Tennant scores twice as injury-plagued Vikings blank Barbs

By Darryl Mellema

With injuries biting Geneva's roster, some changes have had to be made.

But for anyone thinking the Vikings would just survive against DeKalb, the reshaped hosts had another idea in mind.

Geneva got a pair of Madeline Tennant goals, dominated the majority of the match and cruised to a 2-0 Western Sun Conference victory.

"We want to win our conference so we definitely have to keep going this way if we want to get there," Tennant said.

The Vikings (7-4-1, 2-0) face their trickiest week in Western Sun competition. They play undefeated Kaneland on Monday then host rival Batavia on Wednesday.

"Any time you win a conference game, it's a good feeling," Geneva coach Megan Owens said.

"Especially with our injuries and everybody we're moving around, I was happy with the way we played."

While midfield players have shifted to defenders, defenders have shifted to different roles and junior-varsity players have been drafted to the varsity - the attacking unit has remained relatively intact.

Their fluid movement not only kept the pressure on DeKalb throughout the match, it gave the entire formation a chance to settle in and get comfortable.

"We've had to make a lot of transitions into new positions," Tennant said. "Everyone's getting comfortable and it's working well."

It took Geneva five minutes to settle into the match, but the Vikings announced their desire to take control when Sarah Tennant fed Emily Saunders, who shot wide.

In the minutes before Madeline Tennant scored the opening goal, the Vikings had a series of good chances.

Sammi Hill shot toward goal after 10 minutes, Madeline Tennant had a tentative shot after 16 minutes and Hill forced a save seconds later.

Also, Hill caused havoc in the Barbs penalty area on numerous occasions in the match and about the only thing she didn't do was score a goal.

"Definitely a little frustrating," Hill said. "But when that happens, I still have to keep my head up and play my hardest, keep the team going and keep the energy high."

DeKalb succumbed to the pressure in the 17th minute when Gina Peri passed to Madeline Tennant, who connected.

"It was a load off our shoulders once we got the lead," Tennant said.

The chances continued nearly unabated through the rest of the first half, even into the final seconds when Molly Axen sent a pass to Stevie Fanale, who hit the post.

"We had lots of opportunities," Owens said. "We didn't finish them all, but we created a lot of opportunities for ourselves.

"That's good to see because we've lost quite a few starters in the past few weeks and we're still playing strong."

That first half domination came under weather conditions more suited to the end of the boys soccer season than the middle of the girls campaign.

After a beautiful spring afternoon, Wednesday's weather worsened.

By kickoff, it was cold and very windy, giving both teams something to adjust to, in addition to Burgess Field's crowned and bumpy surface.

Geneva worked into that strong wind in the first half.

"Today started off like a really nice day so we didn't expect this," Tennant said. "I think we came out and played really well into the wind.

"I don't think we've played this well in that situation before. We kept the ball on the ground and kept passing."

When the teams switched ends for the second half, DeKalb's offense practically disappeared.

Geneva kept working and nearly scored after 11 minutes when Abby Schroeder had a shot partially cleared.

Hill latched onto the ball just outside the penalty area and just missed scoring.

Madeline Tennant connected 90 seconds after that flurry to complete the scoring.

In the final quarter of the match, the best chance by either team was a strong shot by Fanale that was saved.

Fanale is a sophomore recently moved from the JV team to fill in for injured Vikings players. Also moved up is freshman Axen, who played central midfield.

"I was very happy with the way the girls who moved up from the junior-varsity did with how we asked them to play," Owens said.

"They were able to get in there and contribute. We needed that help tonight and they really helped us out and enabled to rest some of our injured players."

That reshaped squad heads into the Naperville Invitational this weekend. The Vikings play their pool games at Barrington.

They face Lake Zurich on Thursday at 7 p.m. and play Rockford Boylan on Saturday at noon.

"We have a tough bracket," Owens said. "It will be interesting. Our injuries make it a little more interesting than it might usually be.

"We just want to play well and play strong and start getting people healthy."

CLICK TO SEE VIKINGS' TEAM PAGE

CLICK TO SEE VIKINGS' PHOTO PAGE