Kaminski's strike sends Geneva home happy
Vikings top Waubonsie Valley on 79th-minute score

By Eddie Burns

There is a moment during most Geneva practices where the players work on taking shots on goal from distance. When the players connect they call it a glory shot.

Well, all that hard work paid off because Seamus Kaminski connected on a glory shot in a real-live game situation and it turned out to be the difference in Geneva’s 2-1 victory against Waubonsie Valley on Saturday in Aurora.

Kaminski’s goal came with 1 minute, 18 seconds remaining and was the second of two Vikings’ goals, which came in the final 6 minutes of the match to help Geneva rally for its third straight win.

“There were two awkward headers in the box and I saw the ball coming out,” Kaminski said. “I called for the ball and just hit it and let it fly. I did it for the glory. I just let it rip. I had the open shot. It was about 30 yards out and I just took it. I was lucky the keeper came off his line a little bit.”

Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook said Kaminski’s glory shot lived up to its name.

“That was definitely a glory shot today with the timing of it and the quality of it. We’ll give Seamus the glory.”

Estabrook said the shot might have caught Waubonsie's goalkeeper a bit off guard.

“I don’t know if you will see a better strike all year,” beamed Estabrook about Kaminski’s goal. “ I don’t think their goalie thought someone would be so audacious to shoot from out there, but Seamus has proven that he can score from there in the past and their keeper got a hand on it, but you can’t fault him for that because it was well-placed and the pace Kaminski put on it. That was an amazing strike.”

Unlike Geneva’s match with St. Charles North on Thursday night where there was plenty of enthusiasm and excitement surrounding the field of play, Saturday’s match with Waubonsie began at 10 a.m. and was played before a handful of parents from either side. The lack of energy showed, but as the match moved along the intensity picked up as did the scoring, which in this
Upstate Eight Conference crossover contest, occurred in the final 10 minutes.

Waubonsie (2-8-1) scored its first goal in three weeks when senior defender Jason O’Brien sent a restart from 45 yards out and placed it perfectly behind the Geneva defense, which allowed teammate Tyler Yanisch to run in and flick the ball past Vikings’ goalie Steven Soderstrom in the 70th minute.

Waubonsie appeared to relax once it had its lead while also igniting energy into the Vikings because they became extremely aggressive in the offensive third and their constant pressure resulted in the tying goal.

Geneva forced a corner kick and Brady Wahl sent a perfect service into the Warriors’ penalty area where Robbie Johnson came charging into the box and finished the scoring chance with a header in the 75th minute. It was the third time in two games that Wahl and Johnson had teamed up to score off a restart situation.

“That is like our thing,” Johnson said. “We connected twice (on Thursday) against St. Charles North off free kicks. (Brady) plays a good ball and I usually find myself on the other end of it.”
Estabrook said that Wahl and Johnson can be difficult to stop.

“They have a good chemistry about them and Robbie is an extremely determined person and extremely determined player,” Estabrook said. “Brady sent a jump ball out there and Robbie went there and got it.”

Once the Vikings had tied the match it almost felt as if they had won it as well because Johnson’s goal appeared to suck the energy from Waubonsie.

“It was a combination of us taking our play to another level and you could tell that they relaxed a little bit once they got that goal and we took advantage of catching them off guard,” Johnson said.

Estabrook was impressed with the moxie and resilience the Vikings showed.

“Our guys responded and showed the sense of urgency that they should have been showing throughout (in the closing minutes),” Estabrook said. “We showed a lot of composure there at the end.”

The Vikings also received stellar play from Soderstrom in goal. Soderstrom finished with four saves.

Geneva has now won three straight matches to pull its overall record back to .500 at 6-6-1.

“We’re trying to become a great team and great teams find ways to win games like we did against Waubonsie,” Estabrook said. “We’ve finally got our record back to .500 now and maybe we’re on our way to becoming one of those great teams that manages to squeak out these games. We’ve been playing good, quality teams and we’ve been losing close games. Today, we were on the other side of it and it feels kind of nice.”