Bulldogs headed to regional title game
By Dan Santaromita

 

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When trying to pull an upset it’s essential to come out of halftime strong to put a seed of doubt in the favorites. Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling emphasized this to his team, which led 1-0 at the break.

Unfortunately for the Lancers the message didn’t stick.

Batavia’s Jessica Milanese scored 43 seconds into the second half to tie the Class 3A regional semifinal match at Conant on Wednesday. The revitalized No. 7 seed Bulldogs scored twice more in the half to win 3-1 and advance to face the hosts in the regional final on Friday.

The No. 10 Lancers (8-7-3) played Batavia (11-6-1) tighter than a March 27 meeting that the Bulldogs won 5-1, but ultimately Lake Park couldn’t recover from the early second half goal.

“We at halftime stressed the importance of coming out as strong as we can and to be as aggressive as we can,” Fruehling said. “We got caught on our heels and you’ve got to give credit to Batavia for coming out with the aggressive play and the ball fell their way a little bit. That definitely took a little wind out of our sail. I think that gave them a little bit more energy.”

Brittany Wahlen launched a flip throw into the area and Milanese pounced on it to level the game. Wahlen said the Bulldogs immediately realized the importance of the goal.

“That was really key because once we get one we get our momentum going and it’s just one after the other,” Wahlen said.

Wahlen also created the game-winning goal off a flip throw. In the 67th minute her lofted throw directly assisted freshman Paige Renfus, who half volleyed in the go-ahead goal.

Flip throws can be a headache for any defense and Wahlen’s were especially effective. The former gymnast has been perfecting the move since she was nine and Batavia has capitalizing on them down to a science.

“We try to focus on whether it’s us getting them out of the air or them not getting them out of the air,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “As long as we’re making our near post, far post slot, we’re making some runs and somebody’s going to be there.”

Outside of the set piece goals, Lake Park played good enough defense to stay in the match despite being under pressure for most of the match. Rebecca Thorne made six saves for the Lancers.

The Lancers scored on a set piece as well. In the 18th minute Briana Small ripped a shot on frame following a short corner that resulted in a rebound tap in for Nicole Moore.

Batavia turned it around in the second 40. That’s something that didn’t surprise Wahlen.

“Usually when we’re down at halftime we always come back in the second half so I was expecting that,” the sophomore said.

The Bulldogs didn’t change much in the second half. Gianfrancesco would tell you it was just a matter of his team finishing its chances.

“We just took advantage of some opportunities I think we had,” he said. “There were a couple that dropped in the box before. We just weren’t there and we were there this time.”

While Lake Park threw everyone forward to score the equalizer, freshman Karina Rosales sealed the match by scoring on a counter with 17 seconds to go.

Batavia survived and advanced, which is all that matters at this time of year.

“I thought we did a nice job of controlling a lot of the play,” Gianfrancesco said. “They had one chance and they got the goal. I thought the second half really set the tone. The girls didn’t get down, jumped on them right away in the first minute. I think that set the tone for the second half. We were pressing for that goal.”
 
Lake Park’s season was filled with injuries and a number of freshmen had to step in. Fruehling counted six major injuries.

“We had to fill those spots and we had to turn to some girls, some freshmen, and they all did a phenomenal job,” he said. “I think they pulled together as a unit knowing they had to play well together to be competitive out there. They did just that.

“The seniors I thought did a great job bringing the girls together and then I felt our freshmen, our young ones, did a great job learning this year and making that adjustment to the varsity level. I’m excited for the future because they had this whole year of experience under their belt and they can just add to that next year.”