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Deerfield breaks out in win over Round Lake

By Bill McLean, 03/24/23, 8:45AM CDT

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Warriors MF Hart pumps up home crowd with 2-goal, 1-assist night

DEERFIELD — Pressed to discuss his plans for spring break after a home match at Adams Field on Wednesday night, Deerfield coach Rich Grady talked golf.

 

He and wife Jennifer plan to hit the links in Texas later this month.

 

“She’s the consistent one, the one who drives it straight all the time,” Mr. Grady said. “I usually slice my drives.”

 

But Grady’s bunch of booters had just carded another par-for-the-pitch feat —a win, to improve to 4-0-0. This victory came against visiting Round Lake.

 

And they skipped to the 7-1 triumph without four of their “clubs” in the bag, including Chicagoland Soccer All-State midfielder Emily Fox (ankle) and junior defender Sophia Peiser (illness).

 

Sophomore attacking midfielder and varsity rookie Lily Hart, a substitute in the nonconference contest, scored twice and assisted once for Deerfield, which is ranked no. 10 in Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.

 

Warriors freshman forward Bella Krummenacher also struck for two goals, and sophomore forward Ryane Emory provided a pair of assists in drizzly, chilly conditions.

 

“We’re pretty good at converting our chances,” Grady said after his crew improved to 3-0-0 against Northern Lake County Conference teams (Grayslake Central, Grayslake North and Round Lake) in the young season. “We don’t take 30 shots a game, but sometimes I’d like our number of shots to be higher.

 

“We got a good look on our first goal tonight.”

 

Emory — moments after Round Lake senior goalkeeper Mariana Gordillo had stopped a shot by Deerfield senior midfielder Katie Denison — tamed a loose ball in the seventh minute and dished a diagonal back-post feed to junior midfielder Ruby Levy, who found net from doorstep range.

 

Deerfield went up 2-0 some 12 minutes later via a 12-yard, unassisted back-post tally from Krummenacher. Emory displayed more unselfishness after gathering a sound ball from
Warriors tri-captain Jessie Fisher in minute 28, delivering the primary assist on Hart’s first goal of the night.

 

Gordillo (five saves) had no chance to deny Hart’s five-yard dart.

 

Deerfield led 3-0 at the break.

 

Round Lake, featuring a Division I prospect in junior midfielder Bella Perry and a high-scoring forward in junior Ari Gonzalez, started the second half with palpable resolve. Panthers senior
forward Jocelyn Mendez crashed the goal to score the visitors’ lone goal and cut Deerfield’s advantage to 3-1 in the 42nd minute.

 

It was her first career varsity goal — and Round Lake’s first-ever goal versus Deerfield, per Panthers coach Victor Rico.

 

“I did some research,” Rico said of discovering his program had never solved a Deerfield keeper before Wednesday night. “That’s a little ‘win’ for us against a very good team; we’ll take it. But we
didn’t come here to sit back and play honorably in a loss; our goal tonight was to attack.”

 

Round Lake’s effort impressed Grady.

 

“That’s a program heading in the right direction,” said Grady, whose 2022 edition — the third place finisher at the AA state tournament last spring — topped Round Lake 7-0, with each of the goals coming in the first 40 minutes.

 

“Round Lake,” he added, “has some very good players.”

 

Deerfield notched its final four goals in a span of 23 minutes, beginning with Krummenacher’s second in the 53rd minute.

 

Hart blasted a shot off the hands of Gordillo, setting up Krummenacher’s rebound tally from the middle of the box.

 

Hart upped the lead to 5-1 two minutes later, thanks to a spot-on pass from Fisher; a free-kick off the foot of junior midfielder Avery Kingsepp traveled about 25 yards before it jostled twine; and senior forward Maggie Culver redirected a dandy cross from senior forward Dara Carson to complete the scoring in
the 76th minute.

 

Carson had caught up to her deflected corner-kick seconds before sending it back to the packed box.

 

“We had to adjust tonight,” Emory said of battling without that missing quartet of Warriors. “Get off to a quick start and play with energy — that was part of our coaches’ plan.”

 

“Do well on set pieces, too,” Hart added.

 

Krummenacher, who’d scored her first varsity goal in Deerfield’s 3-1 defeat of Palatine in the season-opener March 16, shared another aim on Deerfield’s Things We Must Do List.
 

“To win every 50/50 ball,” she said.

 

Deerfield junior and winning goalkeeper Lauren Gottlieb made one save, and not until the 69th minute.

 

Round Lake’s backup keeper, freshman Janelle Garcia, stopped two shots in the final 10 minutes.

 

Round Lake (0-3-0) hosts Zion-Benton on Saturday at 11 a.m.; Deerfield gets its break before it entertains Fenwick on April 1 at 11 a.m.

 


Footnotes

Round Lake coach Victor Rico (Round Lake Class of 2002) played soccer (center midfielder) and wrestled (141 pounds) at Harper College in Palatine. He noted Panthers midfielder Gonzalez is close to setting the program mark for career goals. … More spring break plans, from Deerfield’s side: “I’m going to relax,” Warriors sophomore forward Emory said after Wednesday’s home win. “Yes, relax,” Deerfield sophomore midfielder Hart chimed in. “Stretch and ice,” Warriors freshman forward Krummenacher reported, referring to two measures to prevent injuries. … Deerfield coach Grady on Hart, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match vs. Round Lake: “She’s versatile and very good
technically. She was a forward, and then played mostly outside back for her club. She’s an attacking midfielder in our three-back system. Works hard, too.” … Round Lake senior forward Mendez, on notching her first career varsity goal to open the scoring in the second half Wednesday: “It felt amazing. I was so happy.” … Deerfield senior Jessie Fisher is a fun watch, flitting and dashing whenever she’s either dribbling or battling for a 50/50 ball. She delivered a “hockey assist” on Hart’s goal in the 28th minute Wednesday night. Her speed and toughness foiled a couple attempts by Round Lake to initiate a transition several minutes earlier, with the second disruption leading to a pass to senior forward Dara Carson. Panthers senior Gordillo halted Carson’s ensuing shot. You couldn’t help but admire Fisher’s diligence during the stirring sequence.

 


Starting lineups

Round Lake
GK Mariana Gordillo
D Denise Acoasta
D Lizbeth Ramos
MF Lisette Herrera
MF Alexa Vega
MF Itzel Balvaneda
MF Bella Perry
F Jocelyn Mendez
F Ari Gonzalez
F Jasmine Ortiz
F Alejandra Colo

Deerfield
GK Lauren Gottlieb
D Marissa Siciliano
D Natalia Munoz
D Madeline Stevens
MF Ruby Levy
MF Simone Criz
MF Katie Denison
MF Jessie Fisher
MF Avery Kingsepp
F Bella Krummenacher
F Ryane Emory

Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Lily Hart, so., MF, Deerfield


Scoring summary

First half
Deerfield — Levy (Emory), 7’
Deerfield — Krummenacher (UA), 19’
Deerfield — Lily Hart (Emory, Fisher), 28’

Second half
Round Lake — Mendez (Ortiz), 42’
Deerfield — Krummenacher (Hart),53’
Deerfield — Hart (Fisher), 55’
Deerfield — Kingsepp (FK), 65’
Deerfield — Maggie Culver (Dara Carson), 76’