Cooper, Batavia prevail in Tri-Cities battle

BATAVIA – Hillary Cooper didn't have any support as she rushed upfield. Turns out, she didn't need any help.

With three St. Charles East defenders in close proximity, Cooper, a Batavia forward, lofted a well-struck ball from about 20 yards out past Saints goalkeeper Zoie Samaan for what turned out to be the only goal in Saturday's 1-0 Batavia victory.

It's been a promising start to Cooper's junior season. She has two goals in two games for the Bulldogs (1-1).

"I knew that their back line wasn't as fast as other back lines, so if they played that deep, I could just run as fast as I could and try and score," Cooper said.

Cooper's goal game with about 26 minutes left in the second half. Up to that point, Batavia was the superior team, but that changed in the late stages.

East coach Pat Feulner said "everything was just kick the ball and react" during the first half for the Saints.

"It doesn't have anything to do with early in the season," Feulner said. "They just flat outworked us in the first half. The second half we started to look like we were playing, and the last 20 minutes we actually looked like I thought we'd look all day."

For a moment, that appeared to be enough to tie the game. Slick teamwork between Lauren Rohrmeier and Hannah Ketterling resulted in a disallowed goal with 11:49 to go when Ketterling, who scored on the play, was ruled offside.

Though East's assertiveness remained improved from the first half, Batavia's defense steered clear of any disastrous situations as the game wound down.

"We had a lot of teamwork, and in the end that kind of showed through," Batavia sophomore defender Hannah Schweigert said.

Bulldogs coach Jim McAlpin thought his team's play was vastly improved from a season-opening loss to Wheaton Warrenville South.

"Our center-midfielders were playing the ball smartly to the forwards' feet, and I thought our fullbacks were playing the ball smartly to the midfielders' feet," McAlpin said. "Against Wheaton Warrenville we played a lot of balls from the fullbacks directly to the forwards, and we lost our midfield play entirely."

Samaan had seven saves for East, while Batavia goalkeeper Elana Mudrak made four stops.

Shutting down East (0-1-1), a program with a strong reputation and track record of success against Batavia, offers the Bulldogs affirmation that this spring could unfold to their liking.

"It's a good feeling," Cooper said. "We haven't beat them in the last four years, so it's a really good feeling that we could actually beat them."

The Saints, though, were short-handed for the game, essentially down three starters. Senior Caren Bieschke, one of three East captains, tweaked her hamstring early in the game and had to sit, and midfielder Gina Bartindale and defender Emily Stahulek were held out with minor injuries to prepare for a busy week ahead.