Vikings tie 1-1 with Neuqua Valley
By Darryl Mellema

 

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There are fast-paced games and there was the pace of Thursday’s Geneva-Neuqua Valley match, which seemed to be played at a pace almost impossible to imagine for high school girls soccer.

The teams took turns sending the ball upfield at Geneva’s Burgess Field, and if the pace meant that artistry took a back seat, qualities such as grit and determination came to the forefront – and both the host Vikings and the Wildcats proved they have such characteristics in great supply.

After 80 minutes, the teams settled for a 1-1 result which, while failing to provide a winner, also was a fair representation of the evenness of the play on the field.

“It wasn’t a pretty game,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “The conditions kind of make it where you have to play a little bit more direct and that’s not our style. I thought (Geneva) played very well.”

Matches against top teams like Neuqua Valley are always tests for teams like Geneva. While the Vikings were champions in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division a year ago, the Wildcats are still a measuring stick.

“I’ve known all along that we could hang with anybody,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “But it’s like we had to have a game where the kids could prove that to themselves. They showed that tonight. We did not get dominated and we had our opportunities.”

Geneva’s field, which will be replaced this summer with an artificial surface, features one of the most-severe crowns in the suburbs and the ball runs dramatically toward the sidelines. But as much as the Vikings are aware of these conditions, all players find themselves adapting once play begins.

“I thought we played with a lot of effort and I thought they played a nice game too,” Moreau said. “They had a good defensive game and I thought our defenders played pretty well as a group too.”

While the match was an Upstate Eight crossover, the match had every bit the level of intensity of the matches that will ultimately decide the conferences two divisional crowns. Geneva (7-2-3) is one of the top teams in the River Division while Neuqua Valley (8-2-2) is one of the best teams in the Valley Division.

“We try to play good teams,” Moreau said. “I’m sure that Julie (Bergstrom) at Waubonsie Valley or Pat (Feulner) at Metea, if they were picking what teams they’d want to face in the crossovers, they’d want a team like Geneva or St. Charles North or East or Batavia. Those are the teams you want to play in the crossover games. You want to play good teams.”

And with the intensity and the close score, the match had as close to a playoff feel as it is possible to have in mid-April.

“You know what?” Moreau said. “When you get into the playoffs, you’re going to get into games that are going to be a little like this. I was glad that we had this game. Sometimes in a playoff game, you go away from the type of play that you want.”

There was skill on-display, but it showed in individual players’ ability to receive a ball under extreme pressure and make a pass from that situation. Passing moves were hard to put together.

“We’ve been working on playing with heart,” Neuqua Valley defender Sydney Tappin said. “I think we stepped up to that challenge. We had our chances and you can’t put them all in. We definitely like the physical battle.”

Geneva changed its lineup some, giving Amanda Lulek a man-marking role on Zoey Goralski in the defense with Molly Stanfa, Tory Herbst and Annie Waldoch. Caitrin Griffin moved to a wide midfield role. The changes allowed the Vikings to focus attention on one of Neuqua Valley’s most dangerous players while not completely diminishing their attacking capabilities.

“Obviously you have to adjust your game plan to the teams you are playing if you want to be successful,” Owens said. “We man-marked with Amanda on Zoe, who matched her with her speed. It wasn’t our usual starting lineup, but we adjusted and did great.”

The goals came within four minutes of each other in the first half. Neuqua Valley scored first after 11 minutes of play when a quickly-taken throw in led to Goralski sending a ball into the penalty area where Talise Romain shot and scored.

“It would have been nice to have had a few more opportunities like that,” Moreau said. “And I think in the second half, neither team had many chances. They had a couple of free kicks that were dangerous. But there wasn’t much in the second half.”

While Owens acknowledged the quality of Neuqua Valley’s goal, she had hoped her team would have dealt with the danger differently.

“They are really good a restarting quickly on a throw-in, and we got caught not paying attention,” Owens said.

Geneva scored after 15 minutes when Kailey Rote sent a right wing cross that Hope Goodman headed into the net from near the left post.

“It’s one thing to tie a team of Neuqua’s caliber, but it takes another to get down to a team and then to not back down and to equalize,” Owens said. “We responded terrifically to their goal and we continued to respond through the whole first half. Into the second half, we had a lot of shots too.”

As the match progressed, defenses dominated. NeuquaValley’s central defensive partnership of Sydney Tappin and Dannah Williams helped keep Geneva’s chances limited.

“It was frustrating because we’re really good at keeping the ball down and passing and connecting,” Tappin said. “This was not what we’re used to with that. The first half was getting used to that. The second half was more of a battle, but I think we stepped up to that.”

Comparing the pace of Thursday’s match to recent Geneva matches made those prior contests looks as if they were played in slow motion. The Vikings pressed the tempo and the match benefited from that effort.

“The speed of play was elevated,” Owens said. “That’s going to happen when you get two top teams together. We did a great job of keeping up with the pace, keeping the intensity level up and moving the ball.”

Owens said a number of her players had standout performances.”

”Annie Waldoch had a solid game,” Owens said. “Caitrin (Griffin) always has a solid game. Amanda (Lulek) had a solid game shutting down their national team player (Goralski.) Tory Herbst stepped up big for us in the back and Molly Stanfa made some nice decisions. They played smart in the back rather than just boot it out.”

One improvement as the season has progressed for the Vikings has been the goalkeeping play of Marissa Schroyer.

“Marissa’s done a great job for stepping up for us back there,” Owens said. “We’ve had some great games, but I think we were just at a different level tonight.”