Chicagoland Soccer
IHSSCA Soccer Person of the Year award winner: 2009; 2010
  • Schedule
  • Results
  • SoccerCenter
  • Teams
  • Player of the match
  • Testimonials
  • Standings
  • Archives
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Contact us
  • Links
  • Pros
    • Chicago Fire 2016
    • Chicago Fire 2015
    • Chicago Red Stars 2015
  • G
  • SCE
  • GS: Loyola at
  • Roundup
  • Roundup 3-24-22
  • GS: Lane at Jones 4-4-22
  • GS: Deerfield vs. SV 4-10-22
  • New Page
  • New Page
  • GS: Evanston at Deerfield 5-10-22
Vernon Hills prepares for hot night
vs. Deerfield’s sizzling Schimanski




By Bill McLean

The life of Riley Schimanski on soccer pitches this spring has been of the five-alarm variety.

The Deerfield junior forward and captain has scored 14 goals — 11 in the last seven games.

“She’s been on fire,” Warriors Chief of Soccer Rich Grady said.

Visiting Vernon Hills (7-5-0 overall, 3-2-0 in the Central Suburban League North Division) hopes to douse, or at least contain, Schimanski in the schools’ second meeting of the season. It starts at 7 p.m. Friday. 

Schimanski netted a pair of goals in their first clash, a 3-2 Deerfield road victory May 7.

Grady’s bunch (10-6-1, 5-2-0) features additional threats: junior forward Holly Deutsch (11 goals, 14 assists); and freshman midfielder Emily Fox (10, 7). 

“Deerfield is well-coached and organized,” said Vernon Hills coach Mike McCaulou, who guided his 2019 Cougars to a Class AA sectional final, where they lost 2-0 to eventual state runnerup Wauconda. “They play a physical style year after year, which makes it challenging for us. They have a never-die attitude and make us bring our level of play up each time we play them.

“It’s been a great rivalry over the last four years or so,” he added. “It’s always a competitive game. It makes each program better, for sure.”

Four of the Cougars’ five losses were one-goal setbacks.

Nobody would be surprised if one goal decides Vernon Hills-Deerfield II.

“Both teams,” Grady said, “like to get the ball wide and make use of weak-side runners at the back post. Both teams like to keep the ball on the ground and play. 

“Vernon Hills is always a challenge to play because they are committed to a philosophy of play that involves possessing the ball and building out of the back. Mike does a great job of teaching that to his players.”

Deerfield, an Honorable Mention team in the latest Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 rankings, received a no. 3 seed in the Class AA Wauconda Sectional on Thursday. Vernon Hills got the no. 7 seed in the same sectional.

“Every game against Vernon Hills is special because they are both a conference rival and a team in our sectional,” Grady said. “We always expect to run into them at some point in the playoffs.

“So there is a sense of never getting too high after a win or too low after a loss, because we know we will see them again soon.”


Footnotes

Vernon Hills defeated Deerfield 2-1 in a Class AA regional final in 2017. … Deerfield’s other three captains, in addition to Schimanski, are senior forward Noa Friedland, senior midfielder Anna Fang and junior back Katie Morgan. … Ten of Schimanski’s 20 career goals through May 19 were game-winners. … Three of Deerfield’s varsity players have a collegiate surname — junior midfielder Erin Emory, sophomore back Katie Denison and senior forward Leah Hamilton. … McCaulou, on the Cougars’ primary strengths: “We seem to possess the ball very well against most teams, and we are always looking for the special moment of brilliance in the final third.”
Proudly powered by Weebly