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Koleno brace leads Young past depleted Deerfield

By Mike Garofola, 04/30/23, 3:00PM CDT

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Dolphins roll 4-0 in Glenbrook South Quad match

GLENVIEW – Central Suburban League North Division-leading Deerfield suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Young on Friday afternoon at John Davis Stadium in Glenview in the second round of the annual Glenbrook South Quad.

The Dolphins were dominant from the first whistle. Super-soph Moira Koleno bagged the opener in the ninth minute and finished with a brace. Sonia Liew and Lauren Roche completed the first half scoring binge to give manager Ross LaBauex's club a 1-1-0 record in the event.

"We knew Deerfield would be shorthanded due to a bunch of injuries they recently suffered, but for us, it was easily our best all-around 80 minutes of soccer we've played this season," said assistant coach Nick Maksa, who coaches the boys varsity team.

"This team has the ability to play at this level each time out, but with us losing (15) seniors to graduation and having such a young roster, it has taken us about half a season to get to sort things out and get to know each other."

A depleted Deerfield (11-2-2) roster gave the game its best shot.

"We really did not know what to expect as we came into this game with five of our first (11) unable to play, including our keeper Lauren Gottlieb (six clean-sheets, 0.67 goals-against average) as well as her backup (Emilie Pietig)," said Warriors manager Rich Grady. “We turned to Hannah Margulis, who with zero experience stepped in and did a wonderful job back there for us.”

Deerfield plucked Margulis from the varsity lacrosse team, where she plays goalie. She’s also a travel hockey player. The stand-in recorded double-digit saves according to Deerfield’s statistic sheet. Four of them appeared destined to add to Young’s goal total.

"Hannah is a very good athlete,” Grady said. “A couple of our girls kind of talked her into being our keeper today. For a first-time player at that position, I thought she did a very good job."

The Warriors played without offensive leader and Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater Emily Fox. The junior sat out to recover from a variety of ailments.

"We needed to rest some players today who are a little banged up right now," continued Grady.

The injuries and a dense schedule made it a prudent choice for Deerfield to cancel its final game of the quad with host Glenbrook South on Saturday. If the Warriors are unable to reschedule their Monday game with Highland Park, they will play five games in eight days.

Deerfield opened the quad April 24 with a 4-0 victory over St. Ignatius behind goals from Ryane Emory, Dara Carson, Jessie Fisher and Fox.

Young lost its tourney opener 2-0 to the host Titans on the same night. Then Dolphins followed the setback with three-consecutive clean-sheets, two of which came in Chicago Public League Premier Division South play. The league games preceded the wonderful performance against the Warriors.

"I really feel like everything is finally coming together for us," began junior Roche, who shared the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor with sophomore teammate Ainsley Christensen.

"Moira (Koleno) up-top has really been amazing for us lately, Ainsley and Celeste (Garton) have really solidified our backline. Our ability to possess and connect passes has come a long way after a really slow start to our season," continued Roche, who ran the show in the middle of the park with pace, purpose and an impressive work-rate that helped her club dominate the proceedings.

The defense is also starting to find its groove.

"I feel like Celeste and I are really connected in the back," added Christensen. “We're getting so much more comfortable with each game that we play.”

Young got the scoring started when Koleno used her speed and control of the ball to steer her effort into the far side of the net in the 9th minute.

The final solo Chicago Public League Premier Division champion (the league was split and enlarged into two groups of six this season) was on top of the majority of the play for the rest of the first half. Deerfield looked for consistency as Grady stayed with his promise to spread minutes throughout his roster.

"We were a little disorganized in the first half, because so many of us were asked to play in spots we were not familiar with," said Warriors junior Cassidy Stormoen. “I thought we came together so much better in the second half.

"We were not lacking for effort today. Everyone who got into the game played hard, but Young is a good team, and we were just missing too many players for this game."

The first chance for the Warriors came from Jessie Fisher, who burst free through the center channel before forcing Dolphins keeper Marcela Matallana into action in the 16th minute.

Moments later, on the other end of the park, Margulis turned away a sure goal off the free kick foot of Roche with a late stab of her glove to push the attempt up, and over the bar.
 
As Young continued to string together some lovely passing to earn more of the play and game, it also began to send the outside backs farther into the attack and make it more difficult for the Warriors to get out of their end.

"We've begun to see the girls play with a lot more confidence of late,” said Maksa. “Roche is doing a great job at the six for us, and our overall energy, urgency and desire to possess … is sharper than it’s been."

When the Dolphins brought on Evelyn Vaughn in the 23rd minute, the junior immediately made her mark. Twice, she was in the middle of quality chances on frame from Cayleigh Maxwell, then Kate Sweitzer.

Things fell apart for Deerfield just before the intermission. Young bagged three goals from minutes 34 to 38 to put the game away.

"We had a really bad five-minute stretch were everything went south for us,” Grady said. “The girls were not hanging their heads during our halftime talk. They pulled themselves together as a group and went out and played a much better second half."

When a lack of communication occurred deep in the Warriors end, Koleno took full advantage. Liew sent her through, and the sophomore forward doubled the Dolphins advantage in the 34th minute.

Two minutes later, Liew made it 3-0 with a marvelous one-timer that Margulis had no chance to stop.

The last tally in the spree came when the Warriors allowed Roche to tee-up a shot up from 35 yards, and the junior smashed her unstoppable blast high into the back of the net.

"That was probably our best half of soccer this season,” Roche said. “We did some good things in the second half with us concentrating more on holding and passing the ball.”

Young started the second half as brightly as they ended the first. Roche went over the bar, then Liew had her effort saved. A Koleno snap-shot was turned away by Margulis, before Stormoen made a strong tackle on Ella Cutler to end a potential 1-v-1 opportunity.

Deerfield slowly came into the second half with Simone Criz, Kate Denison and Stormoen at the heart of a handful of forays into the Dolphins end. None developed into a serious challenge, and keeper Matallana went on to earn the clean-sheet.

Stormoen took one off the line in the 61st minute on a redirected header from Kathryn Greenbaum off a serve by Cassandra Schumacher.

Both sides continued to bring fresh legs on at the hour mark. A pair of attempts on frame from Schumacher and Danielle Lam did not alter the score line.

The loss ended Deerfield’s eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1).

"Today gave us a chance to see some players we really haven't seen,” said Grady. “On the flipside, when we look at the film together, those players will have the chance to watch and learn from this game as well.

"There's always something to be learned from a game like this, which we know will help us down the road. I can say I liked the effort the girls brought today, especially in the second half."

Young left Glenview on the sunny side of the park.

"Just a super effort from the girls today; I was really proud of all of them," said Maksa.

Unfortunately, the Dolphins couldn’t repeat the effort and fell to St. Ignatius (9-5-1) 3-0 Saturday. Young (6-7-2) opens the Chicago Public League Tournament on Wednesday, when it hosts Washington.

Starting lineups

Young (4-3-3)
G- Marcela Matallana
D- Cassandra Reyna-Demes
D- Celeste Garton
D- Ainsley Christensen
D- Ella Cutler
M- Kathryn Greenbaum
M- Lauren Roche
M- Sonia Liew
F- Kate Sweitzer
F- Moira Koleno
F- Cassandra Schumacher

Deerfield (4-4-2)
G- Hannah Margulis
D- Natalie Munoz
D- Celeste Rivera
D- Lauryn Morris
D- Sophia Peiser
M- Simone Criz
M- Katie Denison
M- Jesse Fisher
M- Sophia Petitti
F- Bella Krummenacher
F- Ryane Emory

Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: 
Ainsley Christensen, so., D, Young; Lauren Roche, jr., MF, Young

Referee: Jay Weiss


Scoring summary

First half
Young : Koleno (Roche) 9' 
Young : Koleno (Liew) 34'
Young : Liew (May) 36'
Young : Roche (U/A) 38'

Second half
No scoring