Goals elude Batavia, Geneva
12 combined saves, post, crossbar lead to Tri-Cities Night tie
By Chris Walker
ST. CHARLES -- "We didn’t lose this week."
That’s what Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said while contemplating what had just happened after his team battled for 80 scoreless minutes against rival Geneva on Thursday at the annual Tri-Cities Night at St. Charles East.
“You keep trying to improve each week, and we’ve had a solid couple of weeks,” he said. “You’ve got to have a positive, and I think that’s the way to go. We didn’t get beat this week. We only gave up one goal this week.”
Batavia (2-5-4, 1-1-2) had edged Wheaton Warrenville South 2-1 in a DuKane Conference game Tuesday but had to settle for a 0-0 tie in this one.
“We’ve been pretty consistent the last couple of weeks by locking things down more defensively,” Gianfrancesco said. “Lake Park was our first conference game, and we gave up some goals early, but kind of locked it down later and have settled in on some positional guys and in our rotation sub-wise.
“And we’ve played some tough teams already. You look at some of our losses, West Aurora, Wheaton Academy and Oswego, and these are teams playing really well.”
Geneva (2-7-3, 0-1-3) came into the game with some confidence and was much improved from where they were a month ago after starting the season with a six-game losing streak. Now, they only have one loss in their past six games, a 2-0 defeat to St. Charles East on Tuesday.
“After going 0-6 against some tough teams, the boys have fought back,” Geneva coach Jason Bhatta said. “They showed some courage against those teams in the beginning, and it’s only helped us grow. And I told them that they would probably be the toughest teams we’d face this year.”
Growing pains were certainly expected this fall for the Vikings, but now even with those pains Bhatta is seeing growth and some success. It hasn’t necessarily turned their record around, but nine of their 13 games have been decided by two goals or less, so they’re battling hard every time they take the field.
“We’re just trying to stay in games, because we’re young and trying to get guys experience,” he said. “Even though we have a lot of juniors, a lot haven’t played varsity, and a lot of seniors haven’t played varsity before, and we’re trying to get guys up to the pace.”
At this point, Bhatta believes they’re heading in the right direction even if they are speeding to get there.
“At this point we’re halfway through so we should be there,” he said. “And we are there more now than we were at the beginning of the season, and that’s all we can ask from the guys.”
Chances were limited for both squads, although each respective goalkeeper made their fair share of saves to keep the game scoreless. Batavia’s Jacob Mefford was busier with seven saves while Chris Morales came up with five saves for the Vikings.
"I don't think we created as many chances as we would have liked, but that's how soccer goes sometimes," Bhatta said. "We didn't take all our chances when we had them."
Batavia did watch with frustration as a couple of their attempts ended up seemingly destined for the goal only to carom away. One came from Adler Palos in the first half as his free kick ricocheted off a Geneva defender and then found the post before being cleared away.
Joe Grendzinski led the way for the Bulldogs, but he too came up empty-handed on his few opportunistic possessions. Still, for creating the number of threats that he did, Grendzinski was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“It’s frustrating because we played a hard game all game, and we just have got to finish our chances,” he said. “When it doesn’t happen, it’s just disappointing.”
That made his best attempt of the night even more disheartening. He also had a shot clank off the crossbar earlier -- he couldn’t have gotten much closer to scoring even if he tried.
“I thought it was good, but it just didn’t go our way and when you don’t finish your chances you end up 0-0,” he said. “We just have got to put in our chances. That just didn’t happen today.”
Geneva arguably had it’s best opportunity earlier in the second half when Josh Eiss was able to get the ball free in-close, but his shot was rejected by Mefford.
“There were some chances on both sides and (Batavia) hit the post three or four times,” Bhatta said. “The offsides call was tight, and there was maybe a penalty there. Stuff like that goes your way sometimes, and sometimes it doesn’t go your way. We just got to take chances and be a little more dangerous. We’re still trying to get there.”
Seeing one final attempt by the Bulldogs clank off the post added some relief for Geneva. While they weren’t playing to escape with a tie, it certainly felt better than a loss.
“Even right at the end they hit the post,” Bhatta said. “I know the boys are down right now, but if we would’ve given up one like that late, they would feel twice as bad right now.”
The game was the nightcap during the Tri-Cities Night festivities. Upon arrival, Bhatta noticed that St. Charles East held a halftime lead on rival St. Charles North so he sensed the buzz in the air.
“It was crazy because East was already up 2-0, and they were strong against us. I knew that it was going to be a good game,” Bhatta said. “They put away a lot of goals (in a 5-3 win) so it was a nice atmosphere, and having the crowd and the night game was nice. We weren’t expecting (the night game) so having that tonight, and the atmosphere was nice. They tried and did their best, but a draw sometimes happens.”
On the flip side, Grendzinski said Batavia is going to continue working hard, and that they still feel alive in conference play.
“Our conference record is still looking up so we’re feeling positive there,” he said. “If we can keep getting better and keep performing as the season goes on, I feel we still have a chance. I think our style of play is still going good. We need to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Adding some scoring, though, would definitely help.
“We didn’t test the keeper enough,” Gianfrancesco said. “We wanted to test him more, and we just didn’t do that.”
This year’s fundraiser was held for former St. Charles East boys and girls soccer coach and teacher, Paul Jennison, and his family. His baby daughter, Charlotte, who was born in August, required open heart surgery.
Jennison, a native of Middlesbrough, England, came to the United States 15 years ago, playing soccer at Parkland College and Eastern Illinois University.
While coaching the Saints, he led the girls team to a state runner-up finish in 2014. While at the helm of the boys team, the Saints won three regional titles and advanced to the state quarterfinals in 2012.
He is now an assistant coach for the women’s soccer team at Northwestern University.
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK: Jacob Mefford
D: Joe Grendzinski
D: Kipp Knecht
D: Jason Nichols
D: Austin Saenz
MF: Max Hardin
MF: Adler Palos
MF: Eddie Torres
MF: Ian Wood
F: Miguel Garcia
F: Drew Lillig
Geneva
GK: Chris Morales
D: Jack Cannon
D: Mark Migliazzo
D: Evan Horvath
D: Daniel Belzer
D: Stuart Turnbull
MF: Ethan Hipp
MF: Joshua Eiss
MF: Matthew Fuller
MF: Jack Belloli
MF: Colin Fromm
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joe Grendzinski, sr., D, Batavia
Scoring summary
First half
None
Second half
None
12 combined saves, post, crossbar lead to Tri-Cities Night tie
By Chris Walker
ST. CHARLES -- "We didn’t lose this week."
That’s what Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said while contemplating what had just happened after his team battled for 80 scoreless minutes against rival Geneva on Thursday at the annual Tri-Cities Night at St. Charles East.
“You keep trying to improve each week, and we’ve had a solid couple of weeks,” he said. “You’ve got to have a positive, and I think that’s the way to go. We didn’t get beat this week. We only gave up one goal this week.”
Batavia (2-5-4, 1-1-2) had edged Wheaton Warrenville South 2-1 in a DuKane Conference game Tuesday but had to settle for a 0-0 tie in this one.
“We’ve been pretty consistent the last couple of weeks by locking things down more defensively,” Gianfrancesco said. “Lake Park was our first conference game, and we gave up some goals early, but kind of locked it down later and have settled in on some positional guys and in our rotation sub-wise.
“And we’ve played some tough teams already. You look at some of our losses, West Aurora, Wheaton Academy and Oswego, and these are teams playing really well.”
Geneva (2-7-3, 0-1-3) came into the game with some confidence and was much improved from where they were a month ago after starting the season with a six-game losing streak. Now, they only have one loss in their past six games, a 2-0 defeat to St. Charles East on Tuesday.
“After going 0-6 against some tough teams, the boys have fought back,” Geneva coach Jason Bhatta said. “They showed some courage against those teams in the beginning, and it’s only helped us grow. And I told them that they would probably be the toughest teams we’d face this year.”
Growing pains were certainly expected this fall for the Vikings, but now even with those pains Bhatta is seeing growth and some success. It hasn’t necessarily turned their record around, but nine of their 13 games have been decided by two goals or less, so they’re battling hard every time they take the field.
“We’re just trying to stay in games, because we’re young and trying to get guys experience,” he said. “Even though we have a lot of juniors, a lot haven’t played varsity, and a lot of seniors haven’t played varsity before, and we’re trying to get guys up to the pace.”
At this point, Bhatta believes they’re heading in the right direction even if they are speeding to get there.
“At this point we’re halfway through so we should be there,” he said. “And we are there more now than we were at the beginning of the season, and that’s all we can ask from the guys.”
Chances were limited for both squads, although each respective goalkeeper made their fair share of saves to keep the game scoreless. Batavia’s Jacob Mefford was busier with seven saves while Chris Morales came up with five saves for the Vikings.
"I don't think we created as many chances as we would have liked, but that's how soccer goes sometimes," Bhatta said. "We didn't take all our chances when we had them."
Batavia did watch with frustration as a couple of their attempts ended up seemingly destined for the goal only to carom away. One came from Adler Palos in the first half as his free kick ricocheted off a Geneva defender and then found the post before being cleared away.
Joe Grendzinski led the way for the Bulldogs, but he too came up empty-handed on his few opportunistic possessions. Still, for creating the number of threats that he did, Grendzinski was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“It’s frustrating because we played a hard game all game, and we just have got to finish our chances,” he said. “When it doesn’t happen, it’s just disappointing.”
That made his best attempt of the night even more disheartening. He also had a shot clank off the crossbar earlier -- he couldn’t have gotten much closer to scoring even if he tried.
“I thought it was good, but it just didn’t go our way and when you don’t finish your chances you end up 0-0,” he said. “We just have got to put in our chances. That just didn’t happen today.”
Geneva arguably had it’s best opportunity earlier in the second half when Josh Eiss was able to get the ball free in-close, but his shot was rejected by Mefford.
“There were some chances on both sides and (Batavia) hit the post three or four times,” Bhatta said. “The offsides call was tight, and there was maybe a penalty there. Stuff like that goes your way sometimes, and sometimes it doesn’t go your way. We just got to take chances and be a little more dangerous. We’re still trying to get there.”
Seeing one final attempt by the Bulldogs clank off the post added some relief for Geneva. While they weren’t playing to escape with a tie, it certainly felt better than a loss.
“Even right at the end they hit the post,” Bhatta said. “I know the boys are down right now, but if we would’ve given up one like that late, they would feel twice as bad right now.”
The game was the nightcap during the Tri-Cities Night festivities. Upon arrival, Bhatta noticed that St. Charles East held a halftime lead on rival St. Charles North so he sensed the buzz in the air.
“It was crazy because East was already up 2-0, and they were strong against us. I knew that it was going to be a good game,” Bhatta said. “They put away a lot of goals (in a 5-3 win) so it was a nice atmosphere, and having the crowd and the night game was nice. We weren’t expecting (the night game) so having that tonight, and the atmosphere was nice. They tried and did their best, but a draw sometimes happens.”
On the flip side, Grendzinski said Batavia is going to continue working hard, and that they still feel alive in conference play.
“Our conference record is still looking up so we’re feeling positive there,” he said. “If we can keep getting better and keep performing as the season goes on, I feel we still have a chance. I think our style of play is still going good. We need to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Adding some scoring, though, would definitely help.
“We didn’t test the keeper enough,” Gianfrancesco said. “We wanted to test him more, and we just didn’t do that.”
This year’s fundraiser was held for former St. Charles East boys and girls soccer coach and teacher, Paul Jennison, and his family. His baby daughter, Charlotte, who was born in August, required open heart surgery.
Jennison, a native of Middlesbrough, England, came to the United States 15 years ago, playing soccer at Parkland College and Eastern Illinois University.
While coaching the Saints, he led the girls team to a state runner-up finish in 2014. While at the helm of the boys team, the Saints won three regional titles and advanced to the state quarterfinals in 2012.
He is now an assistant coach for the women’s soccer team at Northwestern University.
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK: Jacob Mefford
D: Joe Grendzinski
D: Kipp Knecht
D: Jason Nichols
D: Austin Saenz
MF: Max Hardin
MF: Adler Palos
MF: Eddie Torres
MF: Ian Wood
F: Miguel Garcia
F: Drew Lillig
Geneva
GK: Chris Morales
D: Jack Cannon
D: Mark Migliazzo
D: Evan Horvath
D: Daniel Belzer
D: Stuart Turnbull
MF: Ethan Hipp
MF: Joshua Eiss
MF: Matthew Fuller
MF: Jack Belloli
MF: Colin Fromm
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joe Grendzinski, sr., D, Batavia
Scoring summary
First half
None
Second half
None