Chicagoland Soccer

Bulldogs lead UEC River following win over North Stars

By Darryl Mellema

Sometimes matches are like chess and sometimes they more resemble jousting.

Wednesday’s Batavia-St. Charles North encounter was the latter of those options, with both teams going strongly toward each other in what ended as a 2-1 Bulldog win in Batavia.

“I think that was high school soccer to a ‘T,’” St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said. “You’re playing on a small field with two really good teams and it was certainly hard-fought. I thought Batavia wanted to get to the ball much more than we did in the first half and it showed.

"I thought we had the better of the play in the second half, especially as we were losing and trying to push more guys forward. We had a lot of good opportunities. It was good to be a part of. It would have been more fun if we had been able to win.”

The win puts Batavia (12-2-2, 3-0-2) in the driver’s seat in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division race. But it also showed that both teams have the capability of playing playoff-caliber soccer because the match had the end-to-end, non-stop intensity that comes with most playoff contests.

“It did have that feeling,” Batavia senior Cody Witkowski said. “It was a lot of fun, a huge fight between us on the pitch. I’m proud of our guys fighting to the end. It’s so much better playing rougher games with better teams where we know there is competition.”

The teams spent the first quarter of the match establishing themselves on the field. North’s Tyler Davis and Alex Behm sent long shots over the bar while Batavia’s Witkowski and Cody Balogh forced the North Stars’ defense to adjust quickly to dangerous balls into the penalty area.

The first true effort on goal came with 17 minutes left in the half when Witkowski hit the crossbar from outside the penalty area. Eight minutes later, North (8-4-2, 0-2-2) responded with Davis had a shot blocked following a Behm free kick. A rebound effort was stopped by Batavia goalie Ben Steskal.

Steskal was active throughout the match but made every save he needed to in order to preserve the lead and protect the lead.

“St. Charles North has a great team,” Steskal said. “They’re very solid. They had some quality chances, but I thought our defense stepped up and shut them down most of the evening.”

Batavia’s Justin Carey hit a shot wide with six minutes left in the half, but the Bulldogs continued to press, and when the goal came, it was one that will go into the postseason highlight reel.

Balogh scored when he volleyed the ball into the left side netting from the right wing 35 yards from goal.

“He went on a lull there and he was lacking some confidence and he’s starting to pick it up again,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said of Balogh. "It’s funny because I was talking with him in the hallway today and I told him that we need him for the playoffs.

"Those (goals) will start falling, and hopefully they’ll start falling in the playoffs more than what’s been happening right now. I wanted him to keep his confidence and his head up.”

Gianfrancesco said Balogh’s effort was more impressive because of the work he had to do in order to get into position to strike the ball.

“That was a tremendous opportunity,” Gianfrancesco said. “He dummied the ball when it was going up and it went over his head. He didn’t bother going up. The guy miss-hit it and he went and volleyed it in. He has those smart plays and those smart goals. That was a nice goal.”

With the 1-0 lead, Batavia started the second half having to fend off a North Stars’ fight back. The closest North came to scoring came after 17 minutes when Davis hit the left post with a solid effort.

Moments later, Batavia defender Cam Callipari cleared off the goal line and then Steskal had to save efforts from Connor Leflestein and Davis.

“I’d definitely prefer sitting back there and not having too many shots on me and letting the defense do most of the work,” Steskal said. “But it is fun moving, getting the adrenaline pumping and trying to come through in situations.”

Countering that, Batavia tried to turn every change of possession into a fast-break opportunity – and on such a surge, Witkowski moved into the attacking zone, took advantage of a defender’s slip and scored his 12th goal of the season.

“I saw their back line dropping off, so I went at them,” Witkowski said. “Luckily I got a shot off and I finished, luckily.”

Gianfrancesco said the intensity of Wednesday’s match was good for his team as it prepares for the tournament. Like all teams, the Bulldogs have just over one week left in the regular season.

So even as they try to seal the Upstate Eight River title with a win over Streamwood, Batavia is also preparing for the postseason.

It’s a long season,” Gianfrancesco said. “You get some injuries, some people dinged up and you get some cards and whatever and you’re missing some guys. I’d just like to have our level of play where it was a couple of weeks ago and to have us focused on our goals.”

North’s attacks achieved an even higher level of intensity and produced an immediate response to Witkowski’s goal when Davis hit a crossing ball from the right wing that found the back of the net.

The North Stars continued to push for an equalizing goal in the final moments of the contest. Davis headed a Behm free kick directly on goal and Steskal saved and in the final seconds of the match, Davis fed Nick Karayannis, whose effort was also saved by Steskal.

Davis was North’s engine throughout the contest, whether in creating attacks or in send shots on goal.

“There’s no question that he’s a key element to our offense,” Willson said. “It’s impossible to hide that. I think he’s a really tough player to deal with. I think even teams that know that they have to put some pressure on to stop him – that’s easier said than done. That kid has a motor that won’t quit.”

Willson said he was pleased with the effort his team showed, even if the outcome wasn’t what he had hoped for. After four matches of Upstate Eight River play, the North Stars are still searching for their first league victory.

“We’re looking for our first victory in the Tri-City area for the last couple of years,” Willson said. “We went oh-for last year and we still haven’t gotten a win in this year’s series. We’ll move forward.

"We’ve got a tough Streamwood game (Thursday) and that’s what we should be focused on. That’s high school soccer. You’ve got be ready to turn around and be ready to go.”

With just over one week to go in the regular season, Willson said there are some on-field things he would like to see his team work on before entering the postseason.

“I think execution could be a little bit better,” Willson said. “I think some finishing opportunities, we could always get better with that. We need to keep creating scoring opportunities. I think we need to sort our back line.

"If a team plays a certain style, we need to be able to adjust to that, and I don’t think we did that in the first half tonight and that cost us. If we can sort out those kind of things, we’re going to be tough to beat.”