Short-handed Bulldogs fall to North Stars in regular season finale

By Darryl Mellema

Undermanned Batavia set out on Saturday to take on one of the best teams in the state.

And while the Bulldogs played well against St. Charles North at times, the inevitability of the result was rarely in doubt.

The North Stars scored within the first two minutes and cruised to a 4-0 regular-season finale for both teams in St. Charles.

Many of Batavia's seniors were not present due to the school's prom, which took place on Saturday night.

"It was hard," Batavia senior Elena Mudrak said. "We were missing a lot of girls and we had to bring up some JV girls.

"Everybody was out here to have fun. It was our last regular season game and it didn't really mean much."

Leah DeMoss put North ahead with her early goal. Paige Dusek added two goals and Kristen Brown finished the scoring late in the second half.

"We didn't play poorly," Mudrak said. "It's too bad we didn't get a goal but we had some chances.

"I'm pleased. It was a good game to end my regular season for senior year."

Tory Kinniard was the Bulldogs' other senior starter who played against St. Charles North filling her role in central midfield capably as always.

But by the end of the match, the Bulldogs had three girls on the bench with coach Jim McAlpin.

"The girls who you count on were here," McAlpin said. "The other ones had other priorities today, I guess. That made it interesting, to say the least.

"But everyone had a good time with it, and I'm proud of the way they played. We moved some people around and was all right."

Batavia shuffled its lineup, as well. Mudrak is the team's starting goalie.

"That was something I decided on at about three in the morning while I was laying there trying to put together a lineup," McAlpin said.

While she has played in the field this year, she was exclusively a field player against North.

"I came out once in the first half, which was a nice break," Mudrak said. "But the second half was all 'go.' It was fun. We always joke around in practice.

"They'll put me on the field and everyone will be going 'ooh, the goalie's got moves.' It was fun but it was a lot of running. In warmups, I didn't really know what to do with myself. It'll be nice to be back in my own little world again."

Mudrak will return to her goalkeeping chores return when the Bulldogs face Bartlett on Wednesday in the opening round of the Class 3A Hoffman Estates Regional. That match is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

"Our most important game coming up right now is Bartlett," Mudrak said. "That's what we're trying to focus for. We wanted to have fun and give it our all."

Batavia defeated Bartlett 3-0 in the regular season. That win kick-started an eight-match unbeaten run as the Bulldogs emerged from a 3-3-1 start.

Saturday's loss to the North Stars snapped a four-game winning streak and the Bulldogs finished the regular campaign with a sparkling 12-5-3 record.

"I don't think there's many teams that we can't give a run for their money," Mudrak said. "I think we've got a lot to show and hopefully we can put it on table at the right time."

All attention is now on Bartlett. The Hawks are members of the Upstate Eight Conference, the league the Bulldogs join next school year as the Western Sun Conference breaks apart.

Bartlett coach Heather Thomas is a Batavia grad. Should Batavia win that match, the reward is likely to be a rematch with St. Charles North for the regional title.

"We feel pretty good about the matchup," McAlpin said. "We've been playing pretty well recently. We'll get back at it on Monday and see how we do."

As they have shown in their play in the final 13 matches of the season, the Bulldogs can be successful when they play the passing style of game they prefer.

"I think if we play our game, get balls out wide and play to feet and communicate, we've got a really good chance of going far," Mudrak said.

"Hopefully we'll get a chance to see this St. Charles North team again and show them what we're really made of."

CLICK TO SEE BULLDOGS' TEAM PAGE

CLICK TO SEE BULLDOGS' PHOTO PAGE