Bulldogs beat Hawks to earn rematch with North Stars

By Darryl Mellema

When Batavia lost its regular season finale to St. Charles North on Saturday, the Bulldogs were missing the bulk of their players due to the match coinciding with the school's prom.

On Friday, when the teams meet for the Hoffman Estates Class 3A Regional title, they will be at full strength.

Batavia will also be on an emotional upswing after defeating Bartlett 6-1 in Wednesday's semifinal round of the regional.

But the Bulldogs will also be aware that, results aside, they will have to play better in order to upset the top-seeded North Stars.

"I felt we played pretty well," Batavia coach Jim McAlpin said. "We have to play better.

"We made an awful lot of poor decisions out there that resulted in some turnovers that resulted in some plays that put pressure on us that were really unnecessary."

The Bulldogs (13-5-3) were rarely threatened by Bartlett as they won a playoff opening-round game for the third time in four years.

Getting past the second round has proved to be difficult, however. The last time that happened was in 2002 when the Bulldogs knocked out St. Charles North on penalty kicks.

McAlpin certainly saw plenty of things he was pleased with in the victory over Bartlett, but there were other things that worried him.

"Our decision-making has to be a lot better on Friday," McAlpin said. "If not, those things are going to come back and haunt us."

Specifically, McAlpin was concerned about the way his team opened the second half.

Ahead 3-0 on a pair of Abby Gray goals and another goal by Hillary Cooper, the Bulldogs lost their shutout when Sam Barone scored 13 minutes into the half.

Bartlett then had a penalty kick awarded after a foul by Batavia in its own penalty area, but the Hawks missed the kick or the match would have been 3-2 with 25 minutes to play.

"We talked about how the first 10 minutes of the second half had to be full of energy and we had to play smart and the rest would take care of itself," McAlpin said. "We came out and played really poorly.

"We had no energy and we made some poor decisions. We jumped in on some balls and they ended up being able to go to goal. We put ourselves under unnecessary pressure and they almost came back into the game. Had they done that, it would have been of our doing."

Not that the afternoon was all doom and gloom. Liz Barnes eased all Batavia nerves when she scored with 19 minutes to play.

"That was a big turning point," McAlpin said. "Everybody relaxed a little bit. I could tell they were getting a little tight."

Barnes is a regular contributor for the Bulldogs now, something that seemed far from possible after she hurt her knee at the end of the girls basketball season.

"I didn't expect her to be able to help us this year," McAlpin said. "To come through the way she has - it's been really nice to see."

Tory Kinniard netted Batavia's fifth goal with five minutes left and Gray completed her hat trick with 2:34 remaining in the match.

Gray has scored regularly in the final quarter of the season, though Wednesday marked the junior's first hat trick this season.

"We all wanted to play our best for the seniors since this is their last run at it," Gray said.

Gray's groove has helped the Bulldogs' run of success. Batavia had a four-match winning streak snapped in Saturday's match against St. Charles North.

"It took me a little bit to pick it up, but I've been picking it up lately," Gray said.

With Bartlett defending very far up the pitch, Batavia was able to use some defense-splitting passes to set attackers free on goal.

Gray, in particular, was able to take advantage of her speed to get between, and then behind, the Hawks defense.

"They had an offside trap," Gray said. "Once we got used to that, we outran them."

McAlpin said Gray's partnership with Cooper has been one of the keys in the team's success. Since starting 3-3-1, Batavia has gone 10-2-2.

"When she plays off of (Cooper), the midfielders know just about where she's going to be," McAlpin said. "I think overall (Gray is) a lot more confident and knowledgeable of what we're asking her to do.

"Consequently, she gets some chances. She definitely has the speed to get away if we can get her the ball in the proper circumstance."

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