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GENEVA VIKINGS |
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Vikings answer bell against Glenbard East in regional play
By Gary Larsen
Three years from now, the best that Vikings freshmen defenders Molly Stanfa, Ally Sera, and Tory Herbst can do is give props to their deserving freshmen the way Griffin does here: “We’ve got Molly, Ally, and Tory and they’re all fantastic,” Griffin said. I think we’re better than we were last year and it’s because of them. They’re a great group of girls to work with and they’re fantastic.” Like a rock tossed at a slumbering giant, Glenbard East (10-9-3) scored an early goal that woke up a Geneva (12-4-4) team that quickly and decisively rose to the challenge of a one-goal deficit. The Vikings’ 5-1 win featured steady pressure from Geneva, sparked by a goal from the Rams’ Jordyn Hargreaves just five minutes into their regional semifinal game at Lake Park. “After they scored it really woke us up,” Griffin said. “That got us going and we did not want to let another one in. This year we really want to walk away from regionals and sectionals with something, so to get scored on in the first few minutes of our first playoff game – that was a wakeup call.” The Rams’ goal was set up by outside midfielder Alex Ruffer, who sped up the right side on the dribble and squared a pass to the senior Hargreaves. Hargreaves had time and space to size up the shot before sending it far post from 20 yards. “Alex Ruffer, our freshman, made a great play,” Rams coach Kent Overbey said. “Jordyn turned on the defender and hit a great shot. We thought we were off to a great start, especially going into the wind. But our Achilles’ heel all year has been winning balls in the air, and we didn’t win any today. And things took a turn for the worse in the second half, unfortunately.” Clean looks on net were far and few between for the Rams after Hargreaves broke the ice, while Geneva’s attack punched the gas pedal and kept moving forward. Kristin Rodriguez made it 3-1 at 42 minutes on another head shot in the box, thanks to a cross sent in by teammate Molly Axen. Catherine Allon made it 4-1 at 49 minutes, Amanda Lulek crashed net and scored at 54 minutes, and the Vikings hit a few crossbars before the final buzzer to cap a fine day of attacking pressure. “I think we showed the team we are in the second half,” Geneva coach Megan Owen said. “We started a little slow in the first half but it’s not always how you start a game, it’s how you finish a game. We had a lot of opportunities and a lot of kids contributed on offense today. I just think we had a very strong showing in the second half. “It’s a nice confidence-builder, that everyone was able to get involved. Our offense has really started clicking lately, and it’s nice to play as well as we did and win. It’s great to be where we are, looking to compete in a regional championship.” Griffin was glad to see her side adjust to the windy conditions once the second half began. “We were a little worried about the wind in the second half because in the first half it was such an advantage for us,” Griffin said. “But at halftime we decided we were going to play it low, play it beneath the wind, and just try to control it a little bit more rather than boot it.” Geneva also became the first team to put 5 goals up on the Rams this year. “I hope they take away that you can’t let your guard down for even a second,” Overbey said of his young returning players. “Geneva finished very efficiently and has been all year, and they have Amanda Lulek up top and she’s got some pace. We’ve done a great job defensively this year but things just didn’t work out for us today.” The Rams will bid farewell to seniors Hargreaves, Nicole Darga, and Kaitlyn Schefske, and Darga’s presence as a central defender will be sorely missed. The speedy center back was a feisty punctuation mark for a team that gave up 25 goals in 22 games and posted 7 shutouts this year. “We had ten wins, we play a good schedule, and we play in a good (DuPage Valley) conference,” Overbey said. “We don’t have that many options to get ‘easy’ wins so we’re very happy.” The Rams will return a team aiming to take another incremental step forward in competing with the state’s elite teams next season. “We’re very young and our three junior captains were all all-conference this year, we’ve got our entire midfield back,” Overbey said. “It’ll be tough to replace Nicole Darga in the back but hopefully we’ve got some young players in the wings that are ready to step in there.”
The win sent Geneva into a 3A regional title game on Friday against host Lake Park, which won 2-0 over Batavia in Tuesday’s other semifinal. “We’re happy to get anywhere because we weren’t expecting this much (success) with the team we had this year,” Griffin said. “To come this far and be as successful as we’ve been has been a pleasant surprise, and we’re just hoping to take it as far as we can.” |
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Junior defender Caitrin Griffin spends her time surrounded by freshmen on Geneva’s backline, but she quickly dispelled the joking suggestion that she’s had to do some baby-sitting this season.
Midfielder Erin Mrazek was a unanimous all-DVC pick this year, teammate Lindsey Paganucci was a fellow first-team all-conference player, and Jessie Grumstrup was named to the DVC’s honorable mention list.