Johnson's late goal holds up vs. Larkin

By Gary Larsen

First it was Geneva’s Jeff Williams, breaking in on net behind the defense only to see Larkin goalkeeper Omar Hernandez make a sliding kick save of his shot.

Then it was Seamus Kaminski, running down a through-ball and ripping a shot into Hernandez’s chest.

“I think (Hernandez) probably has a couple big tattoos on his chest right now from some of those balls,” said Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook.

“Those were rockets sent at him. We’d like to finish those but you have to give credit to their goalkeeper. He was brave in putting his body on the line. He did what he needed to do.”

It wasn’t until the game’s 62nd minute that Geneva got a shot past Hernandez, when defender Robbie Johnson located a ball near the goalmouth after a free kick and toe-poked it into net.

“When those moments come when we can’t find the goal, we just have to keep pushing forward,” Johnson said. “We can’t give up and just think it isn’t our day. Once we get one we usually can get in a flow.”

The Vikings completed the 1-0 win in Elgin and improved to 4-0-1 on the season, showing good possession and defending well throughout.

Johnson, Kevin Hilgart, John Wilger, and A.J. Zefron stood up against a young Larkin team that has slickness and speed in its attack.

Geneva goalkeeper Ryan Ward was steady throughout the contest. He stopped a point-blank shot near the post when the game was still a scoreless tie, and cut off danger at every turn.

“He probably won’t get nearly enough credit this year,” Johnson said of Ward. “But he deserves it.”

“This is the first time we’ve had a returning goalkeeper and Ryan gives us a lot of confidence,” Estabrook said. “He’s a steady player back there.”

After graduating nine starters from last year’s squad, including an all-state forward in Shawn Sloan, Geneva has showed early on that it has something all top programs seem to have.

The ability to reload.

“Our bench was solid last year and that’s why you’re seeing a good solid team out here now,” said Geneva junior Craig Hancock.

Hancock’s presence in the central midfield stood out on Tuesday, and starting midfield mates Joshua Poythress, Brandon Sloan, and Michael Edwards helped Geneva earn the lion’s share of possession. The Vikings played without the services of midfielder Brady Wahl.

Kaminski and Williams consistently hustled into the final third, but Hernandez and Larkin’s back line kept them at bay.

“I thought we possessed well and defended well. Once we got to the goal, we just couldn’t put it in for some reason,” Johnson said. “But we played well. We’re happy to get the win.”

Hancock has confidence that the Vikings’ frontrunners are on the cusp of putting up numbers.

“Shawn (Sloan) was a natural-born forward,” Hancock said. “But (Kaminski) and (Williams) have the talent, and I give them two or three more games and they’ll be scoring goals.”

“I think we were able to avoid a lot of these kinds of games the last two years, having players like Shawn Sloan, Max Cary, and Adam Cornwell,” Estabrook said. “We just took it for granted that those guys would pump in a goal a game.”

Johnson’s goal was his second of the season.

“We’d love to put Robbie in a few more positions,” Estabrook said. “He’s such a strong player in back but he also does a great job up front. We’ll use him as a weapon whenever we can.”

Geneva went 2-0-1 at the weekend’s Quincy tournament, after winning 5-3 over Oswego to start the season.

“Games like that are going to help at the beginning of the season,” Hancock said. “Now we’ve kind of figured it out, and slowly our possession of the ball is getting better. We just have to work out the kinks in these first few games.”

Man of the match: Craig Hancock

By Gary Larsen

You can’t attack if you’re losing the midfield, and Geneva’s Craig Hancock did all he could to make sure that didn’t happen against Larkin.

“Craig Hancock gave us a lot of energy at midfield,” said Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook. “We were missing our other starting mid (Brady Wahl) tonight, so Craig had to take on a few more responsibilities tonight. I thought he showed good passion out there.”

Hancock is an outside mid by trade, so the job requirements at midfield are familiar to him.

“It really just comes down to how hard you work,” Hancock said. “If you can get to the ball you’ll be in the play. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself standing most of the time.”

“It’s one of my first games playing center mid. The ball comes through there a lot more. It's been fun.”

Starters vs. Larkin