since it’s a home and away to do the aggregate, so we’re going to try to get on back in it in that game, and it should be a lot of fun and exciting.”
It gives his kids something more to play for, especially for the seniors whose days are numbered.
“It’s difficult to measure and I’m certainly not in the position where I’m a senior and their mentality and trying to figure out why are they playing,” Callipari said. “There is no playoff so are they playing game-to-game? What do I dangle in front of them to keep them at a level when the conference has been lost or when they’re spotted minus-2 in the Wheaton Cup and then the Pepsi just vanished?
“Where’s the motivation? Do they just love to play the game; do they like to wear the badge; do they playing for the community? What is it that I can utilize as a motivational force outside of the game itself to keep them grinding to keep them believing because for everybody else in four months they have tryouts.”
While Callipari and Gianfrancesco are already juggling the upcoming girls season with the end of the boys season, the fall season really is a lot closer than one would think.
“This is a great template and an opportunity for us to gauge and measure environments that isn’t like a tryout,” Callipari said. “This is actually better where they can be in competitive environment, and I can learn a lot by watching them play.
“And some kids I have written off three weeks ago are now starting and really showing and now I’m thinking about come August, I think we got some things here we’ve already figured out.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Logan Saenz
D Rodrigo Maldonado
D Quinn Salyers
D Riley Miller
D Emir Haskovic
M Will Bardol
M Ben Hanson
M Luke Bianco
F Ryan Kahlue
F Mark Lillig
F Dylan Knapp
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Ramsey Khayal
D Nikhil Bawa
D Jackson Moran
D Andrew Murman
D Aidan O’Hara
M Gael Alfara
M Eric Vargas
M Chase Kedzior
M Eladio Reyes
F Jason Weisheit
F Issa Husseini
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Mark Lillig, sr., F, Batavia
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton Warrenville South – Jason Weisheit (Drew Murman), 2nd minute
Batavia – Mark Lillig (Ryan Kahley), 18th minute
Second half
Batavia – Will Bardol (u/a), 46th minute
Batavia – Mark Lillig (Rodrigo Maldonado), 51st minute
WWS for 1st victory of season
Lillig scores twice, Bulldogs score 3 unanswered goals in 3-1 win
By Chris Walker
WHEATON -- Still searching for its first victory and with time running out to get it during this abridged spring boys soccer season, Batavia could probably perseverate the reasons why win no. 1 has remained elusive. Instead the Bulldogs have stuck together as a team and fought in pursuit of it.
That’s simply the program’s way of doing things and their commitment to each other paid off handsomely. The Bulldogs did not succumb after conceding an early goal Tuesday and answered with three-straight scores to defeat Wheaton Warrenville South, 3-1 in DuKane Conference play.
“We don’t get hard on each other,” Batavia senior Mark Lillig said. “We’ve all been close for many years despite the age differences and stuff and that’s one of the things, we don’t blame each other.
“We’re a team. We take everything as a unit and we lift each other up, and that’s one of the main things myself and my teammates like to bring into the game, just positivity, because negativity can bring down a team tremendously.”
Wheaton Warrenville South (3-7-2, 2-7-2) struck quickly getting a solid score from junior Jason Weisheit not even three minutes into the action.
“Sometimes too early, like they say,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. “I don’t think there was a false sense of security given the early goal. I think we then played another good 20 minutes.”
Dribbling inside the left side of the penalty area after receiving a ball from Ryan Kahley, Lillig drew the Bulldogs even with 22:29 left in the first half.
“I just got the lucky with the wind from the goal kick, and I didn’t connect with it completely,” Lillig said. “I feel that’s what threw the goalie off.”
Callipari had recently made some substitutions and his players didn’t acclimate themselves quickly enough.
“They quickly capitalized right on the opportunity, and they split our outside back and our center back,” he said.
“Principle would say stay compact, force them outside, but we were wide. I had seen them try to do it twice on the right side, so it wasn’t that anybody should be surprised that he was going to put his head down and try to go through and maybe get a foul or get in and get a shot off.
“And he made the best of the opportunity so granted that was their one opportunity in the first half, and now we’re in a game. It’s 1-1.”
Batavia (1-9-2, 1-8-2) scored what proved to be the game-winner with 33:56 left to play in the game when Will Bardol connected.
“I knew it was going to play back out if they didn’t score,” he said. “I knew the keeper was going to bounce it back out, so I was just getting ready for the volley and to put it in the corner.”
Feeding off the momentum of the recently acquired lead, the Bulldogs quickly netted an insurance goal with 29:20 remaining when Lillig, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, delivered for the second time of the night, gaining possession from Rodrigo Maldonado.
“It went a little overhead but I tracked it and was able to still get up to it,” Lillig said. “And I put it by the keeper with my head.”
That same head that stayed up despite the early 1-0 hole.
“We’re really good at keeping our heads up and bouncing back,” Lillig said. “I know earlier on in the season, I think it was Lake Park, we scored a short-handed goal with 10 players.
“We’ve always been able to fight back and come off with intensity even after taking it down one or two goals. I think that’s one of the strengths of our team, we don’t get down on each other. We stay as a team and fight all the way through no matter what the score is, or what the record.”
Having been close to tasting victory a few times this spring, with four losses by a single goal and a pair of ties, the Bulldogs limited the Tigers from creating many chances during the second half, properly sealing the deal and getting the win.
“Right at the end for several games we’ve been winning or we’ve got them dead to rights and then stuff just happens, the wheels fall off or something goes wrong and whatnot, or we’d have another two or three wins, arguably,” Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “What a comeback. Three unanswered after that. To just come back and stick with it. They’ve been there before, and once they got the first (goal) I think they started to see some confidence in them going forward and then the second one came and you saw more as it progressed.”
With matches against ranked Geneva, St. Charles East and St. Charles North to wrap up the truncated seasons, the timing is right for the Bulldogs to carry their momentum forward into those battles and show the Vikings, Saints and North Stars what they are made of and get a measure of revenge after losses to the teams in March.
“No matter what it’s a winning season despite the circumstances,” Lillig said. “We’re out here getting to play soccer, and a few months ago if you asked me if I thought we’d have a season I’d honestly wouldn’t know what to say.
“The fact that we’ve been able to get in this many games and have this much flexibility within the schedule and stuff means a lot because as a senior I thought it wasn’t looking too hot, especially in the fall when we originally didn’t have a season.
“I’m just happy to be out here, happy to be out here with my team and no matter what the score is we’re having a great time.”
Wheaton Warrenville South had enough scoring chances to be dangerous, but they struggled in the final third to finish them and came up empty against a team that stunned them with a goal in the final seconds on March 18 to earn a 1-1 draw.
“We didn’t take care of business as probably we should’ve been in the final third. We let a lot of opportunities go astray,” Callipari said. “We’re not as comfortable maybe in and around the area, a little panic-stricken especially when you get behind and there is a little bit of pressure on them, thinking they’re creating opportunities but are not getting anything from it.
“That builds a bit on you mentally, but then you have got to give credit where credit is due. Batavia, they grit and they grind and they’re capable in certain areas, and they’ll take care of those advantages. They had three quality chances that they created opportunities with and finished on them, and that’s the difference in the game.”
Quality wins have not eluded the Tigers this season. They’ve beaten St. Charles East and Geneva. They’ve proven they can compete with anyone, but every time out is a new challenge a new day, and the results have varied.
“Our makeup is very similar (to Batavia’s),” Callipari said. “They’re always going to feel like they’re in it in every game and they’re going to be competitive with everybody and some days are going to be better than most. We beat Geneva and St. Charles East but then we’ll lose 5-2 on another day.”
That makes it interesting for those following the conference to to be entertained, but it isn’t necessarily for the squeamish.
“The flip side at the end of the day, there isn’t a game that I don’t go into thinking that we can’t win,” Callipari said. “I don’t feel like we’re overmatched on paper or on the field.
“I don’t know how it’s going to be played out. We may be cold or we might be hitting balls all around the goal but not a frame as it was today, and then another day you get six shots and three of them go in and we learn how to manage a game and play good defense, and now we’re victorious.”
The Tigers welcome Wheaton North to Red Grange Field on Thursday. They lost to the Falcons 4-2 earlier this year, but still are in the fight for the Wheaton Cup. They were scheduled to play in the PepsiCo Showdown, but the event has been canceled for this season. The hopes of playing for tournament hardware will have to wait until the fall.
“We still have the Wheaton Cup,” said Callipari. “We decided since it’s a home and away to do the aggregate, so we’re going to try to get on back in it in that game, and it should be a lot of fun and exciting.”
It gives his kids something more to play for, especially for the seniors whose days are numbered.
“It’s difficult to measure and I’m certainly not in the position where I’m a senior and their mentality and trying to figure out why are they playing,” Callipari said. “There is no playoff so are they playing game-to-game? What do I dangle in front of them to keep them at a level when the conference has been lost or when they’re spotted minus-2 in the Wheaton Cup and then the Pepsi just vanished?
“Where’s the motivation? Do they just love to play the game; do they like to wear the badge; do they playing for the community? What is it that I can utilize as a motivational force outside of the game itself to keep them grinding to keep them believing because for everybody else in four months they have tryouts.”
While Callipari and Gianfrancesco are already juggling the upcoming girls season with the end of the boys season, the fall season really is a lot closer than one would think.
“This is a great template and an opportunity for us to gauge and measure environments that isn’t like a tryout,” Callipari said. “This is actually better where they can be in competitive environment, and I can learn a lot by watching them play.
“And some kids I have written off three weeks ago are now starting and really showing and now I’m thinking about come August, I think we got some things here we’ve already figured out.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Logan Saenz
D Rodrigo Maldonado
D Quinn Salyers
D Riley Miller
D Emir Haskovic
M Will Bardol
M Ben Hanson
M Luke Bianco
F Ryan Kahlue
F Mark Lillig
F Dylan Knapp
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Ramsey Khayal
D Nikhil Bawa
D Jackson Moran
D Andrew Murman
D Aidan O’Hara
M Gael Alfara
M Eric Vargas
M Chase Kedzior
M Eladio Reyes
F Jason Weisheit
F Issa Husseini
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Mark Lillig, sr., F, Batavia
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton Warrenville South – Jason Weisheit (Drew Murman), 2nd minute
Batavia – Mark Lillig (Ryan Kahley), 18th minute
Second half
Batavia – Will Bardol (u/a), 46th minute
Batavia – Mark Lillig (Rodrigo Maldonado), 51st minute