CHICAGO -- A team’s success can be influenced by its scheduling. A harder schedule can prepare a team for not only the playoffs but the final stretch of the regular-season.

That’s the situation Young is facing this fall. The Dolphins played 10 games in September’s first 21 days. That included many games every other day due to Chicago Public League Premier Division play, as well as playing five matches in the Streamwood Fall Classic.

Young went 7-2-1 in that stretch, including an appearance in the tournament championship, and wins over Taft and numerous suburban squads.

“We really learned about prioritizing our recovery and staying at 100 percent,” Young’s Musa Abiade said. “We’ve been staying really focused and not making many mistakes.”

Young hoped to continue its success against Premier Division newcomer Amundsen on Monday afternoon at Winnemac Stadium. The Dolphins did with a 3-0 win that spoiled the Vikings’ Senior Day.

The victory kept Young’s hopes for a conference title alive.

“Honestly I didn’t think our grit was 100 percent there today,” Young manager Nick Maksa said. “We’re coming off of two really long weeks, two four-game weeks, massive week this past week and you can tell the legs are a little dead.

“We’re trying to get through these last couple conference games and get to the city playoffs next week. I like the fact that even when we’re not playing well, we’re still battling.”

 Amundsen is moving forward in the tougher competition of the Chicago Public Schools’ best division.

“We’ve really been improving as the season has come along,” Miller Avery said. “We didn’t have the best opportunities, but there were plenty of opportunities. We just didn’t take advantage of it.”

“I really liked our hustle. They’re always hustling and fighting until the end,” Amundsen manager David Chinchilla said. 

Young’s John Stanton has been a major staple for the squad the past couple seasons. He finished with nine goals as a defender last season and has  a team-leading eight currently. His most recent came in the 23rd minute after a beautiful cross from classmate Leo Antoniewicz.

After the opener, Amundsen keyed on Stanton. That allowed his teammates to move into the spotlight.

That’s something Maksa has liked about his team. If Stanton draws added attention, there are others who can step up.

“Credit to Amundsen, they really took John away from us,” he said. “They played numbers behind the ball, made it difficult for us. 

“I think we’re starting to figure out how to equally distribute the ball. The other guys have to step up and put some goals away, and they’ve been doing that. 

“Leo does a great job, We’ll throw Aidan up-top,  and he’s kind of our Swiss army knife, playing all over the place. I think he may have played four different positions today.” 

Amundsen joined the new-look, eight-team Premier Division this season after their second place finish in the Premier Division North last year. The Vikings put the defensive clamps on a lot of what the Dolphins were hoping to do, especially early in the second half.

A lot of that is because of the senior-heavy lineup that manager Chinchilla employs.

“We have speed in the back, and we have size,” he said. “Normally with that, they’re able to stop a lot of teams as a foursome. Then we hopefully build on it with some fast breaks and pushing the ball.

“We possessed the ball well and played a lot more calm than we had the rest of the season, really,” Avery said. 

“Whenever they cleared the ball, they were stepping up real high,” Young’s Kai Johnson said. “Then when we got the ball, our coach wanted us to play the long ball. But because they had so many numbers, we struggled to get the ball up the field in a real shooting position.”

The Dolphins were finally able to crack the Amundsen defense in the latter stages of the game. Junior Evan Lee put a ball into the back in the net in the 70th minute and then classmate Johnson scored his first varsity goal in the game’s final minute to close the scoring.

“Aidan Leatourneau dribbled pretty much the whole field, and I saw him go to the far post,” Johnson said. “I decided to go to the other post. He gave me a great ball, so I could tap it in.

“It feels good to get that one, a long time coming.”

Both teams now approach the homestretch of the regular-season. A majority of the conference play will have completed by the of the week, and city tournament begins Monday.

“We’ve got to keep training hard, keep practicing hard and hopefully improve for the city playoffs and then state,” Avery said. 

“We’ve got a big game Wednesday against Lane, followed by another big game (vs. Washington on Oct. 3), then luckily some time off to save our legs,” Maksa said.   

Starting lineups

Young
GK: Tommy Lyons
D: Oren Epstein
D: Toby Anthony
D: Haiden Negrillo
D: Aidan Leatourneau
MF: Leo Antoniewicz
MF: John Stanton
MF: Sam Henle
F: Henrique Telles
F: Curtis Jackson
F: Evan Lee

Amundsen
GK: Maxwell Perez
D: Torsten Uremovich
D: Alejandro Mora
D: Gavin Wentworth
D: Diego Chinchilla
MF: Gabriel Contreras-Aparicio
MF: Jack Duffy
MF: Erik Marin
MF: Miller Avery
F: Juan Clara
F: Miles Asher
 
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Kai Johnson, jr., MF, Young

Scoring Summary

First half
Young - John Stanton (Leo Antoniewicz), 23rd minute

Second half
Young - Evan Lee (Toby Anthony), 70th minute
Young - Kai Johnson (Aidan Letorneau), 79th minute