SCE tops Geneva, wins Fox Trophy
Treveling-trophy triumph features 2 goals from Maridis
By Paul LaTour
ST. CHARLES — The Upstate Eight Conference River Division title wasn’t at stake when Geneva and St. Charles East faced each other Tuesday in the opener of the 2017 Tri-Cities Night at St. Charles North.
But they still had something to play for other than pride -- the Fox Trophy, which is awarded annually to the team with the best record in head-to-head games among the four Tri-Cities teams.
George Maridis scored twice during a three-goal second half as the Saints clinched the traveling trophy with a 3-0 victory. Truitt Battin also scored for the Saints (6-9-4 overall, 3-2-1 UER), who finished 2-0-1 in the Tri-Cities competition.
“We were like the underdogs out of these four teams. But we really haven’t shown our potential, though we are starting to in the last few games,” said Saints forward George Maridis, who doubled his goal total for the year and earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his performance.
Combined with a victory over Streamwood last week, the Saints have won back-to-back games for the first time this season. They also won for third time in their past four games and fourth in their past six.
“It’s a good win for us and important for our confidence,” Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo said of beating Geneva (10-5-3, 2-3-1).
After a scoreless first half, the Saints erupted for three goals in the final 40 minutes.
Maridis got it started when he completed a nifty give-and-go with fellow junior Luke Schnitker. Maridis ended up with a point-blank shot to beat Vikings keeper Jeffrey Bode at the 35:54 mark.
“We’ve had a lot of goals and assists together as a duo,” Maridis said. “We also play club together. So it was a routine give-and-go inside the box. It felt natural. That was a big momentum swing for us.”
The Saints controlled play for much of the remaining minutes, but didn’t break through again until Maridis netted his second goal, via a Riley Arnold assist, with 11:07 remaining. Less than three minutes later, Battin added an insurance goal to complete the scoring.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, two St. Charles East players grabbed the fox-shaped trophy from the table between the benches and raced onto the field to celebrate with all their teammates.
“It’s a great experience. The three years I’ve been here we haven’t had it, so this is great,” Battin said of winning the Fox.
The Saints close out the regular season Thursday with a home game against West Chicago before turning their attention to the postseason. They open play in the St. Charles North Regional against Benet on Tuesday.
“The Fox (trophy) is what it is, but it’s not a regional, sectional, supersectional or state title, so those are bigger things we have in mind,” DiNuzzo said. “The good thing is we got out of the game unscathed in terms of health.”
The game got off to an inauspicious start, thanks to high winds and heavy rain pelting the field. Less than four minutes after it began, the game was delayed when the lightning warning sirens sounded. Play resumed about 40 minutes later with no further delays, though the rain didn’t let up until the second half.
The scoreless first half wasn’t without several scoring chances for both teams. Both Bode and his Saints counterpart, Zachary Kennedy, made four saves in the opening 40 minutes.
“The game was pretty even throughout the first half,” Geneva coach Jason Bhatta said. “Both teams had some chances. We showed some inexperience in how we played in the second half, and they definitely put us under pressure and finished the opportunities they created.”
Bode did his best to keep it scoreless, including a diving save in the 14th minute to stop a hard shot from Battin. He later turned aside another Battin attempt on a free kick from just outside the penalty area.
A scramble from a corner kick in front of the Saints net gave the Vikings their best scoring opportunity midway through the half. Ethan Norman forced the corner with a blast from the 18 that deflected off a defender and drifted wide of the goal.
On the ensuing corner, Eric Anderson ended up with the ball right in front, Kennedy slowed Anderson’s initial blast, but the ball kept rolling toward the goal. Kennedy scrambled on his knees to recover the ball before it crossed the goal line.
But that was about all the opportunities for the Vikings, who could have won the Fox with a victory in the game and a necessary shootout to decide the title.
“I know the boys would have loved getting the Fox but that’s the way soccer games go sometimes. It’ll be good to have a solid week of training in before our first playoff game,” said Bhatta, who added that Jack Cottrell continued his impressive play this season for the Vikings.
Geneva opens the postseason Wednesday against Oswego in the Plainfield North Regional.
The 2017 Tri-Cities Night benefited the Carrie Riley Black Fund. Black, the daughter of St. Charles North freshman coach Chuck Riley and a 1981 graduate of St. Charles High School, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2010.
Starting lineups
ST. CHARLES EAST
GK — Zachary Kennedy
D — Riley Arnold
D — Jeffrey Waynick
D — Drew Olsen
MF — Kieran Patel
MF — Truitt Battin
MF — Tyler Villanueva
MF — Grayson Biddle
MF — Luke Schnitker
MF — Rajiv Bains
F — George Maridis
GENEVA
GK —Jeffrey Bode
D — Ivan Vilchis
D — Ryleigh Strubler
D — Myles Birkhead
D — Josh Harstock
D — Jason Belloli
MF — Ethan Norman
MF — Jack Belloli
MF — Jack Cottrell
MF — Sean Geismann
F — Eric Anderson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match — George Maridis, F, St. Charles East
Scoring summary
SC East 0 3 -- 3
Geneva 0 0 -- 0
First Half
No scoring
Second Half
St. Charles East — George Maridis (Luke Schnitker) 35:54.
St. Charles East — Maridis (Riley Arnold), 11:07.
St. Charles East — Truitt Battin, 8:23.
Treveling-trophy triumph features 2 goals from Maridis
By Paul LaTour
ST. CHARLES — The Upstate Eight Conference River Division title wasn’t at stake when Geneva and St. Charles East faced each other Tuesday in the opener of the 2017 Tri-Cities Night at St. Charles North.
But they still had something to play for other than pride -- the Fox Trophy, which is awarded annually to the team with the best record in head-to-head games among the four Tri-Cities teams.
George Maridis scored twice during a three-goal second half as the Saints clinched the traveling trophy with a 3-0 victory. Truitt Battin also scored for the Saints (6-9-4 overall, 3-2-1 UER), who finished 2-0-1 in the Tri-Cities competition.
“We were like the underdogs out of these four teams. But we really haven’t shown our potential, though we are starting to in the last few games,” said Saints forward George Maridis, who doubled his goal total for the year and earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his performance.
Combined with a victory over Streamwood last week, the Saints have won back-to-back games for the first time this season. They also won for third time in their past four games and fourth in their past six.
“It’s a good win for us and important for our confidence,” Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo said of beating Geneva (10-5-3, 2-3-1).
After a scoreless first half, the Saints erupted for three goals in the final 40 minutes.
Maridis got it started when he completed a nifty give-and-go with fellow junior Luke Schnitker. Maridis ended up with a point-blank shot to beat Vikings keeper Jeffrey Bode at the 35:54 mark.
“We’ve had a lot of goals and assists together as a duo,” Maridis said. “We also play club together. So it was a routine give-and-go inside the box. It felt natural. That was a big momentum swing for us.”
The Saints controlled play for much of the remaining minutes, but didn’t break through again until Maridis netted his second goal, via a Riley Arnold assist, with 11:07 remaining. Less than three minutes later, Battin added an insurance goal to complete the scoring.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, two St. Charles East players grabbed the fox-shaped trophy from the table between the benches and raced onto the field to celebrate with all their teammates.
“It’s a great experience. The three years I’ve been here we haven’t had it, so this is great,” Battin said of winning the Fox.
The Saints close out the regular season Thursday with a home game against West Chicago before turning their attention to the postseason. They open play in the St. Charles North Regional against Benet on Tuesday.
“The Fox (trophy) is what it is, but it’s not a regional, sectional, supersectional or state title, so those are bigger things we have in mind,” DiNuzzo said. “The good thing is we got out of the game unscathed in terms of health.”
The game got off to an inauspicious start, thanks to high winds and heavy rain pelting the field. Less than four minutes after it began, the game was delayed when the lightning warning sirens sounded. Play resumed about 40 minutes later with no further delays, though the rain didn’t let up until the second half.
The scoreless first half wasn’t without several scoring chances for both teams. Both Bode and his Saints counterpart, Zachary Kennedy, made four saves in the opening 40 minutes.
“The game was pretty even throughout the first half,” Geneva coach Jason Bhatta said. “Both teams had some chances. We showed some inexperience in how we played in the second half, and they definitely put us under pressure and finished the opportunities they created.”
Bode did his best to keep it scoreless, including a diving save in the 14th minute to stop a hard shot from Battin. He later turned aside another Battin attempt on a free kick from just outside the penalty area.
A scramble from a corner kick in front of the Saints net gave the Vikings their best scoring opportunity midway through the half. Ethan Norman forced the corner with a blast from the 18 that deflected off a defender and drifted wide of the goal.
On the ensuing corner, Eric Anderson ended up with the ball right in front, Kennedy slowed Anderson’s initial blast, but the ball kept rolling toward the goal. Kennedy scrambled on his knees to recover the ball before it crossed the goal line.
But that was about all the opportunities for the Vikings, who could have won the Fox with a victory in the game and a necessary shootout to decide the title.
“I know the boys would have loved getting the Fox but that’s the way soccer games go sometimes. It’ll be good to have a solid week of training in before our first playoff game,” said Bhatta, who added that Jack Cottrell continued his impressive play this season for the Vikings.
Geneva opens the postseason Wednesday against Oswego in the Plainfield North Regional.
The 2017 Tri-Cities Night benefited the Carrie Riley Black Fund. Black, the daughter of St. Charles North freshman coach Chuck Riley and a 1981 graduate of St. Charles High School, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2010.
Starting lineups
ST. CHARLES EAST
GK — Zachary Kennedy
D — Riley Arnold
D — Jeffrey Waynick
D — Drew Olsen
MF — Kieran Patel
MF — Truitt Battin
MF — Tyler Villanueva
MF — Grayson Biddle
MF — Luke Schnitker
MF — Rajiv Bains
F — George Maridis
GENEVA
GK —Jeffrey Bode
D — Ivan Vilchis
D — Ryleigh Strubler
D — Myles Birkhead
D — Josh Harstock
D — Jason Belloli
MF — Ethan Norman
MF — Jack Belloli
MF — Jack Cottrell
MF — Sean Geismann
F — Eric Anderson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match — George Maridis, F, St. Charles East
Scoring summary
SC East 0 3 -- 3
Geneva 0 0 -- 0
First Half
No scoring
Second Half
St. Charles East — George Maridis (Luke Schnitker) 35:54.
St. Charles East — Maridis (Riley Arnold), 11:07.
St. Charles East — Truitt Battin, 8:23.