Geneva clicks against
St. Charles North in Homecoming win
Vikings play 1st home game in 2 weeks, blank North Stars 1-0
By Jared Birchfield
GENEVA – As Dorothy in the movie Wizard of Oz said, “There’s no place like home.”
Returning to Burgess Field on Tuesday after playing five-consecutive road matches, which ended at South Elgin with a disappointing seventh tie of the season Sept. 17, Geneva extended its unbeaten streak to four games with a win over 24th-ranked St. Charles North in DuKane Conference play.
Beating a neighborhood rival in a Homecoming week match made the victory even sweeter.
“I know it’s weird and not an excuse but playing on a bigger turf field is different than playing on a small football field like we played at South Elgin,” said Geneva coach Jason Bhatta. “It’s night and day. If we had put on this performance against South Elgin, we would have walked away. I think it was a complete performance tonight.”
Playing against a conference foe like St. Charles North (7-3-2, 1-1-0) was an added incentive according to the Viking coach.
“I think we calmed down and played a little bit better today. I’m happier than Saturday,” Bhatta said. “But the boys always get up for the Tri-Cities schools, so I knew we were going to be up for North.”
Geneva forward Trent Giansanti felt the win showed that the Vikings (5-1-7, 1-0-2) are a team to be reckoned with.
“(The win) feels good. It was our Homecoming game, and I’m glad we got it” he said. “It was a good result against a good team, and it just shows that we can play with anyone.”
St. Charles North dropped its second-straight match, but the North Stars are not concerned.
“We just have got to keep our heads up,” said North Stars senior Jacob Glanzman. “We started off strong and now we’re starting to go down that hill. I think we’re going to bounce back OK.”
The midfielder felt that North Stars just need to focus on improving in the future.
“Obviously (this is) not the result we wanted. We kept in the game. We had our chances, but we didn’t make them. Honestly, I think that’s something we can practice and just focus on the next game,” Glanzman said. “I think they were giving us a lot of space, and I think we took advantage of that. We attacked the defense and took our chances.”
A fluke goal halfway through the first half decided the contest.
North Stars goalkeeper Alexander Curtis (five saves) came out to the penalty box edge to clear the ball at the 21:36 mark. His kick bounced off a St. Charles North defender and rolled to Giansanti at midfield. The junior shot the ball back into the net for his 11th goal of the season.
“In the first half we had a nice little advantage with the North Stars giving up the ball right to me and the keeper was out,” Giansanti said. “So, I took the advantage, stay composed, and I was able to put it in the back of the net.”
Bhatta agreed his squad got a break on the score but pointed out its hustle created the opportunity.
“The goal was a little lucky, a weird little deflection but you’ve got to work hard to create luck,” he said “We put ourselves into good spots to get other chances that we created. From back to front tonight, it was a much better performance out of them than last Saturday.”
The coach felt concentrating on defense turned the tide for the Vikings. They produced their first clean-sheet in five matches.
“One of the biggest things I told the boys was that in our first eight games, we only gave up two goals. We had six clean-sheets out of eight games. The past three or four we conceded,” said the Geneva coach. “So, I told them one of the biggest things to work on today is we need a clean-sheet, we needed a shutout.”
The backline stepped up to the challenge.
“The guys in the back played great. Both of our center backs played well. “Luke (Easter) and Carter (Konkey) won a lot of balls out of the air," Bhatta said.
"Colin Hasty is such a force back there on both sides of the ball. He offers a lot in our build-up going forward. He’s big and fast as an athlete on our defensive end.”
Goalie Matt Towler made three saves in the win.
St. Charles North best attempt for a goal in the first half came on Arnel Dizdarevic shot from 30 yards late in the period. The ball bounced in front of the Geneva goal but veered to the left.
Geneva played a steady first half.
“I was happy with how we played. We created a lot of opportunities, and we got through their midfield quite a bit. I thought we had success doing that,” Bhatta said. “But what I told them at halftime is that we had success breaking their first line of pressure but after that we weren’t being as dangerous as much. Once we got the ball in the middle, we didn’t have movement.”
Both teams upped the intensity after the break.
“I think we just looked a little more dangerous in the second half. We knew that they were going to come out hard. We knew we needed to match that, if not go above it,” Bhatta said. “I think the second half of the game just opened up a little more. I think both teams had more opportunities than they had in the first half.”
The Geneva coach also liked what he in the cenTer of the pitch.
“Midfielder Peyton Friedman played great. He’s a sophomore this year. This is his first year on varsity, and he’s worked his way into the starting lineup," said Bhatta. “Peyton is … in there working hard and kind of creating stuff for us that offers us something different. He’s kind of our spark to get us going.
"And it’s always good to have Liam (O’Donoghue) and Nathan (Branstad) (in the midfield).”
Forward Genel Jaffer was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his overall effort. The junior's work load included a collision with North Stars keeper Curtis in
an effort to corral a loose ball.
“Genel played a heck of a game today. He was all over the place. He’s just a physical presence. He’s big and fast, Bhatta said. “He was a constant threat to the North defense.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK: Alexander Curtis
D: Ashton Goettel
D: Stefano Nava
D: Bryce Thomas
D: Casey Kriz
M: Diego Torres
M: Jacob Glanzman
M: Walter DeLaPaz
M: Chase Bettini
F: Trevor Mirra
F: Arnel Dizdareivc
Geneva
GK: Matt Towler
D: Carter Konkey
D: Colin Hasty
D: Ben Schuemer
D: Luke Easter
M: Liam O’Donoghue
M: Nathan Branstad
M: Peyton Friedman
F: Trent Giasanti
F: Nick Plata
F: Genel Jaffer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Genel Jaffer, jr., F, Geneva
Scoring summary
First half
Geneva: Giansanti 19’
Second half
No scoring
St. Charles North in Homecoming win
Vikings play 1st home game in 2 weeks, blank North Stars 1-0
By Jared Birchfield
GENEVA – As Dorothy in the movie Wizard of Oz said, “There’s no place like home.”
Returning to Burgess Field on Tuesday after playing five-consecutive road matches, which ended at South Elgin with a disappointing seventh tie of the season Sept. 17, Geneva extended its unbeaten streak to four games with a win over 24th-ranked St. Charles North in DuKane Conference play.
Beating a neighborhood rival in a Homecoming week match made the victory even sweeter.
“I know it’s weird and not an excuse but playing on a bigger turf field is different than playing on a small football field like we played at South Elgin,” said Geneva coach Jason Bhatta. “It’s night and day. If we had put on this performance against South Elgin, we would have walked away. I think it was a complete performance tonight.”
Playing against a conference foe like St. Charles North (7-3-2, 1-1-0) was an added incentive according to the Viking coach.
“I think we calmed down and played a little bit better today. I’m happier than Saturday,” Bhatta said. “But the boys always get up for the Tri-Cities schools, so I knew we were going to be up for North.”
Geneva forward Trent Giansanti felt the win showed that the Vikings (5-1-7, 1-0-2) are a team to be reckoned with.
“(The win) feels good. It was our Homecoming game, and I’m glad we got it” he said. “It was a good result against a good team, and it just shows that we can play with anyone.”
St. Charles North dropped its second-straight match, but the North Stars are not concerned.
“We just have got to keep our heads up,” said North Stars senior Jacob Glanzman. “We started off strong and now we’re starting to go down that hill. I think we’re going to bounce back OK.”
The midfielder felt that North Stars just need to focus on improving in the future.
“Obviously (this is) not the result we wanted. We kept in the game. We had our chances, but we didn’t make them. Honestly, I think that’s something we can practice and just focus on the next game,” Glanzman said. “I think they were giving us a lot of space, and I think we took advantage of that. We attacked the defense and took our chances.”
A fluke goal halfway through the first half decided the contest.
North Stars goalkeeper Alexander Curtis (five saves) came out to the penalty box edge to clear the ball at the 21:36 mark. His kick bounced off a St. Charles North defender and rolled to Giansanti at midfield. The junior shot the ball back into the net for his 11th goal of the season.
“In the first half we had a nice little advantage with the North Stars giving up the ball right to me and the keeper was out,” Giansanti said. “So, I took the advantage, stay composed, and I was able to put it in the back of the net.”
Bhatta agreed his squad got a break on the score but pointed out its hustle created the opportunity.
“The goal was a little lucky, a weird little deflection but you’ve got to work hard to create luck,” he said “We put ourselves into good spots to get other chances that we created. From back to front tonight, it was a much better performance out of them than last Saturday.”
The coach felt concentrating on defense turned the tide for the Vikings. They produced their first clean-sheet in five matches.
“One of the biggest things I told the boys was that in our first eight games, we only gave up two goals. We had six clean-sheets out of eight games. The past three or four we conceded,” said the Geneva coach. “So, I told them one of the biggest things to work on today is we need a clean-sheet, we needed a shutout.”
The backline stepped up to the challenge.
“The guys in the back played great. Both of our center backs played well. “Luke (Easter) and Carter (Konkey) won a lot of balls out of the air," Bhatta said.
"Colin Hasty is such a force back there on both sides of the ball. He offers a lot in our build-up going forward. He’s big and fast as an athlete on our defensive end.”
Goalie Matt Towler made three saves in the win.
St. Charles North best attempt for a goal in the first half came on Arnel Dizdarevic shot from 30 yards late in the period. The ball bounced in front of the Geneva goal but veered to the left.
Geneva played a steady first half.
“I was happy with how we played. We created a lot of opportunities, and we got through their midfield quite a bit. I thought we had success doing that,” Bhatta said. “But what I told them at halftime is that we had success breaking their first line of pressure but after that we weren’t being as dangerous as much. Once we got the ball in the middle, we didn’t have movement.”
Both teams upped the intensity after the break.
“I think we just looked a little more dangerous in the second half. We knew that they were going to come out hard. We knew we needed to match that, if not go above it,” Bhatta said. “I think the second half of the game just opened up a little more. I think both teams had more opportunities than they had in the first half.”
The Geneva coach also liked what he in the cenTer of the pitch.
“Midfielder Peyton Friedman played great. He’s a sophomore this year. This is his first year on varsity, and he’s worked his way into the starting lineup," said Bhatta. “Peyton is … in there working hard and kind of creating stuff for us that offers us something different. He’s kind of our spark to get us going.
"And it’s always good to have Liam (O’Donoghue) and Nathan (Branstad) (in the midfield).”
Forward Genel Jaffer was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his overall effort. The junior's work load included a collision with North Stars keeper Curtis in
an effort to corral a loose ball.
“Genel played a heck of a game today. He was all over the place. He’s just a physical presence. He’s big and fast, Bhatta said. “He was a constant threat to the North defense.”
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK: Alexander Curtis
D: Ashton Goettel
D: Stefano Nava
D: Bryce Thomas
D: Casey Kriz
M: Diego Torres
M: Jacob Glanzman
M: Walter DeLaPaz
M: Chase Bettini
F: Trevor Mirra
F: Arnel Dizdareivc
Geneva
GK: Matt Towler
D: Carter Konkey
D: Colin Hasty
D: Ben Schuemer
D: Luke Easter
M: Liam O’Donoghue
M: Nathan Branstad
M: Peyton Friedman
F: Trent Giasanti
F: Nick Plata
F: Genel Jaffer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Genel Jaffer, jr., F, Geneva
Scoring summary
First half
Geneva: Giansanti 19’
Second half
No scoring