Lulek, Geneva too much for Spartans

Updated: May 14, 2011 10:06PM

If one play epitomized the determination of Geneva forward Amanda Lulek, it came late in the first half of the Vikings’ 3-0 victory over host St. Francis Saturday in a battle of conference champions in Wheaton.

Lulek eluded Spartans defender Anna Vonderhaar in the penalty area and was challenged by goalie Jenna Ditusa.

Twice Ditusa dove to poke the ball away from Lulek and twice Lulek recovered the ball, the last time out near the top of the box. Still hounded by Ditusa, the sophomore passed to freshman Hope Goodman, whose 18-yard shot under the crossbar went over the head of a hastily retreating Ditusa to give Geneva (11-5-4) a 2-0 lead with 8:34 left in the half.

“I just kept going,” Lulek said. “I saw (Ditusa’s) size so I just kept poking the ball out and once I got it free I knew I was not at a good angle to take the shot, so I just looked for someone and Hope was wide open right at the top of the box and she got a great goal.”

Geneva coach Megan Owens said that play was typical of Lulek, who had a goal and two assists.

“She just plays good pressure,” Owens said. “She always fights for the ball and she keeps after it, so she creates a lot off that. So it’s good to see that she didn’t give up on that ball and she kept fighting for it.”

Lulek set up Geneva’s first goal at the 21:55 mark of the opening period when she sent a cross from the right side of the box to Catherine Allon, whose strong header from the near the penalty spot went just under the pipe.

The visitors made it 3-0 with 29:19 to go in the second half on Lulek’s 10th goal of the season, a left-footed drive from 19 yards out that caromed off the underside of the bar and just over the goal line.

The Vikings outshot the Spartans 17-5 and could have had several more goals if not for the play of Ditusa, who made eight saves.

“We played really well today,” Lulek said. “Our possession was really good. In the middle we’ve been working on our give-and-gos and our combinations, and we really got those going today and they looked really nice.”

Geneva’s dominance showed why the Upstate Eight River champions earned the No. 4 seed at the Class 3A St. Charles East Sectional despite fielding seven freshmen and only two seniors.

“I’m very happy with how we’ve played,” Owens said. “I think a lot of people doubted us due to our youth throughout the season and I think we’ve proved that the freshmen belong on varsity and they’ve done a great job. It’s a nice win to lead us into regionals just because it was a solid performance all-around.

St. Francis (14-6-2), the No. 2 seed at the Class 2A Riverside-Brookfield Sectional, was coming off an emotional 2-1 shootout victory over Marian Central on Thursday that gave the Spartans a share of the Suburban Christian title along with Marian and Wheaton Academy.

“(Geneva’s) speed of play was a lot faster than ours but you know what, today was our senior day, our last regular-season game,” said Spartans forward Sydney Fox, who scored the game-tying goal against Marian. “We just wanted to go out there and have fun and we did more in the second half. It’s always tough to play the big 3A schools but we do what we can.”

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