Batavia fights to the end in loss to West Aurora

By Gary Larsen

Batavia nearly pulled it off.

The Bulldogs trailed 2-0 to host West Aurora, having seen the Blackhawks use their possession game to great effect for 40 minutes. One Ty McCoy goal later, however, the lead was halved and Batavia had 20-plus minutes to throw bodies forward and try to find a game-tying goal.

“We’ve been playing each other for a while now, and the games always seem to come down to a late goal one way or another,” said Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco.

That late goal didn’t come on Wednesday, however, as West Aurora hung on for the win. But the lesson was there for the taking.

“Just don’t quit because you never know what’s going to happen,” Gianfrancesco said. “West Aurora played well, and it’s always an opportunity for us to play a good team.”

The teams’ rivalry has never been dull.

“I think in the nine or ten times we’ve played Batavia, we’ve either tied or it’s been a one-goal difference in every game,” said West coach Joe Sustersic. “Something crazy always seems to happen late in the game.”

Batavia played much of the game without captain Mitch Albrecht, who was forced to sit with a yellow card that Gianfrancesco didn’t want to roll the dice on. Starting central defender Anthony Torres was also absent from the field when West Aurora struck on its first goal.

Batavia goalkeeper Ty Witkowski was outstanding in the face of a dangerous West Aurora attack, making a handful of exceptional saves late in the game to keep his squad to within a goal of a tie.

“We picked up the tempo at the end. It was the last five minutes that we lost it,” Witkowski said. “Going down 2-0 is hard to come back from. We got one back, and we just have to keep working hard as a team.”

Gianfrancesco used a young midfield trio on Wednesday that battled hard.

“We were playing three sophomores in the middle, and I thought they did a pretty decent job,” Gianfrancesco said of Cody Witkowski, Eduardo Cuatle, and Calvin Baez. “And I thought (defender) Jordan Carey played well. He won a lot of head balls in the center in back.

“Cuatle has been playing very well lately, and Ty McCoy up top has done a nice job of shielding and dropping the ball back, so our mids can shoot the ball through.”

Man of the match: Ty Witkowski

By Gary Larsen

Ty Witkowski did everything humanly possible to give his squad a chance to earn a tie on Wednesday.

Batavia’s senior goalkeeper made diving saves to his left and right, and raced out to the 18 and nearly all the way to the sidelines to cut off dangerous serves during the Bulldogs’ eventual 2-1 loss to West Aurora.

“He definitely made some nice saves,” said Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco. “Ty is very composed under pressure, and he played very well today.”

“He was reading the play and getting good angles on those shots. He made quality saves and then got it out of trouble.”

After splitting time in net last year, the senior has embraced full-time duties in 2009.

“Last year he was the guy we’d put in for the second half to preserve the shutout or keep us in those close games. The pressure never seems to get to him,” Gianfrancesco said.

Witkowski likes what he’s gotten from his defense thus far in the season.

“We have a great back line, especially with Jordan (Carey) and (Anthony) Torres,” Witkowski said. “We worked hard over the summer, we’re practicing hard, and we have a good team. We just have to score a little bit more.”

Starters vs. West Aurora