Batavia ends best week of
season with win over Metea Valley
Bulldogs go perfect 3-0-0 after 2-1 victory
By Matt Le Cren
BATAVIA – Morgan Haug had never played goalkeeper until this season.
You wouldn’t have known that from watching her play on Saturday.
The Batavia senior made eight saves and teammate Johanna Shubert scored twice as the host Bulldogs upset Metea Valley 2-1.
The Bulldogs (5-8-0) won for the third-straight match after a five-game losing streak and snapped Metea’s three-game winning streak.
“Everybody is playing together as far as knowing what they need to do,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “We haven’t had that too much but when we can get a result. We haven’t necessarily shown up. Today was a good win for us.”
It started with Shubert, a junior striker who now has eight goals on the season, scoring twice in the first 14 minutes to give Batavia a surprising 2-0 lead. It ended with Haug and defenders Alyssa Sarik, Mia Anzalone, Carlin King and Kyla Mackenzie working tirelessly to hold off Metea Valley’s second half comeback bid.
“The second half was a lot more pressure on the goalie,” Haug said. “Second half was much more stressful.
“They came out ready to attack, but we had such a solid back four, and they’re super reliable. I trust them to get every ball out, but there were a few stressful saves.”
Haug was an unlikely standout between the pipes. She played midfielder on the JV team as a freshman but hadn’t seen the pitch since then. An injury wiped out her sophomore season and the coronavirus pandemic did the same to her junior season.
When the opportunity to play goalie presented itself, Haug seized it.
“I was like, ‘Why not?’” Haug said. “I play basketball, so the hands thing helps a lot.
“But you just have to be ready to be pounded, especially when you’re diving or running at someone. It’s a lot of pressure.”
In the beginning of the game, though, it was Metea Valley that was under pressure. The Bulldogs capitalized on a pair of chances, with Shubert opening the scoring at the 34:04 mark after a breakdown in the back.
Shubert’s hard shot from the right side of the box handcuffed Metea goalkeeper Julia Straub, and the ball trickled into the net before she or a defender could corral it.
The second goal, which came six minutes later was more of a stunner and the Mustangs (7-5-1) in a 2-0 hole.
Laila Figueras sent a perfect through-ball from the midfield up to a streaking Shubert, who got behind the defense. She expertly dribbled around the charging Straub and scored from a tough angle as two defenders gave chase.
“At the beginning of the game we talked about how we knew they were going to be stretched out on the field,” Shubert said. “We’ve really been working on working together as a unit.
“So, if the ball is going the opposite direction, we’re all defending together. If someone on our team has the ball, we’re all moving forward together and just overall working together as a team.”
The rest of the half belonged to Metea Valley, which had an overall 15-10 edge in shots. Leading scorer Tyra King hit the top of the crossbar with a shot with 14:10 to go and 80 seconds later Haug fully extended to deflect a Katy Flanders shot from the top of the box around the left post.
Addison Wargo sent the ensuing corner kick into the middle of the 6 and for a split second the ball lay on the ground a couple yards in front of the net until a defender cleared it out of danger.
The Mustangs had another great chance on another Wargo corner kick 90 seconds before intermission. An initial clearing attempt did not get out of the box, and Leanne Barrett volleyed it from 17 yards through traffic. The shot was on frame but Haug was there for the stop.
“She’s been improving every game,” Gianfrancesco said of Haug. “We’re looking toward the playoffs where she can make a few good saves for us and keep us in games.”
Haug denied Jordan Lange and King on shots in the box early in the second half before Lange ended the shutout bid by scoring on a short shot with 32:26 remaining.
The Mustangs outshot the Bulldogs 8-4 in the second half, but Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said his team actually played better overall in the first half.
“There were times when we played OK soccer,” Whaley said. “It just wasn’t our day. They defended well.”
Gianfrancesco was pleased to see that, especially against a quality opponent, because that hasn’t always been the case this season.
“I think they’ve got some quality players on their team and obviously looked a lot better than we did in the sense of connecting some passes at times,” Gianfrancesco said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of coming out the first 10 minutes and hitting them a little bit.
“We had some resolve down there at the end. The last five or 10 minutes they were really putting a lot of pressure on us.”
The Bulldogs have frequently yielded under such pressure, but not this time.
“It was good to see,” Gianfrancesco said. “We’ve got a lot of young players and until you’re in that situation you don’t really know how to deal with it
“I thought they dealt with it pretty well today. We haven’t done that very well in other games. It has been a struggle.”
Metea Valley struggled to finish while trying to extend their winning streak to a season-high four games. They were coming off an impressive 4-0 victory over District 204 rival Waubonsie Valley on Thursday.
“I don’t believe all that stuff in sports where they talk about how you have a letdown the day after a big game, but it’s hard because you have a nice win on Thursday and you want to keep it going,” Whaley said. “We are young but these girls have been playing soccer way too long to use an excuse like that.
“Part of (the struggle) is because of the youth and not having the opportunity to build last year. It just takes a lot of extra effort to get them to buy into what it takes to win games consistently and especially to win big games.”
Gianfrancesco can empathize. This was the first win over a team with a winning record this season for the Bulldogs, who have only three seniors.
“We’re improving in certain areas,” Gianfrancesco said. “We did a nice job on set plays; usually we’re giving up goals on those, so that was a positive thing.
“We went 3-0 this week and Metea was the capstone. We’re gaining confidence, which is the big piece. I’m very happy about that.”
As for the players, they know what they need to do to have success.
“We talked about our communication and chemistry,” Shubert said. “We are such a young team so we’re always trying to help each other out.
“We’re trying to work as hard as we can to get the best of this season as we can.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK Julia Straub
D Addison Wargo
D Zoe Kirkman
D Kaylee Bannack
D Alyssa Parrilli
M Riley Strcic
M Leanne Barrett
M Ella Johnson
F Tyra King
F Jordan Lange
F Lucy Burk
Batavia
GK Morgan Haug
D Alyssa Sarik
D Mia Anzalone
D Carlin King
D Kyla Mackenzie
M Brooke Carlson
M Sarah Koziol
M Riley DiBiase
M Ashley Whepley
F Johanna Shubert
F Laila Figueras
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Morgan Haug, sr., GK, Batavia.
Scoring summary
First half
Batavia – Johanna Shubert 34:04 remaining
Batavia – Shubert (Figueras) 27:46 remaining
Second half
Metea Valley – Jordan Lange 32:26 remaining
season with win over Metea Valley
Bulldogs go perfect 3-0-0 after 2-1 victory
By Matt Le Cren
BATAVIA – Morgan Haug had never played goalkeeper until this season.
You wouldn’t have known that from watching her play on Saturday.
The Batavia senior made eight saves and teammate Johanna Shubert scored twice as the host Bulldogs upset Metea Valley 2-1.
The Bulldogs (5-8-0) won for the third-straight match after a five-game losing streak and snapped Metea’s three-game winning streak.
“Everybody is playing together as far as knowing what they need to do,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “We haven’t had that too much but when we can get a result. We haven’t necessarily shown up. Today was a good win for us.”
It started with Shubert, a junior striker who now has eight goals on the season, scoring twice in the first 14 minutes to give Batavia a surprising 2-0 lead. It ended with Haug and defenders Alyssa Sarik, Mia Anzalone, Carlin King and Kyla Mackenzie working tirelessly to hold off Metea Valley’s second half comeback bid.
“The second half was a lot more pressure on the goalie,” Haug said. “Second half was much more stressful.
“They came out ready to attack, but we had such a solid back four, and they’re super reliable. I trust them to get every ball out, but there were a few stressful saves.”
Haug was an unlikely standout between the pipes. She played midfielder on the JV team as a freshman but hadn’t seen the pitch since then. An injury wiped out her sophomore season and the coronavirus pandemic did the same to her junior season.
When the opportunity to play goalie presented itself, Haug seized it.
“I was like, ‘Why not?’” Haug said. “I play basketball, so the hands thing helps a lot.
“But you just have to be ready to be pounded, especially when you’re diving or running at someone. It’s a lot of pressure.”
In the beginning of the game, though, it was Metea Valley that was under pressure. The Bulldogs capitalized on a pair of chances, with Shubert opening the scoring at the 34:04 mark after a breakdown in the back.
Shubert’s hard shot from the right side of the box handcuffed Metea goalkeeper Julia Straub, and the ball trickled into the net before she or a defender could corral it.
The second goal, which came six minutes later was more of a stunner and the Mustangs (7-5-1) in a 2-0 hole.
Laila Figueras sent a perfect through-ball from the midfield up to a streaking Shubert, who got behind the defense. She expertly dribbled around the charging Straub and scored from a tough angle as two defenders gave chase.
“At the beginning of the game we talked about how we knew they were going to be stretched out on the field,” Shubert said. “We’ve really been working on working together as a unit.
“So, if the ball is going the opposite direction, we’re all defending together. If someone on our team has the ball, we’re all moving forward together and just overall working together as a team.”
The rest of the half belonged to Metea Valley, which had an overall 15-10 edge in shots. Leading scorer Tyra King hit the top of the crossbar with a shot with 14:10 to go and 80 seconds later Haug fully extended to deflect a Katy Flanders shot from the top of the box around the left post.
Addison Wargo sent the ensuing corner kick into the middle of the 6 and for a split second the ball lay on the ground a couple yards in front of the net until a defender cleared it out of danger.
The Mustangs had another great chance on another Wargo corner kick 90 seconds before intermission. An initial clearing attempt did not get out of the box, and Leanne Barrett volleyed it from 17 yards through traffic. The shot was on frame but Haug was there for the stop.
“She’s been improving every game,” Gianfrancesco said of Haug. “We’re looking toward the playoffs where she can make a few good saves for us and keep us in games.”
Haug denied Jordan Lange and King on shots in the box early in the second half before Lange ended the shutout bid by scoring on a short shot with 32:26 remaining.
The Mustangs outshot the Bulldogs 8-4 in the second half, but Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said his team actually played better overall in the first half.
“There were times when we played OK soccer,” Whaley said. “It just wasn’t our day. They defended well.”
Gianfrancesco was pleased to see that, especially against a quality opponent, because that hasn’t always been the case this season.
“I think they’ve got some quality players on their team and obviously looked a lot better than we did in the sense of connecting some passes at times,” Gianfrancesco said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of coming out the first 10 minutes and hitting them a little bit.
“We had some resolve down there at the end. The last five or 10 minutes they were really putting a lot of pressure on us.”
The Bulldogs have frequently yielded under such pressure, but not this time.
“It was good to see,” Gianfrancesco said. “We’ve got a lot of young players and until you’re in that situation you don’t really know how to deal with it
“I thought they dealt with it pretty well today. We haven’t done that very well in other games. It has been a struggle.”
Metea Valley struggled to finish while trying to extend their winning streak to a season-high four games. They were coming off an impressive 4-0 victory over District 204 rival Waubonsie Valley on Thursday.
“I don’t believe all that stuff in sports where they talk about how you have a letdown the day after a big game, but it’s hard because you have a nice win on Thursday and you want to keep it going,” Whaley said. “We are young but these girls have been playing soccer way too long to use an excuse like that.
“Part of (the struggle) is because of the youth and not having the opportunity to build last year. It just takes a lot of extra effort to get them to buy into what it takes to win games consistently and especially to win big games.”
Gianfrancesco can empathize. This was the first win over a team with a winning record this season for the Bulldogs, who have only three seniors.
“We’re improving in certain areas,” Gianfrancesco said. “We did a nice job on set plays; usually we’re giving up goals on those, so that was a positive thing.
“We went 3-0 this week and Metea was the capstone. We’re gaining confidence, which is the big piece. I’m very happy about that.”
As for the players, they know what they need to do to have success.
“We talked about our communication and chemistry,” Shubert said. “We are such a young team so we’re always trying to help each other out.
“We’re trying to work as hard as we can to get the best of this season as we can.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK Julia Straub
D Addison Wargo
D Zoe Kirkman
D Kaylee Bannack
D Alyssa Parrilli
M Riley Strcic
M Leanne Barrett
M Ella Johnson
F Tyra King
F Jordan Lange
F Lucy Burk
Batavia
GK Morgan Haug
D Alyssa Sarik
D Mia Anzalone
D Carlin King
D Kyla Mackenzie
M Brooke Carlson
M Sarah Koziol
M Riley DiBiase
M Ashley Whepley
F Johanna Shubert
F Laila Figueras
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Morgan Haug, sr., GK, Batavia.
Scoring summary
First half
Batavia – Johanna Shubert 34:04 remaining
Batavia – Shubert (Figueras) 27:46 remaining
Second half
Metea Valley – Jordan Lange 32:26 remaining