DEERFIELD -- Deerfield started its season on the wrong side of the ball with a couple of lopsided losses and needed to recover. The Warriors had to find something to turn the ball in the other direction. 

On Tuesday night, Deerfield they put it all together in a 9-0 nonconference win over visiting Antioch.

The Warriors started the season with losses to Class 3A Mid-Suburban League sides Prospect, 7-2 as part of the Central Suburban League/MSL Challenge on opening day Aug. 21, and Palatine 4-0 in a nonconference match Aug. 26.

Senior Mason Greitens helped his team turn things around in a big way with a hat-trick. Andrew Babos added a pair of goals and an assist, and Christian Castro and Cristian Carani each delivered a goal and two helpers. Callen Jakymiw, Mathew Seed contributed a goal apiece. 

The victory brought a big smile to the face of Deerfield head coach Ryan Crane. 

"It feels good to be in the winning column," said Crane. "I'm really impressed with the way our players played. We've been talking through this early part of the season about good communication, good quick ball movement and connecting our passes. We finally played to our potential. That's a good sign for the rest of the season."

The Warriors learned from the early matches and applied the knowledge against Antioch. 

"I think we just really struggled with so many new guys together," Crane said. "I think that learning curve was just a little difficult for us. As you get to know your players a little bit better, you can expect where they're going to be, how they can get the ball to you. We're learning, being a young team. We're very junior-heavy on this team and have six seniors."

Crane along with assistant Rich Grady had to bring their guys together to realize they had to amp up the level of soccer they played in their first matches. 

"So, it's a learning process. The speed of the varsity game is an adjustment for people. We just struggled with that in the first two games. The pace of play that Palatine and Prospect played was very impressive. It was hard for us to contend with."

The Warriors showed tremendous progress against Antioch (3-2-0). They know they need to keep moving forward.

"It's not where we want to be by the end of the season in terms of our performances," Crane said. "But you keep building these good solid performances regardless of results, and good things will happen for you by the end of the season.” 

Greitens, a senior midfielder, started the Warriors' scoring with goals in the 10th and 12th minutes. He scored off an assist from Castro to start and followed with another with Carani’s help.

The second goal required a bit of maneuvering from Greitens. He worked his way through several Antioch defenders before he found space to put a shot away.

The goals got his team pointed in the right direction. He wants to help set the tone and be a team leader. 

"As a team we really strived for those goals, because we were down after those two losses. We needed to pump up early in the game," Greitens said. "It was a really good start to the game. I believe the team fed off that energy. We strived and pushed for more goals and getting the win."

Greitens, for his effort and leadership, earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor. 

"It's just the calling to make it happen again," Greitens said. "I'm trying to push the team to the win."

Jakymiw added the third goal unassisted in the 20th minute. That was followed with Seed’s score from outside the box to the right into the upper corner. Babos assisted in the 27th minute. 

Babos scored the next two goals in the 31st and 33rd minutes. Castro connected in the 38th minute to head into the break with a 7-0 advantage. 

Carani and Greitens finished the scoring in the second half. 

Connection and communication made the difference for Deerfield. Those skills were lacking in the opening matches.

"After the two tough losses, we finally connected," said Carani, a junior midfielder. "I liked our energy; we did our best the whole game. Passes were great, and our finishes were great. We did have a lot more communication than our last two games, and we connected well with our 1-2s, with through-balls, with each other."

Castro knew that the team had the capability to score. 

"We got organized and were able to score a few goals," Castro said. "It will give us confidence for the next few games. We were just looking to get a good win, get confidence and get back on track."

Antioch took three-straight matches over the weekend in the Illinois Math and Science Academy tournament with wins over Class A Joliet Catholic and Aurora Central and Class AA IMSA. 

"Honestly, our work effort was not there, and they were very flat-footed," Antioch coach Maddie Lyon said. "It was frustrating. We do have a young team. This school was a big opponent for us. We were passing to the feet (over the weekend), actually passing the ball and not playing kickball. We just got on our heels, there were no connections, a lot of kickballs. It wasn't successful for us."

Deerfield continues its five-game homestand with another Mid-Suburban team, Wheeling, on Wednesday, and Lake Forest on Friday.

Starting lineups 

Antioch
GK-Ben Vasquez
D-Ben Bozovich
D-Jacob Hasik
D-Spencer Wood
MF-Matt Behrens
MF-Max Mehring
MF-Cade Ternes
MF-Tyler Jonson
MF-Julian Padilla
F-Liam Palbicke
F-Geo Diaz

Deerfield
GK-Max Khrabatyn
D-Jake Berger
D-Noah Harwood
D-Jason Nieder
D-Chase Goldsmith 
MF-Mason Greitens
MF-Cristian Carani
MF-Matthew Seed
MF-Callen Jakymiw
MF-Nicholas Biank
F-Christian Castro

Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Mason Greitens, jr., MF, Deerfield

Officials: Julio Negron (center); Paul McMahon (assistant); Pete McHugh (assistant)

Scoring Summary

First half
D-Mason Greitens (Christian Castro), 10
D-Mason Greitens (Cristian Carani), 12
D-Callen Jakymiw (unassisted), 20
D-Matthew Seed (Andrew Babos), 27
D-Andew Babos (Ari Schulman), 31
D-Andrew Babos (Christian Castro), 33
D-Christian Castro (Joey Awad), 38

Second half
D-Cristian Carani (PK), 42
D-Mason Greitens (Cristian Carani), 46