Batavia gets two goals in final minute of first half, carries momentum to beat Geneva in Tri-Cities Night

ST. CHARLES — The end of the first half Tuesday couldn’t have gone better for Batavia.

After entering the final minutes of the half down a goal to Geneva, the Bulldogs found two goals in the final minute of play. They added two more goals in the second half to secure a 4-2 victory over Geneva in the first game of Tri-Cities Night at St. Charles East.

“I don’t think we came out very well, and the girls would agree with that, but we did a nice job of responding,” Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “There were some goofy goals, but that’s the game of soccer. You cross the ball in the middle and you never know what’s going to happen.”

Sophomore Leah Zimberoff scored the go-ahead goal for the Bulldogs (6-5-1, 3-1 DuKane) just 30 seconds after Geneva tied the game at 2-2. The sophomore took a pass from senior Natalie Warner just outside the box before sinking it into the bottom far corner of the goal.

“I just turned the defender and I shot it and it went in,” Zimberoff. “I saw the open space and took the opportunity.”

“After that, our energy was really up and we were like ‘Yeah, we’ve got this.’ ”

It was the second time Zimberoff contributed on a go-ahead goal. The sophomore also had a cross that led to an own goal to give Batavia a 2-1 lead into halftime.

Emma Wecker scored the Bulldogs’ first goal with one minute remaining in the first half. The junior took a shot from 25 yards out, which bounced off the crossbar before bouncing off the goalie and into the net to tie the game at 1-1.

“We knew that time was running out, so we knew we had to be there to take the shot and have the confidence, we’d be good,” Wecker said. “I saw nobody was pressuring me, so I turned around and shot it as hard as I could.”

Warner added an insurance goal in the 70th minute, adding a cushion to Batavia’s lead.

Sophomore Olivia Pohlman got the first goal of the game in the 23rd minute for Geneva (4-7-3, 1-2). Senior Riley Pryor also found the back of the net in the 49th minute that tied the game at 2-2.

“I feel like for long stretches, we dominated the run of play, but in the end it comes down to us being young and losing focus,” Vikings coach Megan Owens said. “We did what we needed to do in the field, and then we gave up two goals in the final minutes. That’s just something that comes with inexperience and being a younger team, and it’s something that we just need to work at.”

Owens said that despite being on the wrong side of the scoreboard, it was a great game experience-wise for the team, which only returned two starters from last season.

“Any Tri-Cities rivalry game is great,” Owens said. “We’re fortunate to be in an area where all four high schools are always competitive every year. I just wish that the scoreboard was a little different this time, but it’ll help us prepare for the postseason.”