Bulldog offense struggles in 1-0 loss to rival Saints

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By Darryl Mellema

After five games, Batavia finds itself with a nicely symmetrical 2-2-1 record.

As with most .500 teams, there are positives to take from the opening handful of matches.

And there are areas in which the Bulldogs will certainly want to improve as the season moves into its middle portion.

Batavia hit the five-match plateau on Saturday in a 1-0 defeat to area rival St. Charles East in St. Charles.

While the Bulldogs' defense showed signs of solidity, the attack struggled to click. Both those characteristics continue early season trends for the squad.

"We're making progress," Batavia coach Jim McAlpin said. "We have to get the ball in the net."

There were times when Batavia's linking play looked solid, and there were times when passing moves broke down somewhere outside St. Charles East's penalty area.

Bre Choffin's solid long shot nine minutes into the match was one of the visitors' best efforts toward goal in the match.

"It's the same for every team," Batavia junior midfielder Becky Bartos said. "In the beginning, you find what your weaknesses are.

"But the games we've played through this week of Spring Break have been good matches. Overall, I think we've been doing excellent and all you can do is learn from it as you move to the next match."

Next up for Batavia is a Monday home match with Plainfield Central. Game time is 6:30 p.m. as the Bulldogs move away from a busy Spring Break of competition.

"We played at the Lake Park tournament and had a real good tournament defensively," McAlpin said. "We allowed three shots in three matches.

"We're coming together defensively and we're playing positions pretty well. But we're just having trouble finishing."

On Saturday, the Bulldogs fell behind to a Morgan Ketterling goal from a Liz Drennan cross in the sixth minute of play.

While the Saints had the best chances the rest of the way, they were also unable to score again.

"They have a great defense but I think we matched up well with them," Bartos said. "It was a fair game and we played hard today."

Batavia's last line of defense, Elana Mudrak, came through on the few times the Saints forced a breakdown. Midway through the half, the senior keeper saved at point-blank range.

"That was the save of the season," St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. "That was a phenomenal save. I don't think you'll see a save that's any better than that."

Choffin also blocked a shot in the second half as it came off Lexi Baltes' foot.

Clear-cut scoring opportunities were hard to find for Bulldogs' attacking players.

Batavia had efforts toward goal and possession in the Saints' penalty area, but never hit a ball with menace to force goalkeeper Zoie Samaan to make a true save.

"We struggled with finishing our shots," Bartos said. "But today we had a lot of good crosses in and I think we played hard.

We didn't play to feet as well as (St. Charles East) did and they had good communication. We just need to improve our communication a little bit."

McAlpin said the goal drought will surely end soon and he said one match where the team collectively breaks its slump could be the spark to put these struggles behind it.

"We're looking to put the perfect pass together and then go one-on-one with the goalie and score," McAlpin said. "Sometimes they just have to forget about that and let it rip."