Geneva outlasts WWS
in memorable DuKane opener
Dominguez bags game-winner after Vikings surrender 2-0 lead
By Matt Le Cren
WHEATON – If every DuKane Conference game is as fast-paced as the show Wheaton Warrenville South and Geneva put on Thursday night, the league will need to distribute oxygen tanks -- and that’s just for the fans.
On a wet, windy, 41-degree evening more suited for a hockey game, the two teams played as if they were on skates with end-to-end action nearly throughout and midfield play a mere afterthought.
The frantic pace had spectators turning their heads back-and-forth like cats watching a tennis match and produced four goals in the first half.
The game ended with players from both sides freezing and sweating at the same time, and Geneva coming away with a 3-2 victory at Red Grange Field.
Senior forward Jenna Dominguez’s goal with 13:15 left in the second half was the difference for Geneva (4-1-1, 1-0-0), which scored on two of its first three shots only to see Wheaton Warrenville South (2-1-0, 0-1-0) tie the game within 17 minutes.
“It was pretty wide open,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said. “Unfortunately, we don’t want it that wide-open with the ability that they have to break people down in a 1-v.-1 environment. They play with a lot of confidence up-top.”
Dominguez and Stephanie Howe, who combined for two goals and three assists, are confident even when their shots do not go in. Both shanked open opportunities in the second half before Dominguez scored against the run of play off an assist from Howe.
“They always say that 2-0 is the most dangerous lead because you get comfortable, and it goes to show you in this game,” Howe said. “Wheaton South did a great job coming back, but we collected ourselves and were going over what we needed to work on, especially re-finding our shape.
“I know we were getting a little lost and hectic toward the end of the first half, so we really settled down and focused on connecting passes and staying tight to our marks. From then on, we were able to build up in the back and up the field.”
That’s what happened on the decisive strike. Howe dribbled the ball toward the right endline before centering a great cross through the box to Dominguez, who had gotten behind the defense on the counterattack.
Dominguez settled the ball, then calmly ripped a 16-yard shot inside the left post for her eighth goal of the season.
“It went through Caitlin Farrell and I told her to leave it, because I was wide-open because they weren’t tracking back,” Dominguez said. “I was able to get the right touch at the right time and keep my composure and get it in.”
Dominguez never lost her composure, even after missing well wide a couple minutes earlier.
“We’ve been talking about keeping our composure for the past five games that we’ve had,” Dominguez said. “Having my teammates behind me, telling me to ‘Keep going, keep going,’ that’s what pushed me to keep going and finish what I started.”
It helps that Dominguez, Howe, Farrell and attacking midfielder Sydney Gratz have great chemistry. Dominguez and Howe were particularly effective against the Tigers.
“(Howe) does a good job because this happens all the time,” Dominguez said. “She always knows where I’m going to be, so it’s really good to have the chemistry.”
Add a lot of athleticism and more than a bit of resiliency, and it’s easy to see why the Vikings were able to win a game in which they were outshot 17-9.
“It was great to see the mental toughness today, because we did have some frustrations when we missed some shots we should have finished,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “It was good that we were able to overcome that.”
The Vikings had to overcome a vigorous Wheaton Warrenville South attack that features Northwestern recruit Paige Miller, Allie Anderson, J.J. Aalbue and Evelyn Demsher, all of whom are playing at a high level this spring.
“Props to Wheaton Warrenville South,” Owens said. “They have amazing speed.
“Their speed is something we had to adjust to, but I’m glad we didn’t give up. We got up early and maybe let our guard down a little bit so I’m glad we were able to come back and keep fighting and finish.”
There were finishes galore in the first half, including three great goals. The Vikings took a 1-0 lead at the 29:40 mark when Brennan was caught outside the left side of the 18 with the ball.
Howe stole the ball and quickly fed Farrell, whose 18-yard shot crossed the goal line just before defender Maria Dohse could get a foot on it.
Seven minutes later, Howe and Dominguez hooked up for the second goal. This time it was Dominguez who started and Howe who finished.
Dominguez ran up the left side and fired a waist-high pass into the middle of the box to Howe, whose 15-yard volley rocketed off the gloves of the leaping Brennan and under the pipe.
“I think the wind was a huge factor at that point because the wind was going in the same direction that I was kicking it in,” Dominguez said. “Once I took the defender on, I just saw that I needed to get a cross on and I saw Steph wide-open in the box so I needed to hit it to her. I know she can finish it.”
The Tigers, however, weren’t finished. Aalbue rose up to meet Anderson’s corner kick and sent a downward header crashing into the net with 19:28 to go in the first half to get the hosts on the board.
Aalbue nearly tied it at the 6:15 mark, but her 18-yard rocket struck the right post and deflected off goalie Katie Montgomery before being cleared.
But the Tigers got the equalizer 35 seconds later. The always dangerous Miller dribbled in close on the left endline. Confronted by a defender outside the near post, Miller tapped a pass to Demsher, who was situated near the penalty spot.
Demsher lofted a chip shot into the wind that at first looked like it was going to sail over the crossbar before going over Montgomery’s head and landing a couple feet past the goal line.
“It was crazy,” Wheaton Warrenville South defender Molly Fank said. “It was awesome to see that even though we were down 2-0, we were still able to get back up.”
A lot of people were awed by the pace of play.
“We were hoping for a different outcome, but Geneva was amazing so it was great to play a team that was challenging us a lot,” Fank said. “The other games that we’ve played, we’ve played great teams that we really were able to dominate and show what we have.”
Both teams showed they will be factors not only in the race for the inaugural DuKane championship but in the postseason, though neither expects to keep up the pace they played at it in this match.
“You can’t maintain that pace and eventually we have to come to terms with having some sort of rhythm in our game,” Callipari said. “They ran themselves into the ground the last 20 minutes of the first half.
“We ran ourselves into the ground as well, and then it was just punch for punch and who was going to be left standing.”
Not that anyone was ever standing around during the game.
“These games are a blast to play, just the energy and adrenaline from everybody, whether it’s people on the field, people on the bench, the other team,” Dominguez said. “Knowing what a dangerous team they were, we had to stay disciplined, and that’s what kept the energy going.
“You know that if you give them one step, they’re going to take the mile, so you can’t give them the one step.”
As Callipari noted, the DuKane race is wide-open and probably will be for several weeks, but the Vikings took a big early step forward.
“It was a great battle,” Owens said. “It’s exciting. This is our first game of a brand-new conference, and I thought both teams played really well. There was a lot of quality soccer all-around.”
That’s what Callipari likes to see.
“It will be a wild ride, and that’s what we wanted,” Callipari said. “The first championship is up for grabs.
“I believe the bar has been raised and everybody is going to try to attain that.”
Starting lineups
Geneva
GK Katie Montgomery
D Amanda Rose
D Ava Geen
D Kaitlyn Cannon
D Annie Brolly
M Annalise Spindle
M Kathryn Niermann
M Sydney Gratz
F Jenna Dominguez
F Stephanie Howe
F Caitlin Farrell
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Abbie Brennan
D Maria Dohse
D Molly Fank
D Sarah Berardi
D Sam Buol
M Ellery Fahey
M Evelyn Demsher
M Audrey Siebert
M Allie Anderson
F Paige Miller
F J.J. Aalbue
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Jenna Dominguez, sr., F, Geneva
Scoring summary
First half
Geneva – Caitlin Farrell (Stephanie Howe) 29:40
Geneva – Howe (Jenna Dominguez) 22:07
WWS – J.J. Aalbue (Allie Anderson) 19:28
WWS – Evelyn Demsher (Paige Miller) 5:40
Second half
Geneva – Dominguez (Howe) 13:15
in memorable DuKane opener
Dominguez bags game-winner after Vikings surrender 2-0 lead
By Matt Le Cren
WHEATON – If every DuKane Conference game is as fast-paced as the show Wheaton Warrenville South and Geneva put on Thursday night, the league will need to distribute oxygen tanks -- and that’s just for the fans.
On a wet, windy, 41-degree evening more suited for a hockey game, the two teams played as if they were on skates with end-to-end action nearly throughout and midfield play a mere afterthought.
The frantic pace had spectators turning their heads back-and-forth like cats watching a tennis match and produced four goals in the first half.
The game ended with players from both sides freezing and sweating at the same time, and Geneva coming away with a 3-2 victory at Red Grange Field.
Senior forward Jenna Dominguez’s goal with 13:15 left in the second half was the difference for Geneva (4-1-1, 1-0-0), which scored on two of its first three shots only to see Wheaton Warrenville South (2-1-0, 0-1-0) tie the game within 17 minutes.
“It was pretty wide open,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said. “Unfortunately, we don’t want it that wide-open with the ability that they have to break people down in a 1-v.-1 environment. They play with a lot of confidence up-top.”
Dominguez and Stephanie Howe, who combined for two goals and three assists, are confident even when their shots do not go in. Both shanked open opportunities in the second half before Dominguez scored against the run of play off an assist from Howe.
“They always say that 2-0 is the most dangerous lead because you get comfortable, and it goes to show you in this game,” Howe said. “Wheaton South did a great job coming back, but we collected ourselves and were going over what we needed to work on, especially re-finding our shape.
“I know we were getting a little lost and hectic toward the end of the first half, so we really settled down and focused on connecting passes and staying tight to our marks. From then on, we were able to build up in the back and up the field.”
That’s what happened on the decisive strike. Howe dribbled the ball toward the right endline before centering a great cross through the box to Dominguez, who had gotten behind the defense on the counterattack.
Dominguez settled the ball, then calmly ripped a 16-yard shot inside the left post for her eighth goal of the season.
“It went through Caitlin Farrell and I told her to leave it, because I was wide-open because they weren’t tracking back,” Dominguez said. “I was able to get the right touch at the right time and keep my composure and get it in.”
Dominguez never lost her composure, even after missing well wide a couple minutes earlier.
“We’ve been talking about keeping our composure for the past five games that we’ve had,” Dominguez said. “Having my teammates behind me, telling me to ‘Keep going, keep going,’ that’s what pushed me to keep going and finish what I started.”
It helps that Dominguez, Howe, Farrell and attacking midfielder Sydney Gratz have great chemistry. Dominguez and Howe were particularly effective against the Tigers.
“(Howe) does a good job because this happens all the time,” Dominguez said. “She always knows where I’m going to be, so it’s really good to have the chemistry.”
Add a lot of athleticism and more than a bit of resiliency, and it’s easy to see why the Vikings were able to win a game in which they were outshot 17-9.
“It was great to see the mental toughness today, because we did have some frustrations when we missed some shots we should have finished,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “It was good that we were able to overcome that.”
The Vikings had to overcome a vigorous Wheaton Warrenville South attack that features Northwestern recruit Paige Miller, Allie Anderson, J.J. Aalbue and Evelyn Demsher, all of whom are playing at a high level this spring.
“Props to Wheaton Warrenville South,” Owens said. “They have amazing speed.
“Their speed is something we had to adjust to, but I’m glad we didn’t give up. We got up early and maybe let our guard down a little bit so I’m glad we were able to come back and keep fighting and finish.”
There were finishes galore in the first half, including three great goals. The Vikings took a 1-0 lead at the 29:40 mark when Brennan was caught outside the left side of the 18 with the ball.
Howe stole the ball and quickly fed Farrell, whose 18-yard shot crossed the goal line just before defender Maria Dohse could get a foot on it.
Seven minutes later, Howe and Dominguez hooked up for the second goal. This time it was Dominguez who started and Howe who finished.
Dominguez ran up the left side and fired a waist-high pass into the middle of the box to Howe, whose 15-yard volley rocketed off the gloves of the leaping Brennan and under the pipe.
“I think the wind was a huge factor at that point because the wind was going in the same direction that I was kicking it in,” Dominguez said. “Once I took the defender on, I just saw that I needed to get a cross on and I saw Steph wide-open in the box so I needed to hit it to her. I know she can finish it.”
The Tigers, however, weren’t finished. Aalbue rose up to meet Anderson’s corner kick and sent a downward header crashing into the net with 19:28 to go in the first half to get the hosts on the board.
Aalbue nearly tied it at the 6:15 mark, but her 18-yard rocket struck the right post and deflected off goalie Katie Montgomery before being cleared.
But the Tigers got the equalizer 35 seconds later. The always dangerous Miller dribbled in close on the left endline. Confronted by a defender outside the near post, Miller tapped a pass to Demsher, who was situated near the penalty spot.
Demsher lofted a chip shot into the wind that at first looked like it was going to sail over the crossbar before going over Montgomery’s head and landing a couple feet past the goal line.
“It was crazy,” Wheaton Warrenville South defender Molly Fank said. “It was awesome to see that even though we were down 2-0, we were still able to get back up.”
A lot of people were awed by the pace of play.
“We were hoping for a different outcome, but Geneva was amazing so it was great to play a team that was challenging us a lot,” Fank said. “The other games that we’ve played, we’ve played great teams that we really were able to dominate and show what we have.”
Both teams showed they will be factors not only in the race for the inaugural DuKane championship but in the postseason, though neither expects to keep up the pace they played at it in this match.
“You can’t maintain that pace and eventually we have to come to terms with having some sort of rhythm in our game,” Callipari said. “They ran themselves into the ground the last 20 minutes of the first half.
“We ran ourselves into the ground as well, and then it was just punch for punch and who was going to be left standing.”
Not that anyone was ever standing around during the game.
“These games are a blast to play, just the energy and adrenaline from everybody, whether it’s people on the field, people on the bench, the other team,” Dominguez said. “Knowing what a dangerous team they were, we had to stay disciplined, and that’s what kept the energy going.
“You know that if you give them one step, they’re going to take the mile, so you can’t give them the one step.”
As Callipari noted, the DuKane race is wide-open and probably will be for several weeks, but the Vikings took a big early step forward.
“It was a great battle,” Owens said. “It’s exciting. This is our first game of a brand-new conference, and I thought both teams played really well. There was a lot of quality soccer all-around.”
That’s what Callipari likes to see.
“It will be a wild ride, and that’s what we wanted,” Callipari said. “The first championship is up for grabs.
“I believe the bar has been raised and everybody is going to try to attain that.”
Starting lineups
Geneva
GK Katie Montgomery
D Amanda Rose
D Ava Geen
D Kaitlyn Cannon
D Annie Brolly
M Annalise Spindle
M Kathryn Niermann
M Sydney Gratz
F Jenna Dominguez
F Stephanie Howe
F Caitlin Farrell
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Abbie Brennan
D Maria Dohse
D Molly Fank
D Sarah Berardi
D Sam Buol
M Ellery Fahey
M Evelyn Demsher
M Audrey Siebert
M Allie Anderson
F Paige Miller
F J.J. Aalbue
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Jenna Dominguez, sr., F, Geneva
Scoring summary
First half
Geneva – Caitlin Farrell (Stephanie Howe) 29:40
Geneva – Howe (Jenna Dominguez) 22:07
WWS – J.J. Aalbue (Allie Anderson) 19:28
WWS – Evelyn Demsher (Paige Miller) 5:40
Second half
Geneva – Dominguez (Howe) 13:15