With the amount of firepower that Geneva graduated from last year’s lineup, senior forward Gabe Barwiolek knew the burden to score was going to fall upon his shoulders.
Last season, Caleb Kelly and Ben Murphy combined to score 39 goals for the Vikings. It makes Barwiolek the leading returnee with six. He realized right away that he would have to step up.
“I don’t feel pressure,” Barwiolek said. “I know I need to have high expectations for myself, and I didn’t reach that last year. This is the year.”
Blake Hughes, in his first year as Geneva’s coach, had to like what saw Thursday.
Barwiolek scores three minutes into the season opener at Waubonsie Valley and then converted a penalty kick in the second half, clinching a 2-1 nonconference victory for Geneva.
Yasser Gomez scored the goal for Waubonsie (0-2), which held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for newly renovated Dick Kerner Stadium.
That type of performance by Barwiolek for the Vikings (1-0) wasn’t a surprise to Hughes, the former Timothy Christian coach who believes Barwiolek will be a big key to the team’s success.
“He’s fantastic,” Hughes said. “He came from a summer of training overseas in Spain and he’s ready to play here for us. He’s going to be a bright spot for the future of Geneva soccer this year.
“If we don’t have him going, we’re probably a lesser team without him. It’s pretty fantastic to have that.”
Barwiolek wasted little time getting going. After a free kick led to a header three minutes into the game, the ball fell to his feet. He took it from there.
“I saw a header and saw it land by my feet and I just heard ‘shoot,’ so I shot it with my left foot and it went in,” Barwiolek said. “It felt amazing.”
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The Warriors tied it at the 30:45 mark of the first half when Gomez connected close to the net. It’s something that Waubonsie coach Jose Garcia expects from Gomez.
“He’s all over the place,” Garcia said. “He’s an Energizer Bunny that we need with good ball control. He’s definitely one of our targets to look out for.
“We make sure we get him the ball because he understands the game. He understands how to move off the ball and rip the ball. He’s a great asset to our program.”
After a foul was called in the box with 28:39 left in the second half, Barwiolek calmly stepped up and buried the penalty kick for the eventual winner.
Hughes expects that to happen all season. He was immediately impressed with Bariwolek’s soccer acumen.
“The way that he’s able to be so technically savvy on the ball, receiving the ball from his own end and understanding where the pressure is coming from,” Hughes said. “He moves side to side really well, and understands that if he needs to turn left, he turns left.
“He doesn’t have anybody telling him where to go, but he looks before he receives the ball. It’s fantastic to see that.”
Following a college showcase, Barwiolek was selected to participate in the Soccer Dreams Travel Pro Tour. That gave him the unique opportunity to train in Spain this summer and play against players from across the world.
“It felt amazing, just getting that experience,” Barwiolek said. “I had a similar experience when I was younger, but this one was so much more memorable because obviously I’m older.
“I made more memories.”
Thursday’s season opener was exactly what Hughes wanted from his new star striker.
“Where do you get the goals from?” Hughes said. “They scored, what, 70-plus goals in 24 games last year? He has to score 25 this year for us to have a great season. We’re mostly sophomores out there.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.