Buffalo Grove tops Deerfield on Sauer goal
Bison's Alfaro shows stuff in 2nd half of 1-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BUFFALO GROVE — The hardest part about the first significant action of the new season is confronting uncertainty. Every program has its own inflection and nuance and emotional personality. Summer and offseason training are revealing but also incomplete.
When Deerfield and Buffalo Grove confronted each other in the latest iteration of the Central Suburban League/Mid-Suburban League Challenge on a radiantly beautiful night, they basically saw each other as mirror images of talented and unproven sides eager to make a lasting impression.
"We're a lot like Deerfield," second-year Buffalo Grove coach Brad Abel said. "It's not that we're young, we're just inexperienced."
After a tactical first half, Buffalo Grove found its rhythm and took control with an emphatic edge in possession and tempo that paid dividends in the 61st minute as Michael Sauer drilled a short rebound for the 1-0 victory over no. 18 Deerfield here Monday evening.
Deerfield had a virtually reinvented side from the gifted team that reached the Class 3A sectional finals last year. One generation naturally makes way for the next wave of talent. These new possibilities are often breathtaking and interesting to take in.
The Warriors had nine starters who were making their varsity debut.
"I thought we did a lot of really nice things out there," Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. "Especially in the first half, we possessed the ball. I thought we controlled the midfield, and we had some pretty good scoring chances. We didn't hit the (bar); we hit the football crossbar on a header off a corner."
When Buffalo Grove's Alex Alfaro made his presence felt, suddenly everything changed.
"He is a difference maker," Abel said. "I've said this to everybody. He is a special player when the ball is at his feet."
After sitting out the first half for personal reasons, Alfaro brought energy, direction and a forward momentum to the Bison.
"Once he came into the game, they were a different team," Hurtig said. "They had more energy and focus. They got organized, and we were kind of shell-shocked for that first 15 minutes or so of the second half."
Alfaro created the conditions for the goal. Midfielder Kyle Adams slotted him a ball on the left wing. He angled hard toward the edge before quickly shifting direction and smashing a hard and low shot. Sauer alertly pounced on the rebound for the finish.
"Alex played a great ball on frame, their keeper made a great stop; but fortunately I was right there and able to put it away," Sauer said. The senior forward earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his game-winner.
"It's a thrill, and a great way to start the season," he said. "This is exactly the kind of game that we were looking for and wanted to play, against a good team and on our home field and get the victory."
Alfaro is the lynchpin of the Bison (1-0-0) attack. He has excellent vision, speed and the ability to create for himself or teammates off of movement.
"In the second half I thought we did a much better job of pushing forward," Alfaro said. "On that shot the defender was leaning one way, and I just had to switch it up, and I was able to get that shot off."
Buffalo Grove created excellent combination play. The goal was the product of the greater concentration of effort and had its antecedents in the build-up.
Just minutes before the goal, defender Tyler Nieman blasted a liner on a 30-yard free kick that hit the crossbar.
The Bison also showcased an invaluable weapon. Senior defender Cullen O'Doherty is a left-hander with superb command and accuracy on his throw-ins. In the first half he lofted a beautiful ball that midfielder Manny Mazariegos made a strong finishing run for the header, and Deerfield sophomore keeper Ryan Grady stopped with a gorgeous save in the first half. A nearly identical sequence in the second half saw Mazariegos push the header inside.
Deerfield (0-1-0) fought back and controlled much of the final 15 minutes in trying to create the equalizer. The game had many narratives and side movements. The Warriors were the better team for much of the first half, even if there were no hard and proven results to show for their effort.
Deerfield also demonstrated a versatile combination of strong actions in the field of play and some very intriguing set-pieces. The Warriors have their own specialized talents here. Senior forward Collin Hinds is a gifted corner specialist. Junior midfielder Louis Solovy deploys the "flip thrown in," generating tremendous velocity off the somersault.
The team also showcases a foundational player in Matt Grady, one of two returning starters. Grady has shifted over from the defense. He has superb size, instincts and an almost preternatural sense of where he is on the field. Overcoming the consequences of an illness, Grady was seemingly everywhere.
Several times in the first half on corner-kicks, Grady elevated and was the first person to the ball. The first time, his teammate could not quite get on the end of his initial header. The second header was just over the top of the crossbar.
Though Deerfield was on the wrong side of a 1-0 game, Grady saw much to be thrilled by.
"I thought for a first game we did a lot of good things out there," he said. "I thought we really controlled most of the game, except that one stretch of the second half. We have nine new starters, most of them are players who are new to varsity competition, and there's going to be an adjustment.
"We are going to have a dangerous attack, you saw that out there. With those two (Hinds and Solovy) and what they can do, every throw-in is like a corner from anywhere on the field."
Deerfield is a team of intriguing pieces. Junior midfielder Wes Miller is lanky and tall and excellent in space. He is an excellent complementary part to play off Grady. Forward Nikita Bankevich had two good shots in the final six minutes of the game. His first attempt from the left edge had available space.
Bankevich could not generate the speed to turn freshman keeper Jake Salzman, who alternated with junior starter Daniel Sempoch for the Bison.
"We got down, but then I thought we did a pretty good job of recovering, and we had some excellent possession time and some pretty good shots at the end of the game there," Hurtig said. "For a first game, I was very pleased."
It was a prelude to the start of a complex week for both programs. Deerfield moves to the Lake Forest tournament starting Tuesday. Buffalo Grove plays four-consecutive ranked teams with no. 15 Barrington on Friday and then playing no. 17 New Trier, no. 11 St. Charles East and no. 12 Lyons at the Northside College Showcase at New Trier.
"This was one game, and you don't want to put too much into it," Abel said. "There were good things out there, things to learn from and see what we have to work on and go from there. It's a good start, and that's what we wanted."
If not for the Bison, the Mid-Suburban League would have been shut out in the first night of the head-to-head competition against the Central Suburban League. The visitors won six-of-seven matches Monday. The MSL will need to sweep all five games Tuesday to even the competition.
Starting lineups
Deerfield
GK: Ryan Grady
D: Dylan Capp
D: Jeff Lehrman
D: John Karkazis
D: Levi Goldstein
M: Louis Solovy
M: Matt Grady
M: Wes Miller
F: Nikita Bankevich
F: Collin Hinds
F: Cory Johnson
Buffalo Grove
GK: Daniel Sempoch
D: Tyler Nieman
D: Max Kilkuszowian
D: Jack Keady
D: Cullen O'Doherty
MF: Alberto Rivera
MF: Kyle Adams
MF: Erik Hernandez
MF: Manny Mazariegos
F: Kevin Elioza
F: Michael Sauer
Man of the Match: Michael Sauer, F, Buffalo Grove
Bison's Alfaro shows stuff in 2nd half of 1-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BUFFALO GROVE — The hardest part about the first significant action of the new season is confronting uncertainty. Every program has its own inflection and nuance and emotional personality. Summer and offseason training are revealing but also incomplete.
When Deerfield and Buffalo Grove confronted each other in the latest iteration of the Central Suburban League/Mid-Suburban League Challenge on a radiantly beautiful night, they basically saw each other as mirror images of talented and unproven sides eager to make a lasting impression.
"We're a lot like Deerfield," second-year Buffalo Grove coach Brad Abel said. "It's not that we're young, we're just inexperienced."
After a tactical first half, Buffalo Grove found its rhythm and took control with an emphatic edge in possession and tempo that paid dividends in the 61st minute as Michael Sauer drilled a short rebound for the 1-0 victory over no. 18 Deerfield here Monday evening.
Deerfield had a virtually reinvented side from the gifted team that reached the Class 3A sectional finals last year. One generation naturally makes way for the next wave of talent. These new possibilities are often breathtaking and interesting to take in.
The Warriors had nine starters who were making their varsity debut.
"I thought we did a lot of really nice things out there," Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. "Especially in the first half, we possessed the ball. I thought we controlled the midfield, and we had some pretty good scoring chances. We didn't hit the (bar); we hit the football crossbar on a header off a corner."
When Buffalo Grove's Alex Alfaro made his presence felt, suddenly everything changed.
"He is a difference maker," Abel said. "I've said this to everybody. He is a special player when the ball is at his feet."
After sitting out the first half for personal reasons, Alfaro brought energy, direction and a forward momentum to the Bison.
"Once he came into the game, they were a different team," Hurtig said. "They had more energy and focus. They got organized, and we were kind of shell-shocked for that first 15 minutes or so of the second half."
Alfaro created the conditions for the goal. Midfielder Kyle Adams slotted him a ball on the left wing. He angled hard toward the edge before quickly shifting direction and smashing a hard and low shot. Sauer alertly pounced on the rebound for the finish.
"Alex played a great ball on frame, their keeper made a great stop; but fortunately I was right there and able to put it away," Sauer said. The senior forward earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his game-winner.
"It's a thrill, and a great way to start the season," he said. "This is exactly the kind of game that we were looking for and wanted to play, against a good team and on our home field and get the victory."
Alfaro is the lynchpin of the Bison (1-0-0) attack. He has excellent vision, speed and the ability to create for himself or teammates off of movement.
"In the second half I thought we did a much better job of pushing forward," Alfaro said. "On that shot the defender was leaning one way, and I just had to switch it up, and I was able to get that shot off."
Buffalo Grove created excellent combination play. The goal was the product of the greater concentration of effort and had its antecedents in the build-up.
Just minutes before the goal, defender Tyler Nieman blasted a liner on a 30-yard free kick that hit the crossbar.
The Bison also showcased an invaluable weapon. Senior defender Cullen O'Doherty is a left-hander with superb command and accuracy on his throw-ins. In the first half he lofted a beautiful ball that midfielder Manny Mazariegos made a strong finishing run for the header, and Deerfield sophomore keeper Ryan Grady stopped with a gorgeous save in the first half. A nearly identical sequence in the second half saw Mazariegos push the header inside.
Deerfield (0-1-0) fought back and controlled much of the final 15 minutes in trying to create the equalizer. The game had many narratives and side movements. The Warriors were the better team for much of the first half, even if there were no hard and proven results to show for their effort.
Deerfield also demonstrated a versatile combination of strong actions in the field of play and some very intriguing set-pieces. The Warriors have their own specialized talents here. Senior forward Collin Hinds is a gifted corner specialist. Junior midfielder Louis Solovy deploys the "flip thrown in," generating tremendous velocity off the somersault.
The team also showcases a foundational player in Matt Grady, one of two returning starters. Grady has shifted over from the defense. He has superb size, instincts and an almost preternatural sense of where he is on the field. Overcoming the consequences of an illness, Grady was seemingly everywhere.
Several times in the first half on corner-kicks, Grady elevated and was the first person to the ball. The first time, his teammate could not quite get on the end of his initial header. The second header was just over the top of the crossbar.
Though Deerfield was on the wrong side of a 1-0 game, Grady saw much to be thrilled by.
"I thought for a first game we did a lot of good things out there," he said. "I thought we really controlled most of the game, except that one stretch of the second half. We have nine new starters, most of them are players who are new to varsity competition, and there's going to be an adjustment.
"We are going to have a dangerous attack, you saw that out there. With those two (Hinds and Solovy) and what they can do, every throw-in is like a corner from anywhere on the field."
Deerfield is a team of intriguing pieces. Junior midfielder Wes Miller is lanky and tall and excellent in space. He is an excellent complementary part to play off Grady. Forward Nikita Bankevich had two good shots in the final six minutes of the game. His first attempt from the left edge had available space.
Bankevich could not generate the speed to turn freshman keeper Jake Salzman, who alternated with junior starter Daniel Sempoch for the Bison.
"We got down, but then I thought we did a pretty good job of recovering, and we had some excellent possession time and some pretty good shots at the end of the game there," Hurtig said. "For a first game, I was very pleased."
It was a prelude to the start of a complex week for both programs. Deerfield moves to the Lake Forest tournament starting Tuesday. Buffalo Grove plays four-consecutive ranked teams with no. 15 Barrington on Friday and then playing no. 17 New Trier, no. 11 St. Charles East and no. 12 Lyons at the Northside College Showcase at New Trier.
"This was one game, and you don't want to put too much into it," Abel said. "There were good things out there, things to learn from and see what we have to work on and go from there. It's a good start, and that's what we wanted."
If not for the Bison, the Mid-Suburban League would have been shut out in the first night of the head-to-head competition against the Central Suburban League. The visitors won six-of-seven matches Monday. The MSL will need to sweep all five games Tuesday to even the competition.
Starting lineups
Deerfield
GK: Ryan Grady
D: Dylan Capp
D: Jeff Lehrman
D: John Karkazis
D: Levi Goldstein
M: Louis Solovy
M: Matt Grady
M: Wes Miller
F: Nikita Bankevich
F: Collin Hinds
F: Cory Johnson
Buffalo Grove
GK: Daniel Sempoch
D: Tyler Nieman
D: Max Kilkuszowian
D: Jack Keady
D: Cullen O'Doherty
MF: Alberto Rivera
MF: Kyle Adams
MF: Erik Hernandez
MF: Manny Mazariegos
F: Kevin Elioza
F: Michael Sauer
Man of the Match: Michael Sauer, F, Buffalo Grove