GENEVA – It was a lonely night for Lyon's goalkeeping duo of Anna Bigenwald and Nora Ezike.
The Lions' brick-wall defense held Geneva to just two shots on goal, and with some help from the offense, led the Lions to a 3-0 victory over the Vikings on Tuesday night.
Lions coach Bill Lance Perry felt his team stepped up to the challenge against Geneva. He believed that the play of both the defense and midfielders contributed to the victory.
“Geneva are a tough team with a solid attack, so it was great to limit them to two shots,” he said. “Our defensive backs played well, communicated well and our midfield did a good job of slowing them down in transition.”
The Lions took the lead with 18 minutes, 5 seconds left in the first half after Peyton Israel set herself up in the box and sent a shot deflected up the middle by Caroline Mortenson into the top-left corner of the goal.
“Mortenson is always good at passing the ball perfectly to the outside forwards,” Israel said. “It was a great team goal because we worked hard to achieve it.”
The Lions scored again with 9:07 left in the first half. After Vikings goaltender Jordan Forbes failed to contain Estelle Giustini's shot, Liara Frazier brought the ball to her feet, weaving past Forbes and the players from both teams and into the bottom left corner.
“It took a lot of guys to score that goal, but it was a good goal,” Lanspiary said.
The Lions didn't score their third goal until 10:27 left in the game, when Zibby Michaelson fired a shot into the right side of the goal from 15 yards out.
Geneva did not have a shot until the 59th minute, when Evin Chocolat fired the ball from 25 yards out into the hands of Bigenwald. Two minutes later, Lily Coates dribbled toward Bigenwald for another shot for the Vikings off a free kick.
Despite the loss, Geneva coach Megan Owens felt her team showed fight throughout the game against her alma mater.
“I don't think the scoreboard reflects our play,” Owens said. “We did a great job and had very strong communication, so I took a lot of positives from this game.”
Owens said it's important to schedule a matchup against a tough opponent like the Lions early in the season to show the team where it needs to improve.
“The main thing we learned today is tracking marks,” she said. “It's just small things that we're working on improving, but it's good to see them so early in the season.”
The Lions will have a chance to improve to 4-0 on the season when they play Glenbard West on the road on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Geneva will have a chance to get back in the win column when they play Neuqua Valley away on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
https://www.shawlocal.com/kane-county-chronicle/2024/03/20/girls-soccer-stout-defense-quick-offense-helps-lyons-to-3-0-win-over-geneva/
