Bulldogs avenge loss to Waubonsie in regional title game

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By Chris Walker

Instead of resting comfortably in his own bed the night before Saturday afternoon's Class 3A Waubonsie Valley boys soccer sectional, Batavia senior defender Cam Callipari was wide awake battling a stomach illness.

Just 18 seconds into the Bulldogs match against Waubonsie Valley, Callipari committed a foul which resulted in a successful penalty kick to put the Warriors ahead 1-0.

Suddenly the large crowd of Batavia fans felt sick.

While the early momentum clearly swung in the Warriors favor, and the Bulldogs easily could've felt a little queasy collectively, they battled back like they have so often this season, rallying for two second-half goals, and holding on for a 2-1 victory.

It was Batavia's first regional title since 1995.

"Cam tells me before the game that he was throwing up all night and not doing too well," Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. "I was a little concerned with whether he was going to be able to continue the match. He stepped up and I think everyone kind of stepped up and it was a nice effort."

One kid who certainly made a name for himself was freshman Ian Larson. While the Bulldogs are a senior-dominated team with 16 of them, Larson is one of the newcomers to the squad. In fact, Larson hasn't been on the team all season but first made the leap during one of the team's out-of-town trips.

Larson assisted on both the equalizer and what would prove to be the game winning score.

"It feels great," he said. "I couldn't have expected to do it. I went in there and got my opportunity and just did it."

Batavia (15-5-3) had seven shots on goal in the first half but never could sneak one past Waubonsie Valley keeper Jordan Ward.

In the second half, Cody Witkowski sent a great feed to John Barnes, but his shot was off to the right. Lalo Cuautle fought through a crowd with 23:41 remaining in the game to fire a shot toward Ward, but his shot went wide left. Those were just two of the chances the Bulldogs had in the second half before finally scoring the equalizer.

Larson took possession near the sideline and carefully dribbled his way toward the back side of the goal before sending a cross to Erick Ontiveros who deftly pounced on the pass and scored to make it 1-1 with 20:06 remaining.

"(Larson) is very talented and he's been like that since we brought him up for tournaments," Batavia senior Anthony Torres said. "Everyone just loves the way he's played and he's fit in right away. I think today helped a lot with his confidence. He's getting going and helping us a lot."

Waubonsie Valley (9-8-3) had some chances to extend its early 1-0 lead but failed to finish. By allowing the Bulldogs to remain within striking distance, the odds eventually caught up to the Warriors.

"I think we had our chances," Waubonsie Valley coach Angelo DiBernardo said, "They cleared the ball, we hit the crossbar and they finished their chances and we did not. That's part of the game. They played hard and didn't give up and they got the job done."

In front of a large crowd of Batavia football players and other fans, the Bulldogs pulled ahead 2-1 with 12:21 remaining in the match when Larson lofted a pass to Witkowski who secured possession and with just the goalie to beat, lofted a shot above him for the lead.

"He was kind of looking to sit back a bit because their outside mids were killing us the first 20-30 minutes of the first half," Gianfrancesco said. "He won the ball and was looking to attack from there. We set Cody up and the goalie was off his line. He recognizes that pretty well, and we've seen that all year where he flips it right in."

So accustomed to Cuautle setting him up with similar passes during the season, Witkowski had to be informed after the game that it was Larson, not Cuautle, that assisted on the game winner.

"He pushed a great ball over the top and I took a little peak and saw the keeper off his line," Witkowski said. "I wasn't sure if he was coming out or not and I took advantage of it."

The game was a rematch as the teams met on Oct. 4 in the Waubonsie Valley Invite. The Warriors won that contest 3-2 as they took a 3-0 lead and held on for the victory. Of course, the Bulldogs played without Cuautle for lengthy minutes because of a yellow card while Torres and goalkeeper Ben Steskal didn't play at all.

While that provided an opportunity for the teams to gain some familiarity with each other, it was also limited because the teams weren't at full strength, nor were they playing with the stress that accompanies an elimination post-season game.

"I don't think we played with the urgency that we had the first time, for whatever reason," DiBernardo said. "We didn't seem to have the energy we usually have. We gave them too much space and too much time at certain times, and their key players kind of grew as play went on and became a bit of a factor."

Those key players will look to keep their season alive now against Naperville Central.

"We haven't played them but we've seen them," Gianfrancesco said. "They're going to be tough and anyone in this sectional is tough. It's anybody's game right now. It's just an incredible sectional."

As for the Warriors, while their season came to a disappointing end, they have plenty of be excited for next year as they boasted a young roster this season and fought through a difficult schedule from day one.

"It was a slow start for us because our schedule was pretty tough and our conference got much better and is more competitive nowadays," DiBernardo said. "I think our schedule prepared us for the playoffs."

While the Warriors will bid farewell to standout Tyler Yanisch among others, they'll also return a great group of young talent in juniors Jack Cicchini, Timmy Miller, Frankie Saiz and Bell and sophomores Casey Bucz, John Cordes, Noah Griffith.

"Considering that we're fairly young, I'm happy with the effort throughout the season and happy with the improvement we've shown," DiBernardo said. "What we need to do is grow and mature both mentally and physically. I think next year you'll probably see us dominate some of the games that we were in this year."