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Oswego takes down Batavia
Updated: May 2, 2011 11:08PM
Whatever factors may have plagued Batavia, the bottom line Monday was that Oswego played the spoiler’s role to the hilt in posting a 1-0 victory.
Not only did the visiting Panthers make the Bulldogs’ final home game and senior night festivities less enjoyable, they also snapped the host’s four-game win streak. Maybe it was the timing with Batavia fresh off three weekend victories that gained it the championship trophy from the State Line Challenge tournament and its annual rivalry showdown at Geneva one night away
It doesn’t matter since Oswego improved to 5-7-3 for the season, while the Bulldogs dipped to 7-5-1.
While Batavia’s Tara Rush struck the field goal posts in the opening 10 minutes, there was 19:51 left before a relatively even first half saw the Panthers strike. Off a quick throw-in, Hunter Coppes pass’ enabled Lisa Bajkowski to dribble past a defender and slip a 19-yard blast from left of center past out-rushing Bulldog keeper Allie Fredendall. It was Bajkowski’s fifth goal of the year and second match-winner.
“Hunter found me in the gap and I saw that the keeper was pretty far out and I just wanted to get it by her by keep it on frame,” Bajkowski said. “The big key was the quick throw-in. We’ve been working hard on our transitions and it definitely paid off.”
At the opposite end, Oswego also had some heads-up defense by Alex Tiffany pay off with 12:10 left before intermission. The Bulldogs played a long through ball that Panther starting keeper Laura Gallardo rushed out for but couldn’t corral, and the shot by Abby Gray was clearly headed into the net when Tiffany streaked in and boomed it over the far sideline.
“I was thinking if this goes by Laura we’re in trouble, so it was a good thing I was there and I just put all my energy into getting it out of there,” Tiffany said.
While both teams finished with 13 overall attempts, Oswego had a 9-6 edge in shots on frame in part because Batavia kept hitting the goalposts. In addition, Panther second-half goalie Amy Annala gambled correctly in rushing out for several defensive clears.
“That was the definition of a team victory,” Oswego coach Jamie Bartkowiak said. “I can’t say enough about both keepers. We had big plays from Cathy (Tram), Jessa (Early), Kendra (Hughes), Lisa, Hunter, Cindi (Chavez), Erin (Apolzan). It was a hard-fought win.”
The Bulldogs had an lengthy pregame to recognize a 12-member senior class, which could’ve been another factor according to veteran coach Jim
McAlpin.
“Between the long weekend and we have a big game tomorrow, we tried resting a lot of our starters as much as possible, so we had a lot of players in some different positions as well,” he said. “There’s no doubt Oswego played hard and played better, but this wasn’t one of our better efforts.”
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