DEERFIELD – All signs pointed toward a big night for Deerfield.

The Warriors were the opening act late Friday afternoon before the football team battled Glenbrook North in a locally televised game.

The press box was full of activity, from those there to operate the Warriors’ impressive scoreboard to the helpful and informative public address announcer.

As several workers arrived early for the football broadcast, the Warriors’ home nonconference game against Ridgewood seemed the ideal warmup for the assembled.

There was just one small issue – the Warriors didn’t step into the spotlight until it was almost too late.

After Ridgewood took the lead in the 60th minute, Ari Schulman came to the rescue in the 76th minute for the home side to salvage a 1-1 draw.

The Warriors (3-7-3) badly wanted a win after recently battling Class 3A heavyweights as the only Class AA member of the uber-strong Central Suburban League South Division.

Deerfield entered the game aiming to end a winless streak dating back to a 3-0 triumph over Woodstock North on Sept. 14, with consecutive losses to 15th-ranked Glenbrook North, third-ranked Evanston, AA-side Grayslake North and second-ranked Glenbrook South.

The 21-mile-per-hour winds during the match led to some tough moments for both teams, which struggled to finish in the final third.

Deerfield coach Ryan Crane said his team missed a great chance to get a quality nonconference home win against a fellow AA school.

“We talked after our last game against Glenbrook South about limiting mistakes,” Crane said. “In the first half, we made a few too many mistakes. Ridgewood created a few opportunities.

Our goalie, Liam Connolly, came up with some big saves, but credit to Ridgewood for coming out strong in the second half. We knew that was going to happen.

“We were trying to match that. It was an unfortunate goal to give up, but I’m really proud of how the guys responded.

“We didn’t put our heads down; we put the pressure on. It was kind of unfortunate to only have one goal. We were (apparently) excited for the football game, hitting the (football) crossbar on that late one.

“I’m really happy with the grit we showed. That’s one of the principles we talked about. The season is a wave. I’m happy how we rode the wave when we got down. It was nice to get something positive today.”

The Warriors pushed the tempo on offense in the first half, missing three-straight chances that left them goal-less after 40 minutes.

Ridgewood made an impression with a free kick that was saved in the 46th minute. The visitors seized a 1-0 lead 14 minutes later.

Rebels forward Jonah Martinez made a quick exit following the game but stopped briefly to discuss his second goal of the season.

The senior dribbled a few yards, cut to his left and banged a shot from 21 yards that gained a 1-0 lead with 20:51 left in regulation.

“I had the drive already, but I had lost the ball. The ball went through the players’ legs,” said Martinez, who then regained control. “I drove in and just did a power shot with my left foot.

“I wasn’t expecting the goal. It just slipped out of the goalie’s hands. It felt good, but I would say I got pretty lucky.”

Deerfield keeper Liam Connolly netted five saves in the draw. The sophomore said he was disappointed about the lone goal, which he lost control of and saw trickle into the net.

“It was a good shot, and I should’ve gotten the ball,” said Connolly, who was called into action after injuries to starter Xander Yang and back-up Nolan Zinman. “The wind played a factor in the game. I learned today to pay more attention to the wind and to distribute the ball better. It was a tough game, but we can learn from this game.”

Ten seconds after the opener, Deerfield almost issued an immediate response. Unfortunately, the Warriors lacked a connection on a cross. The team also suffered from an unrequited throw-in, a blocked shot and a missed scoring opportunity on corner kick over the next 10 minutes.

Deerfield’s Shai Yeger drilled the crossbar in the 70th minute, and Cristian Carani smacked the football crossbar in the 71st minute.

Schulman, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, finally came through with a goal off a throw-in from Peter Tye with 4:14 left in the game.

The ball squirted past several players and landed near Schulman. He got to the ball and blasted a shot from the left side inside the near post to tie the game at 1-1.

“I missed a couple of those in practice yesterday. I made sure to have composure and hit it nicely, and it went in,” Schulman said. “With these long throws, you never know what will happen. I’ve seen a couple of those opportunities, so I just wanted to stay calm and ready. It felt great to score.

“I think we learned a lot. It was a high-intensity game. We have to take better angles and mark our guys.”

Ridgewood closed out the game with two shots that just missed the mark.

Deerfield’s Carani suffered a lower leg injury and had to be helped off the field with 37 seconds on the clock.

Numerous Warriors were frustrated with the draw but took solace in getting a late goal to avoid a home defeat.

“Definitely, it didn’t start the way I wanted it to,” Goldsmith said. “Just a lot of mistakes, not connecting the feet and trying to play over the top every time. It was tough with these conditions.”

Ridgewood coach Matt Bishop felt his team let a few opportunities slip away. The Rebels (4-7-3), who just moved to the Update Eight Conference, defeated East Division foe Glenbard South 2-1 on Tuesday.

The manager saw some things he liked in the draw.

“I think overall we’re starting to get into a stride,” Bishop said. “We struggled earlier in the season trying to figure out our identity. We’re starting to move the ball around. We have some young guys on the team that are starting to fill in some big roles.

“Clearly, Jonah put in a great goal with a great shot. It was just unfortunate, because I think we should have had a few more. We had some good chances. We wanted to press high and be aggressive with the ball.

“On the backline, Damian Brzoziewski has been a leader and a captain for our team. We were missing one of our centerbacks today, Adiran Krstic, and he stepped up and filled that role today.”

Deerfield heart in its late comeback. Crane said several players made an impact, especially in the second half.

“Liam is a guy who has really stepped up given the injuries we’ve had,” he said. “Chase Goldsmith is having his best season so far in his third year on the varsity. He’s improved every single game. It was great to get a goal from Ari today.

“We’ve played some of the top teams, especially in the top 10 in the state. It’s great to see the quality of AA soccer, playing Grayslake North. We’ve played some really good AA competition and are always right there with them.”

 

 

Starting lineups

 

Ridgewood
GK: Jimmy DeJulio
D: Gabe Fiedorow
D: Damian Sahaydak
D: Patrick Klopotowski
MF: Amine El Boukhari
MF: Jonah Martinez
MF: Sebastian Pacocha
MF: Emin Covic
MF: Nicola Covelli
F: Alex Witkowski
F: Dawid Brzoziewski

 

Deerfield
GK: Liam Connolly
D: Jake Berger
D: Peter Tye
D: Carter Tremain
D: Chase Goldsmith
MF: Callen Jakymiw
MF: Cristian Carani
MF: Jacob Gassman
F: Raphael Khalife
F: Shai Yeger
F: Jonah Goodman

 

Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ari Schulman, sr., MF, Deerfield

 

 

Scoring summary

 

First half
No scoring

 

Second half
Ridgewood: Martinez (unassisted), 60’
Deerfield: Schulman (Tye), 76’