Geneva blanks DeKalb

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:22PM

Renting lights for its regular-season finale and Senior Night was expected to be the icing on the cake for a DeKalb squad that one day earlier captured the inaugural Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference East Division crown.

But even before the generators were shut off for the night Geneva's Vikings had sailed off with a 3-0 victory that bumped the Vikings ledger to 11-8-1 heading into Friday's home finale with Lake Park.

Just 8:48 into the contest Josh Poythress used a Brady Wahl set-up --- his team-best 10th of the year --- for a 16-yard blast from right of center to get the Vikings heading in the winning direction.

"Usually I try to go out but when Brady took it outside I saw the play to be made would be inside and just into position," Poythress said of fourth goal on the season. "Getting 3-0 wins consecutively gives us a lot of confidence going forward. With the lights and the chill in the air, it definitely had kind of a playoff feel."

Geneva felt even more confident with 15:40 gone when Carlos Gonzalez used an errant DeKalb defensive pass to boot home a nine-yarder from the right wing for a 2-0 lead that held through intermission and beyond. The Vikings' passing and ball possession kept the Barbs from even getting a shot on goal in the second half. With 10:27 left, Matt Dashner's cross led to a scramble in front that was finished by Matt Butz.

"Perhaps over 80% contest the possession was ours and from that we created at least eight good opportunities and converted three of those, so that's a pretty good percentage," Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook noted.

It was also the seventh time Geneva blanked an opponent with Pat Niedbala earning his second solo clean sheet to go with one shared shutout. Senior co-captain Robbie Johnson anchored the defense that helped limit DeKalb to four overall shots and two on-target tries.

"We've got our communication down to the point we can play different people and remain confident. That was really the key tonight," Johnson added.

"Geneva offered us a great lesson in the type of speed we'll see in the playoffs," said DeKalb coach Brett McIntosh whose team dipped to 13-3-5. "It's a valuable lesson for us and I did appreciate our mentality of fighting to the end."

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