Vikings move on to Naperville Invite quarterfinals
By Gary Larsen

 

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There’s one thing that soccer coaches want above all else from their teams, and Geneva coach Megan Owens is getting it from hers.

“For us to go up against one of the top teams in the state today, to put forth the effort we did – I can’t even speak to my team’s work ethic,” Owens said.” They just work so hard and they make me very proud to be their coach. They play all-out and play with heart, and you can’t coach that.”

Geneva’s 1-0 win over Conant on Saturday came less than 24 hours after the Vikings played into overtime in a 3-2 win over Wheaton North. Amanda Lulek scored the game’s lone goal at 18 minutes as the Vikings (10-2-4) posted their 10th shutout of the season with Marissa Schroyer in net.

Lulek raced behind Conant’s backline in pursuit of a Catherine Allon through-ball, and stretched the back netting from 12 yards out.

“We work on through-balls all the time in practice,” Lulek said. “I looked up, saw where the goalie was, and tried to find the corner. I didn’t want to wait too long to shoot.”

Conant (11-2) went into Saturday’s second-round game of the Naperville Invitational having earned a 42-9 edge in goals scored against their opponents, but the Vikings wouldn’t allow goal No. 43 on their watch.

“You can’t give up a goal against a good defensive team like Geneva,” Conant coach Jason Franco said. “They changed their mentality in the second half, didn’t give us a whole lot of room, and we just didn’t have the ball fall to us when we needed it to. They did a good job of defending in the second half, after they created some chances in the first half.”

Geneva’s win sends the Vikings into a tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday against Neuqua Valley, a 5-0 winner over Andrew in their second-round game. Geneva and Neuqua tied 1-1 on April 12.

Conant earned a pair of corner kicks, Kelsey Foss sent a shot wide of frame, and Courtney Raetzman send a diagonal feed ahead towards the post on the right side with teammate Christina Rosales running on that a Geneva defender reached first.

Lulek made a few romps to the endline on the right side and found crosses that Conant keeper Haley Anderson handled through 15 minutes.  Geneva intercepted a pass near midfield that Allon sent ahead at 18 minutes, and Lulek made it count for the game’s lone goal.

Conant has one of the state’s most dynamic attacking players in Raetzman, and Geneva has a good one of its own in Lulek. “She’s a real nice player,” Franco said.

“That goal started with a bad giveaway on our part, and then all four of our backs were back there but they had enough quality to slip it through and get on the end of it so hats off to them. It was a good goal.”

The second half equation included a Conant team that passes well and plays on artificial surfaces most of the season, playing with a wind at its back, and a Vikings team that is “used to playing on our small, grass, bumpy field over at Geneva,” Lulek said.

Maggie Bodine and Michaela Loebel spent time hounding Raetzman and Owens put Lulek on the Kentucky-bound Conant senior down the stretch.

“We wanted to man-mark her the whole game but not stay right on her. Give her a little space and then if she gets the ball, don’t let her turn and keep the pressure on her,” Lulek said. “She was more of a distributor today, she didn’t take many shots, and we just wanted to keep the pressure on her.”

Conant’s Sammie van de Linde sent a hard-hit one-hopper to Schroyer in the first minute of the second half, then bent a corner kick around the far post at 43 minutes. Raetzman shot wide at 47 minutes, Schroyer saved a Courtney O’Keefe shot at the post and then saved a Drew Wentzel free kick and hit the turf to smother the rebound at 51 minutes. Conant’s Alyssa Altosino sent a head shot over the bar and spun and fired a shot that Schroyer saved at the post at 73 minutes. van de Linde bent another corner around the far post at 74 minutes.

“They locked it in pretty tight back there on us,” Conant’s Sam Armando said. “Unfortunately, we let one ball get the best of us but we had control for most of the second half.

“We just have to learn to play more to feet in that situation. We’re such a passing team that we really need to learn to play to feet then, and spin off people and keep moving for each other, and I think we’ll be okay.”

Geneva has a rock-solid backline that features Caitrin Griffin, Tory Herbst, Annie Waldoch, and Molly Stanfa, but the Vikings are more than a solid defensive team. Geneva has also earned a 40-9 scoring edge on its opponents.

“Conant is a very good team and for us to have played ninety minutes of soccer last night, it’s a phenomenal effort,” Owens said. “ You could tell we got tired in the last ten minutes, which was to be expected, but I thought we created many solid opportunities, the whole game.  We didn’t look to sit back on our heels against them and look to play defense. Our girls are just playing very well and very strong.

“Our defense played great, Maggie and Michaela marking up (Raetzman) did a great job, Catherine and Amanda always work so hard together, Kristin (Rodriguez) and Kailey Rote did a great job in the midfield – it really was a team effort. We pressured them as a team and defended as a team.”

That effort was particularly impressive in a second game played in an 18-hour span.

 “We’re all really tired but we don’t play again until Wednesday (vs. Streamwood), so we get a little break to rest up,” Lulek said. “We’re all really proud of the way we played today.”