Geneva’s Ben Murphy loves the game of soccer, but there was a time during the offseason where he didn’t know if his body was going to cooperate anymore.
The junior midfielder went through a litany of injuries, the last of which was a broken hip. And it started to shake his faith.
“I was thinking, if this happens again, I don’t know if I can keep doing this,” Murphy said. “That’s six months out of the sport that I love. Luckily I was able to come back, and this has been a greater return than I could have ever imagined.”
Murphy continued his breakout season Tuesday night with the game-tying goal in a 1-1 DuKane Conference tie against St. Charles North.
It was the fourth goal of the season for Murphy, who leads Geneva (10-4-4, 5-1-1) with 12 assists. Nolan Schoenholz scored his first goal of the season for St. Charles North (8-3-5, 4-0-3).
Casey Kriz appeared to score as time expired but the referees determined the clock ran out just before his shot would have given the North Stars the win. Osman Ahmed had seven saves in net.
According to Geneva coach Jason Bhatta, Murphy started the season rusty but as the season has gone on he’s turned into one of the key players for the Vikings.
“He really played himself into the season,” Bhatta said. “He’s playing his best soccer. He’s so shifty and he can create a lot just by himself. He’s doing a lot for us. He’s super dangerous.”
Schoenholz got the scoring started for St. Charles North with 33:07 left in the first half.
“That was important in a game like this against a quality side in Geneva, to get out to a lead,” North Stars coach Eric Willson said. “That changed the way the game was being played.
“Nolan fought his butt off. We can always count on him to be working really, really hard. (Tuesday) he added in a little extra quality. That finish was really, really nice, so that was good for him.”
Geneva put the pressure on all night but couldn’t break through until Murphy’s goal with 35:02 left in the second half.
After the ball was cleared, Reece Leonard tracked it down and played the ball back in to Murphy, who turned and scored to force the tie.
“It was really just a thing that finally went in,” Murphy said. “I mean, we were unlucky the whole game. We hit the post, hit the crossbar, and we finally got one in. I was able to get it through.”
It remained 1-1 until St. Charles North earned a corner kick with 10 seconds left. Diego Torres got off a shot that was saved, but Kriz got a foot on the rebound and put the ball into the net.
The referees said the clock had already run out, however, ending the game in a tie.
“The dude is a battler and a gamer and it doesn’t surprise me that he was the one that got a foot on the ball and put it in the net,” Willson said of Kriz. “If you ask him, he says he put it in.”
It was the regular-season finale for both teams, so Murphy is turning his attention to the playoffs.
After all he went through to get to this point in his career, Murphy also is going to savor every moment in what he hopes will be a deep run for Geneva.
“I wasn’t really sure how this high school season was going to go,” Murphy said. “And then to come out and be a really strong player on this team, lead the team and play the best I’ve ever played is awesome.
“It’s better than I ever thought I was going to play, and I’m just thrilled to be doing it.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
