Salyers brace lifts Batavia past rival Geneva
Bulldogs 2-1 win ends 2-game losing streak vs. Vikings
By Chris Walker
BATAVIA -- Most soccer players, coaches and fans would probably agree that it’s not good for the sport that a penalty could shape the outcome of a game.
Unfortunately, sometimes it does, and it’s even more heartbreaking for those on the other side of it when the call that’s made ends up being debatable.
While a crucial call turned the game and momentum back into the host’s favor for the rest of the evening on Tuesday, it did come early enough in the game for Geneva to overcome it, but the Vikings never recovered as Batavia was able to rally for the 2-1 victory in Tuesday’s DuKane Conference game.
“I would’ve questioned that (call) a little bit as well,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “Not much you can do there. I guess when that happens you’d rather have it happen early in the game so you can manage the rest of the game.”
On the play in question, Grace Salyers, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, and a Geneva player were chasing down a ball and contact was evident, but the source of it was difficult to determine. When two bodies are sprinting near one another, contact of some sort is more than likely probably going to happen.
“It was a good battle, but I wish a PK hadn’t decided it,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “I think it was unfortunate that that was the deciding factor in the game, a great Tri-Cities battle between two teams that fought hard. It just stings a little bit, but we’ll learn from it.”
Geneva (6-4-1, 1-2-0) left Batavia disappointed with the outcome, but not its effort.
“We’ve grown every single game, and every loss has been a one-goal loss that could’ve gone either way,” Owens said. “Tonight could’ve gone either way so props to Batavia. They played an interesting formation.”
While the Vikings came up short, they still own a slight edge in the series in the recent past, posting a 4-3-3 record in the past 10 meetings between the two schools. The teams tied last season. This was a premiere battle as the rivals are both enjoying fantastic seasons. And it was a bit of an upset as the Bulldogs, ranked no. 18 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, knocked off the no. 11 Vikings.
“Geneva is always our rival so we always we want to beat them,” Batavia junior Abby Zipse said. “So we weren’t looking ahead against Metea (Valley). We just were not lucky (in a 1-0 loss April 20), and that was a learning experience that we’re using going forward.”
While Wheaties are “The Breakfast of Champions,” Gatorade is a popular go-to thirst quencher of many great athletes and the phrase “winner, winner, chicken dinner” is exclaimed by some in celebration of a victory, Salyers was simply smiling and eating the last remaining pieces of concession stand popcorn while discussing what she was able to do to help Batavia beat Geneva, something she and the program hadn’t experienced in two years.
“I’m always thinking about what I can do for my team,” she said. “I do it all for the team.”
She tied the game at 1-1 with 22:22 remaining in the first half on a penalty kick.
Salyers had missed her first PK this season, sending it right to the goalkeeper. She converted her second attempt but wasn’t overly satisfied with it so she made it a priority to get better at them. Tuesday she was ready.
“I came out here recently and hit 100 balls or so, whatever it took,” she said. “I told myself to not go mental and just do what you know how to do.”
As for the controversy surrounding her being awarded the PK, Salyers acknowledged that there was contact between her and a Geneva player and that one final blow likely convinced the official to make a call.
“I think if anything, the biggest reason why it was so controversial was because we were both going at it,” she said. “We both saw the ball going down, and it’s my job to get down there and go after it, and she kind of pulled onto my arm, but it was a mutual kind of pushing. In the end she gave me that oomph and that caused that foul to happen, and that’s when I slid down.”
The play evened the teams at 1-1 apiece and took away all the momentum the Geneva had accumulated in the short period of time when Stephanie Howe had scored.
“We worked the ball to the outside which is Batavia’s weakness,” Owens said. “We crossed it in and scored off of it so it was nice to be able to put one in early. But they wouldn’t really give me an explanation for (the PK). So you have to bounce back, and we’ve got Waubonsie (Valley) on Thursday and Burlington Central on Saturday. But I liked how my team played. We knocked on the door all night. I would love to play them again.”
Gianfrancesco said if the roles were flipped he wouldn’t have been happy with the PK call either, and not because the call was wrong per se, but because it came from so far that it’s hard to accept that an official could see a foul from approximately 40 yards away.
“If it was me, I wouldn’t be happy with it because I’m not sure if he was in the position to make that a call, and that’s a big call," Giafrancesco said. “But you have to put that aside. If it happens at that time of the game you have the whole rest of the game to do something rather than have that happen in the last few minutes of the game.”
Nothing happened on the scoring front until midway through the second half when Salyers was able to get on the other end of a feed from Bella Zink to net the game-winner with 21:51 left to play.
“Bella played a great ball into space, and I just took a touch with my right foot to my left and hit it,” Salyers said. “It was such a weird angle to have to get your body around to curve it around, but that’s what I needed to do.”
The Batavia defense then continued to lock down the rest of the way, holding the Vikings to just the one early goal. Through 15 games, the Bulldogs have allowed a single goal five times, while shutting out nine opponents. The only team to really put it in the net against them was no. 15 Waubonsie Valley, which defeated the Bulldogs 4-1 as the Warriors pretty much converted every one of their chances on March 18.
“It was all about reading (Geneva’s) passing patterns, and when we stepped to it we shut them down real quick,” Bulldogs senior defender Jenna Nichols said. “Once we shut them down, they kind of walked and didn’t try to get it back. Then we had to play quick, and we had a quick counterattack and that helped Grace (Salyers) get some in the net.”
Winning the ball and turning it into chances the other way has become a common theme with Batavia, including the starting backline of Taylor Fleury, Kyla Mackenzie, Zaira Solis and Nichols.
“We won almost every 50/50 ball and wide was almost always open,” Nichols said. “Their forwards would get pulled forward too much so Zaira (Solis) was open on the wing every single time.”
The Bulldogs will now look to continuing their winning away in Iowa.
“It’s a long bus ride there and back, staying in rooms together,” Salyers said. “It’ll be a fun time, a lot of bonding.”
As for the tournament itself, the Bulldogs will be playing on grass, something they’re less accustomed to these days. So practice on Wednesday was scheduled to take place on the natural surface. Like any game, the goal is to play their best in Iowa, using some of the things they’ve been working on to get better and hopefully to continue their winning ways.
“We’re continuing to work on finishing our chances and capitalizing on our chances,” Salyers said. “We got a lot of them tonight, but if we don’t finish them, then there’s no result.”
Even Gianfrancesco is pushing for more offense and a 3-1 lead is much more comfortable than 2-1.
“We created a lot of chances, and we were lucky to get one to put us up 2-1, but another one would’ve made a big difference,” he said. “You go up 3-1 and then they’re maybe packing it in.”
The Bulldogs have also focusing on set pieces, hoping to take advantage of those promising opportunities when they come to bear.
“We’ve recently been practicing a lot on our attacking and our corner kicks,” Zipse said. “We’re getting better. I feel like we’ve adjusted to that the last few games, and we’ve scored a lot off of corners with headers and attacking them aggressively.”
Starting lineups
Geneva
GK Katie Montgomery
D Annie Brolly
D Amanda Rose
D Katie Cannon
MF Sydney Gratz
MF Anna Spindle
MF Katie Niermann
F Jenna Dominguez
F Caitlin Farrell
F Chloe Frison
F Stephanie Howe
Batavia
GK Hailey Flannagan
D Taylor Fleury
D Kyla Mackenzie
D Jenna Nichols
D Zaira Solis
MF Kate Schoenfelder
MF Bella Zink
MF Abby Zipse
F CeCe Hamann
F Anna Holcombe
F Grace Salyers
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Grace Salyers, jr., F, Batavia
Scoring summary
First half
Geneva – Stephanie Howe
Batavia – Grace Salyers (PK) 22:22
Second half
Batavia – Salyers (Bella Zink), 21:51
Bulldogs 2-1 win ends 2-game losing streak vs. Vikings
By Chris Walker
BATAVIA -- Most soccer players, coaches and fans would probably agree that it’s not good for the sport that a penalty could shape the outcome of a game.
Unfortunately, sometimes it does, and it’s even more heartbreaking for those on the other side of it when the call that’s made ends up being debatable.
While a crucial call turned the game and momentum back into the host’s favor for the rest of the evening on Tuesday, it did come early enough in the game for Geneva to overcome it, but the Vikings never recovered as Batavia was able to rally for the 2-1 victory in Tuesday’s DuKane Conference game.
“I would’ve questioned that (call) a little bit as well,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “Not much you can do there. I guess when that happens you’d rather have it happen early in the game so you can manage the rest of the game.”
On the play in question, Grace Salyers, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, and a Geneva player were chasing down a ball and contact was evident, but the source of it was difficult to determine. When two bodies are sprinting near one another, contact of some sort is more than likely probably going to happen.
“It was a good battle, but I wish a PK hadn’t decided it,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “I think it was unfortunate that that was the deciding factor in the game, a great Tri-Cities battle between two teams that fought hard. It just stings a little bit, but we’ll learn from it.”
Geneva (6-4-1, 1-2-0) left Batavia disappointed with the outcome, but not its effort.
“We’ve grown every single game, and every loss has been a one-goal loss that could’ve gone either way,” Owens said. “Tonight could’ve gone either way so props to Batavia. They played an interesting formation.”
While the Vikings came up short, they still own a slight edge in the series in the recent past, posting a 4-3-3 record in the past 10 meetings between the two schools. The teams tied last season. This was a premiere battle as the rivals are both enjoying fantastic seasons. And it was a bit of an upset as the Bulldogs, ranked no. 18 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, knocked off the no. 11 Vikings.
“Geneva is always our rival so we always we want to beat them,” Batavia junior Abby Zipse said. “So we weren’t looking ahead against Metea (Valley). We just were not lucky (in a 1-0 loss April 20), and that was a learning experience that we’re using going forward.”
While Wheaties are “The Breakfast of Champions,” Gatorade is a popular go-to thirst quencher of many great athletes and the phrase “winner, winner, chicken dinner” is exclaimed by some in celebration of a victory, Salyers was simply smiling and eating the last remaining pieces of concession stand popcorn while discussing what she was able to do to help Batavia beat Geneva, something she and the program hadn’t experienced in two years.
“I’m always thinking about what I can do for my team,” she said. “I do it all for the team.”
She tied the game at 1-1 with 22:22 remaining in the first half on a penalty kick.
Salyers had missed her first PK this season, sending it right to the goalkeeper. She converted her second attempt but wasn’t overly satisfied with it so she made it a priority to get better at them. Tuesday she was ready.
“I came out here recently and hit 100 balls or so, whatever it took,” she said. “I told myself to not go mental and just do what you know how to do.”
As for the controversy surrounding her being awarded the PK, Salyers acknowledged that there was contact between her and a Geneva player and that one final blow likely convinced the official to make a call.
“I think if anything, the biggest reason why it was so controversial was because we were both going at it,” she said. “We both saw the ball going down, and it’s my job to get down there and go after it, and she kind of pulled onto my arm, but it was a mutual kind of pushing. In the end she gave me that oomph and that caused that foul to happen, and that’s when I slid down.”
The play evened the teams at 1-1 apiece and took away all the momentum the Geneva had accumulated in the short period of time when Stephanie Howe had scored.
“We worked the ball to the outside which is Batavia’s weakness,” Owens said. “We crossed it in and scored off of it so it was nice to be able to put one in early. But they wouldn’t really give me an explanation for (the PK). So you have to bounce back, and we’ve got Waubonsie (Valley) on Thursday and Burlington Central on Saturday. But I liked how my team played. We knocked on the door all night. I would love to play them again.”
Gianfrancesco said if the roles were flipped he wouldn’t have been happy with the PK call either, and not because the call was wrong per se, but because it came from so far that it’s hard to accept that an official could see a foul from approximately 40 yards away.
“If it was me, I wouldn’t be happy with it because I’m not sure if he was in the position to make that a call, and that’s a big call," Giafrancesco said. “But you have to put that aside. If it happens at that time of the game you have the whole rest of the game to do something rather than have that happen in the last few minutes of the game.”
Nothing happened on the scoring front until midway through the second half when Salyers was able to get on the other end of a feed from Bella Zink to net the game-winner with 21:51 left to play.
“Bella played a great ball into space, and I just took a touch with my right foot to my left and hit it,” Salyers said. “It was such a weird angle to have to get your body around to curve it around, but that’s what I needed to do.”
The Batavia defense then continued to lock down the rest of the way, holding the Vikings to just the one early goal. Through 15 games, the Bulldogs have allowed a single goal five times, while shutting out nine opponents. The only team to really put it in the net against them was no. 15 Waubonsie Valley, which defeated the Bulldogs 4-1 as the Warriors pretty much converted every one of their chances on March 18.
“It was all about reading (Geneva’s) passing patterns, and when we stepped to it we shut them down real quick,” Bulldogs senior defender Jenna Nichols said. “Once we shut them down, they kind of walked and didn’t try to get it back. Then we had to play quick, and we had a quick counterattack and that helped Grace (Salyers) get some in the net.”
Winning the ball and turning it into chances the other way has become a common theme with Batavia, including the starting backline of Taylor Fleury, Kyla Mackenzie, Zaira Solis and Nichols.
“We won almost every 50/50 ball and wide was almost always open,” Nichols said. “Their forwards would get pulled forward too much so Zaira (Solis) was open on the wing every single time.”
The Bulldogs will now look to continuing their winning away in Iowa.
“It’s a long bus ride there and back, staying in rooms together,” Salyers said. “It’ll be a fun time, a lot of bonding.”
As for the tournament itself, the Bulldogs will be playing on grass, something they’re less accustomed to these days. So practice on Wednesday was scheduled to take place on the natural surface. Like any game, the goal is to play their best in Iowa, using some of the things they’ve been working on to get better and hopefully to continue their winning ways.
“We’re continuing to work on finishing our chances and capitalizing on our chances,” Salyers said. “We got a lot of them tonight, but if we don’t finish them, then there’s no result.”
Even Gianfrancesco is pushing for more offense and a 3-1 lead is much more comfortable than 2-1.
“We created a lot of chances, and we were lucky to get one to put us up 2-1, but another one would’ve made a big difference,” he said. “You go up 3-1 and then they’re maybe packing it in.”
The Bulldogs have also focusing on set pieces, hoping to take advantage of those promising opportunities when they come to bear.
“We’ve recently been practicing a lot on our attacking and our corner kicks,” Zipse said. “We’re getting better. I feel like we’ve adjusted to that the last few games, and we’ve scored a lot off of corners with headers and attacking them aggressively.”
Starting lineups
Geneva
GK Katie Montgomery
D Annie Brolly
D Amanda Rose
D Katie Cannon
MF Sydney Gratz
MF Anna Spindle
MF Katie Niermann
F Jenna Dominguez
F Caitlin Farrell
F Chloe Frison
F Stephanie Howe
Batavia
GK Hailey Flannagan
D Taylor Fleury
D Kyla Mackenzie
D Jenna Nichols
D Zaira Solis
MF Kate Schoenfelder
MF Bella Zink
MF Abby Zipse
F CeCe Hamann
F Anna Holcombe
F Grace Salyers
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Grace Salyers, jr., F, Batavia
Scoring summary
First half
Geneva – Stephanie Howe
Batavia – Grace Salyers (PK) 22:22
Second half
Batavia – Salyers (Bella Zink), 21:51