CHICAGO — Every game Young plays is a moment for self-reflection, examining where they were and what they can become.

The view is getting clearer every day.

In a showdown with its top rival in the Chicago Public League Premier South Division, every detail mattered. 

Jones won the season series 2-1 last year, topping Young in conference play and the semifinal of the city tournament. The Dolphins earned a huge measure of revenge with a 2-0 regional semifinal victory. 

Every game matters when city powers Young, Jones, Lane and Payton meet. 

Bragging rights reign supreme -- many players from each team know their contemporaries from the local club soccer scene.

“Coming into the game we knew we needed to make a statement, because they beat us twice last year,” Young forward Maddie Huffman said.

“We knew going into the game we should be the better team this year. We’ve grown so much since the beginning of the season. We had a great start, and that gave us confidence. It really pushed us over the edge.”

Forward Kathryn Greenbaum scored a goal and delivered an assist as the Dolphins generated bookend goals at the beginning and end of the first half en route to 3-1 victory Thursday night at Michelle Obama Field on the Near West Side.

Young (4-5-0, 2-0-0) won for the fourth time in its last five games. 

Huffman scored her first prep goal in the fifth minute after a 25-yard free kick from Greenbaum.

“I knew once I hit it, I was very confident where it was placed,” Huffman said.

The freshman exudes energy and excitement with her play.

“Maddie’s just a firecracker up-top,” first-year Young coach Zoe Saphir said. “She is so fast, and I am just waiting for her to grow into herself. It’s very exciting.”

Jones (5-4-0, 2-1-0) saw its five-game winning streak halted.

The Eagles found their offense during that run with 32 goals and generated pretty consistent pressure against their rival. But the Dolphins found a way to slow down their attack. 

In the major city showcase games, the matches are as much about psychology and will power as play on the field. Jones had to chase from the start.

“We got scored on really quickly, and you could tell it got us out of sorts a little bit,” coach Derek Bylsma said. 

“I still felt good the way we came back, and I thought we fought really hard. We had a nice free kick there. We got in on the goal a couple times.”

The Eagles found a better rhythm beginning around the 15th minute. Dynamic forward Aiyana Wright demonstrated her next level speed and quickness at the point of attack.

Wright got in tight and blasted a shot from about 19 yards that Young keeper Marcela Matallana lunged to her right to stop. The ball squirted out of her grasp, but the Eagles could not get a body to the ball.

The sophomore is so fast, it presents problems for her own team.

“Aiyana has so much speed, that it’s hard to keep up with her,” Bylsma said. “It’s hard to get two people forward when she goes.

“When you play a good team like Young, it’s always going to be a good game. I’m not happy with the score, but I am happy with our effort.”

Wright made an instant impact, earning Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List recognition as a freshman after her double-double of 20 goals and 13 assists last spring. 

Alyssa Ramos is an equivalent figure this season. The breakout talent has great quickness, toughness, speed and a team-best 29 points on 10 goals and nine assists.

She started the Jones scoring sequence Thursday. Her booming free kick was played into the top of the box where midfielder Hania Mahmoud delivered a touch to Wright on the left wing. 

Wright knifed through two defenders, and somehow got a shot off from about 20 yards that swerved past Matallana for the equalizer in the 21st minute.

With the score even at the midpoint of the first half, it was anybody’s game. But it appeared the Eagles had the upper hand with Wright repeatedly creating dangerous situations.

The gifted Matallana, showing superb quickness and poise in the box, registered nine saves, repeatedly thwarting the Eagles.

She was capably supported by Young’s backline of Tallulah Avery, Lauren Roche, Ainsley Christiensen and Xochiti Lopez, who shut off angles and passing lanes, and blocked space from Wright and Ramos.

Sometimes a game turns on a coach’s move, or a great substitution. Late in the first half, Saphir inserted two-way talent Caroline Brown.

It proved to be a master stroke as Brown immediately won the ball on the left wing drove in and smashed home a sharply curving ball from about 18 yards in the 39th minute. The game-changing and game-winning goal gave Young a 2-1 advantage.

“Then they got the late goal there, where we just kind of stopped playing and gave up in that situation,” Bylsma said.

The calculus changed. It energized Young and put the Dolphins firmly in control. 

The tactical and psychological advantage of the late first half lead could not be overstated.

“I think that definitely instilled confidence in us going into the second half, knowing we were up a goal, but also knowing what we had to do,” Greenbaum said. 

Earlier in the season, Young showed what it’s capable of in competitive losses against currently 20th-ranked Stevenson and honorable mention squad Oswego East. The team’s only lopsided result came against top-ranked Lyons.

“I think those games really helped us build as a team, notice weaknesses we needed to work on and realize our strengths to utilize against other teams,” Huffman said. 

“A game like Stevenson (a 2-1 loss March 12) just showed we are ready for absolutely anybody.”

Saphir sees a team growing in maturity, poise, skill and togetherness.

“We worked out a lot of our kinks from the start of the year, and now we’re just trying to perfect it,” Saphir said. “We have better passing, keeping it on the ground, and playing to our strengths.

“We are way more confident now.”

Jones remained dangerous and lurking throughout the second half, enjoying the wind advantage at the southern goal. Midfielder Audrey Dziedzic had a free kick from 25 yards that just pushed wide of the frame.

Wright was able to pressure the Dolphins’ goal. 

Young countered the Eagles’ actions and created greater separation in the 61st minute. Star midfielder Moira Koleno generated a corner kick.

Her ball was beautifully played into the box and initially played by Roche. Greenbaum followed the first touch with a fantastic half-volley from about 14 yards for the backbreaking goal.

Greenbaum earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor for her outstanding play.

“We have pretty much the same squad as last year, and we have four new players,” Greenbaum said. “With a new coach, I think that is what we really needed and helps us get where we want to be.

“I think with every game, we’re building chemistry, and we’re becoming more cohesive as a unit.”

Jones showed its own considerable growth from an 0-3-0 start in the same City-Suburb Connect Invitational, which was staged in the first week of the season.

Ramos, tough and aggressive on the ball, is a significant talent. Wright is the best sophomore in the city. Dziedzic is a talented playmaker and offensive connector.

“We’re better than we were in Week 2, and we need to be better in Week 10 than we are right now,” Bylsma said. “I don’t imagine Young losing another conference game, so they will win that.

“We’re going to get into the city and state playoffs and see what we can do.”

Saphir played on three Young teams that reached a city championship game, and won two of them. She understands the importance.

“I talked about this with the girls before the game. This is for our future; this is for our seeding in the city tournament,” she said. “This will make an easier route for us. We don’t want to make things complicated. We want to make it as easy as possible.

“We want to make sure we lean on each other, and we play confidently.”

Starting lineups

Jones
GK: Ruby Miller
D: Ellie Ceraso
D: Karina Teliz
D: Pauline Morro
MF: Alyssa Ramos
MF: Audrey Dziedzic
MF: Morgan Theilke
MF: Leann Guidi
MF: Celia Pincus
F: Aiyana Wright
F: Kaelyn Perez

Young
GK: Marcela Matallana
D: Tallulah Avery
D: Lauren Roche
D: Ainsley Christiensen
D: Xochiti Lopez
MF: Evelyn Vaughn
MF: Moira Koleno
MF: Sonia Liew
MF: Cassandra Schumacher
F: Maddie Huffman
F: Kathryn Greenbaum

Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Kathryn Greenbaum, jr., F, Young

Scoring summary

First half
Young—Maddie Huffman (free kick), 5’
Jones—Aiyana Wright (Alyssa Ramos/Hania Mahmoud), 21’
Young—Caroline Brown (unassisted), 39’

Second half
Young—Kathryn Greenbaum (Lauren Roche), 61’