Wahl pushes Vikings to title

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STREAMWOOD -- Geneva's Brady Wahl didn't do everything for his team Saturday, although at times it seemed like it.

Combined with a strong defense that made life easy for goalkeeper Ryan Ward, Wahl led the Vikings to a 2-0 victory over St. Charles East to win the Class 3A regional hosted by the Saints. The game was moved to Streamwood's artificial-turf field because the St. Charles East-St. Charles North football game was moved to Saturday.

Geneva (18-4-2) will play Schaumburg in a Hoffman Estates Sectional semifinal Tuesday.

The Saints were likely to see Wahl in their sleep after the performance the junior midfielder put on.

Only 2:41 into the game, Wahl launched a free kick from 40 yards out that created a battle in front of the net before St. Charles East defenders cleared it. Nine minutes later, a similar boot by Wahl was deflected in front of the goal, then bounced off the left post. A rebound shot by Kevin Hilgart was stopped by Saints goalie Charlie Lyon, who will play at Marquette University next season.

The third time was the charm for Wahl. This time, his direct free kick came from a sharp left angle just outside the penalty area. Wahl nailed the shot just over four Saints defenders lined up in a wall, and the 30-yard strike bent perfectly into the top right corner of the net. There was nothing Lyon could do to prevent Wahl from giving Geneva a 1-0 lead with 25:30 left in the first half.

"We practice that shot in practice; we call it the diamond shot," Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook said. "I don't think there's a keeper in the state that could have made that save. We've been giving up the first goals of the game quite a bit, so it was nice to get on the board first and let the guys relax a bit."

"I saw Charlie step to the right thinking I was going to curl it around the wall, so I was able to get it by his left side," Wahl said. "I've known Charlie for a long time. He's one of the best goalies I'll play against in my life, so it was good to score against a goalie of that caliber."

As if to prove he has more than just a strong left foot, Wahl assisted on the second goal with 8:24 remaining before halftime. As he was going to the ground, he managed to get off a perfect pass to Hilgart in front of the goal. All the senior forward needed to do was redirect it into the net for a 2-0 Vikings lead.

From that point, it was up to the players in front of Ward to protect the lead. Defenders John Wilger, Robbie Johnson, A.J. Zefron and Jeff Williams played well, and they had a lot of help from Wahl and other Vikings midfielders.

The Saints (11-9-2) had a few chances late in the game. Jesse Nagelberg took a corner kick from Robert Shone but headed it just wide. Then a minute later, Nagelberg had a decent shot from close range but couldn't get much on it.

"I don't want to say (the Vikings) wanted it more than us, but they were winning more of the 50-50s and they certainly deserved to win," St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. "Ryan (Estabrook) is a great guy and a great coach. I wouldn't be surprised to see them go downstate this year."