Reversal of fortune
No. 2 seed Geneva falls in semifinals to upstart Schaumburg
HOFFMAN ESTATES -- Last season, Geneva's boys soccer team met Schaumburg in the sectional semifinals and beat them to advance.
The two teams met again Tuesday in the Class 3A Hoffman Estates Sectional and the result was the complete opposite.
(Donnell Collins/For The Beacon-News)
PHOTO GALLERY
• Schaumburg 2, Geneva 0
The second-seeded Vikings, the only top-eight seed still alive in the sectional, were handed a 2-0 defeat by the Saxons to end their season at 18-5-2. Schaumburg, the No. 12 seed (lowest at the sectional), remained red hot with its ninth straight win. They will face Wheaton North, a 2-1 overtime winner over St. Charles North in the other semifinal, in Friday's championship match.
"We're such a better team than them," Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook said. "It's frustrating to lose that. The thing that Schaumburg did well is they were opportunistic. You have to give them credit for that. They made big plays and were quicker to the ball at a couple of key times, and that cost us our season. It's a sign of a good team."
Neither team had a shot on goal in the first half until the final minute. Schaumburg's Erhan Caglayan punched one in with 33 seconds left in the half to give the Saxons a 1-0 lead in what had been a see-saw affair.
In the second half, the Vikings were able to finally generate some offense, picking up four shots on goal. But none were able to hit the back of the net. Then with 14:29 left, the Saxons put the game away. Off a throw-in from Mark Bielanski, Declan Geraghty scored.
"I think we fought hard until the very end, but the second goal definitely deflated us a lot," Geneva senior Kevin Hilgart said. "All season, we've been a second-half team. I think they surprised us a little bit, but they're a good team, especially defending. We were all getting prepared during the day. I don't think any of us have looked forward to a game all season like we did this game."
The plan for Schaumburg (12-5-1) was to shut down Hilgart and midfielder Brady Wahl, according to coach Hamid Mehreioskouei.
"I think Geneva is used to playing on the offensive end of the field," Mehreioskouei said. "They've got (Hilgart), who is just a workhorse. We just felt that as the game went on -- if we could get him to check farther and farther back into the field ' then instead of being a forward, he's a midfielder. That started to happen. And also, (Wahl), we just locked him up with Declan. As (Hilgart) and (Wahl) go, so goes Geneva."
Despite that, Estabrook lamented the fact that the second goal was allowed.
"It was disappointing to give up that second goal, because it was totally against the run of play and it really deflated us," Estabrook said. "If it's a one-goal difference later in the game, maybe a slight bit changes and we get that equalizer."
The Vikings advanced this far despite graduating seven starters from last year's squad and returning only six total varsity players.
"I think we did a really good job," Hilgart said. "We lost a lot of people from last year. We had a lot of newcomers. I'm proud of everyone. Great season."
