Batavia, Geneva sweep St. Charles schools
At the start of the season, Geneva boys soccer coach Ryan Estabrook said Shawn Sloan set a goal for himself to score 30 goals this season.
Just seven games into this season, Sloan's already on his way. He's that much closer to double digits after tallying two against St. Charles East, which Geneva beat 3-1 in Geneva Wednesday in the first game of the third annual Tri-Cities Showcase.
"He makes it happen when we need it to happen," Estabrook said of Sloan. "He's going for 30 this year, so we'll see if he can get it."
Sloan's first goal arrived in the first half at the 35:20 mark. His second came in the second half on an assist from Ben Orr with 3:51 left to play.
"It's good to have a player like that," said John McSpadden, Sloan's teammate.
McSpadden set the tone early for the Vikings (6-0-1) when he netted the first goal of the game at the 31:10 mark.
"Johnny has the ability to put it in the net from 40 yards away with accuracy and power," Estabrook said. "It wasn't so much a fluke that he played it the way he did."
"It took a lot of pressure off," McSpadden said of scoring first. "We try to put shots on the net. I got lucky tonight and it went in."
St. Charles East (3-3) didn't leave without scoring. Chris Tomek found the back of the net with 10:26 to play.
"With the quality of (players) we got here, we should be putting away a few more (goals)," St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. "Geneva is a decent team, but with what we've got here, there's no reason why we can't come in a place like this and win. We are disappointed with the outcome, not because of how they played. We feel we've let ourselves down."
Jennison blames mental lapses for the loss.
"The scoreboard really doesn't reflect how the performance went," he said.
Batavia 2, St. Charles North 1: Just like their rivals Geneva, the Bulldogs knocked off both teams from St. Charles in the Tri-Cities Showcase. On Wednesday, it was the North Stars who fell victim to Batavia in the second game of the night.
"That's just the way it is," Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. "One year, it's them, the next, it's us. It goes back and forth, depending on the team you have."
"This was a big game for us because last year, they (beat) us 5-0 so we wanted to come at them strong at the beginning," Batavia's Mitch Albrecht added.
Matt Russo was credited with Batavia's first goal (Michael Faraone assist) in the first half after a scramble near the goal at the 29:54 mark in the first half.
Before the first half ended, Albrecht dazzled both sides of the field with his amazing shot from the 40-yard line with 6:15 remaining before the break.
"That was a shot," Gianfrancesco said. "That was a rocket. He kind of taunts our keeper in practice by doing that to him... but that was a great shot."
"We didn't test their keeper much this game and I had the middle of the field open, so I just shot it," Albrecht added.
Batavia (3-0-1) had the 2-0 advantage at halftime.
"There was a whole lot of nothing in the first half," St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said. "They were certainly the better team tonight."
St. Charles North (5-4-1) finally scored with 24:51 remaining in the game, thanks to Brandon Bautista.
"When he's quick and aggressive and trying to be dangerous, he does good things for us," Willson said of Bautista. "That's what we need to see more of out of him."
Willson said the North Stars' season has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride so far.
"I think you'd like to see some closer games, and sometimes teams are down, but I wouldn't call us down," Willson said. "I just call the performances (against Geneva and Batavia) not as good."
Girls volleyball
Rosary d. Montini 25-18, 25-16: The Royals swept the Broncos in Aurora, improving to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the SCC. Lindsey Weber had 6 kills and 8 digs and Kelly Hogan added 10 kills and 5 digs. Lindsey Juriga set 14 assists.
Girls tennis
St. Charles North 7, Larkin 0: The North Stars breezed past the Royals in St. Charles.
Annemijn and Liselot Koenen both won their singles matches 6-0, 6-0. Firt doubles Jenna Bell and Alecia Natale as well as third doubles Sarah Amalraj and Lauren Suminski also shut their opponents out.
Girls golf
Rosary 183, West Aurora 202, Larkin 255: Madison Whitt of West Aurora took medalist honors with a 42, but the Royals (4-4) rolled to victory at Orchard Valley. Courtney Classen shot 46, Natalie Nelson shot 51, and Dana Edwards finished at 52. Kristin Chanowicz scored a 47 for Larkin.
Men's golf
Skyway Meet: Waubonsee came in second of six teams at Mission Hills. They shot 309 as a team, three strokes behind Moraine Valley. Kyle McCradic (West Aurora) and Kevin Schramer posted the lowest individual rounds with respective scores of 73 and 74.
Women's soccer
Waubonsee 4, Oakton 1: The Chiefs (3-2, 1-1) outshot Oakton 47-5. Jessica Cobo tallied twice and Sara Merker and Lizzy Bristow each had a goal and an assist.