Celtic Select U-17 girls awaken in a big way
Erupt for 4 2nd half goals in state cup win over Ela
By Patrick Z. McGavin
PALATINE — Soccer is the most volatile and unpredictable of sports given nothing ever quite stays the same.
Ela dominated possession and dictated play. But its inability to make anything concrete out of the first half resulted in a stalemate that allowed Palatine Celtic Select to regroup at the break and come out with greater energy and concentration at the start of the second half.
For the first half of its U-17 bracket play of the Illinois State Cup, the Celtic Select side played lethargically and without a great deal of emotion or sense of purpose.
Miraculously they survived the downturn. Suddenly after burst of activity and a positive play, everything changed.
"Our momentum went from almost zero to a 100," forward Missy Adrian said. She was the catalyst.
Just seconds into the second half, the Fremd junior forced an errant touch, stole the ball and drove the left flank and drilled a ball from about 12 yards out for a game-altering score as Celtic went on to an impressive 4-0 victory over Ela Elite at home Saturday night.
"The other girl made a bad touch, and I took it," Adrian said. "There were three defenders in front of me, and I took one of them on and beat her. I was able to take on the next girl, and I beat her. The last girl stepped in, but I shot with my left before she could get to me."
Lauren Ellis punctuated the dominant second half performance by scoring three goals on set pieces as Celtic dominated play with a trio of goals in a 16-minute stretch of the second half. This came after generating virtually no creative attack or extended possession time in the first 45 minutes.
Ellis' work earned her Chicagoland Soccer's most valuable player of the match individual distinction.
Soccer is also the most visual of games. Part of understanding the game is being able to visualize where you are on the field in advance and have the foresight to seize the moment. Adrian made palpable what she theorized about before the game started.
"I was talking with my goalkeeper Kelsie [Stone], and Lauren [Ellis] and I were going over angles and where to place them," she said. "That was one of the angles that we talked about. Kelsie said you have to hit it low and far post and that's what I did."
The bang-bang sequence energized Celtic and threw Ela completely off its game. In the first half, the Lake Zurich-based Elite dictated play as superb midfielder Makenzie Bridges worked excellent combinations with forward Heather Bradshaw. Ela played the ball wide and often dissected its opponent's back third.
Celtic Select tightened its defense as Ela struggled to get on the end of several promising crosses or balls slotted up top. Ela also had the unenviable task of solving Stone, one of the state's top keepers. She registered four saves for Celtic.
By contrast, Ela could only lament the missed chances and the squandered opportunities to maintain its dominant first half play.
"The whole game changed in those first 40 seconds of the second half," Ela coach Gin Sharma said. "We didn't finish, and they did a great job of capitalizing on our mistakes."
If Adrian is the team's emotional leader with her emphatic style and heady play, Ellis is her ideal counterpart of the cool, skilled and highly composed free kick specialist. The Palatine junior has a preternatural touch and ability to create scoring chances, either off of corner kicks or on set pieces. All three of her goals developed out of restarts and set pieces.
"Missy set us up for the whole game," Ellis said. "She got our momentum up, and that helped all of us realize we could win the game. The goals I scored, they completely set me up for that. Missy and the others, they did all the work to get fouled.
"I just put it in there."
Ellis scored her first goal in the 50th minute from about 25 yards out from the left edge. She finessed the ball with terrific arc and applied just enough English for the ball to bounce before the Ela keeper and slide past her. Her second goal followed in the 62nd minute, a more traditional free kick from about 28 yards out that she again gave perfect placement in the upper left corner.
"Everybody on the team mixes really well and we know our roles," Ellis said. "I mostly work on free kicks and corners. The goals, especially the second and third we got, changed the way we played because now we were more settled, and we knew that we could just move the ball around instead of just pushing ahead for more."
Having a defensive anchor like Stone pushes the Celtic Select side over the top. Two weeks after her dramatic save of a penalty kick against FC United helped her team reach and win the championship of the Celtic Cup, Stone again showed her ability to impact a game.
After Celtic went up 3-0, Ela caught a break when it was awarded a penalty kick. Stone's very presence seemed to unnerve Bridges, whose shot was off the mark. It was a telling example of an elite player whose reputation precedes her. Bridges appeared to try to put extra velocity on the ball but it negatively affected the direction and accuracy.
"Every time I take a penalty kick, I just try to be overly confident," Stone said. "I make sure the other team knows I'm super confident and that they know I'm going to make the save. I try to psych them out and when the shot comes, I just make my read."
As the final defensive piece, Stone had a superb view of her team's second half performance. From her vantagepoint she saw the greater cohesion on offense and a more varied line of attack take shape.
"The first half was really tough for us," she said. "We were very sloppy in the first half, and we realized what we needed to fix.
"It was more of a mental fix to focus and clean up our play."
Starting lineups
Ela Elite
GK: Abigayle Smith
D: Tara Frank
D: Kaitlyn Horndasch
D: Erin Nelson
D: Emma Wenkowski
M: Madison Bridges
M: Makenzie Bridges
M: Emily Fabbrini
M: Chloe Holm
F: Heather Bradshaw
F: Adriana Gawronski
Celtic Select
GK: Kelsie Stone
D: Kaitlyn Strauss
D: Jennifer Josten
D: Jane Kapinos
M: Missy Adrian
M: Lauren Ellis
M: Katherine Gillette
M: Kendall Kane
M: McKenna Miller
F: Tara Bergles
F: Marissa Glaviano
MVP of the match: Lauren Ellis, MF, Celtic Select
Erupt for 4 2nd half goals in state cup win over Ela
By Patrick Z. McGavin
PALATINE — Soccer is the most volatile and unpredictable of sports given nothing ever quite stays the same.
Ela dominated possession and dictated play. But its inability to make anything concrete out of the first half resulted in a stalemate that allowed Palatine Celtic Select to regroup at the break and come out with greater energy and concentration at the start of the second half.
For the first half of its U-17 bracket play of the Illinois State Cup, the Celtic Select side played lethargically and without a great deal of emotion or sense of purpose.
Miraculously they survived the downturn. Suddenly after burst of activity and a positive play, everything changed.
"Our momentum went from almost zero to a 100," forward Missy Adrian said. She was the catalyst.
Just seconds into the second half, the Fremd junior forced an errant touch, stole the ball and drove the left flank and drilled a ball from about 12 yards out for a game-altering score as Celtic went on to an impressive 4-0 victory over Ela Elite at home Saturday night.
"The other girl made a bad touch, and I took it," Adrian said. "There were three defenders in front of me, and I took one of them on and beat her. I was able to take on the next girl, and I beat her. The last girl stepped in, but I shot with my left before she could get to me."
Lauren Ellis punctuated the dominant second half performance by scoring three goals on set pieces as Celtic dominated play with a trio of goals in a 16-minute stretch of the second half. This came after generating virtually no creative attack or extended possession time in the first 45 minutes.
Ellis' work earned her Chicagoland Soccer's most valuable player of the match individual distinction.
Soccer is also the most visual of games. Part of understanding the game is being able to visualize where you are on the field in advance and have the foresight to seize the moment. Adrian made palpable what she theorized about before the game started.
"I was talking with my goalkeeper Kelsie [Stone], and Lauren [Ellis] and I were going over angles and where to place them," she said. "That was one of the angles that we talked about. Kelsie said you have to hit it low and far post and that's what I did."
The bang-bang sequence energized Celtic and threw Ela completely off its game. In the first half, the Lake Zurich-based Elite dictated play as superb midfielder Makenzie Bridges worked excellent combinations with forward Heather Bradshaw. Ela played the ball wide and often dissected its opponent's back third.
Celtic Select tightened its defense as Ela struggled to get on the end of several promising crosses or balls slotted up top. Ela also had the unenviable task of solving Stone, one of the state's top keepers. She registered four saves for Celtic.
By contrast, Ela could only lament the missed chances and the squandered opportunities to maintain its dominant first half play.
"The whole game changed in those first 40 seconds of the second half," Ela coach Gin Sharma said. "We didn't finish, and they did a great job of capitalizing on our mistakes."
If Adrian is the team's emotional leader with her emphatic style and heady play, Ellis is her ideal counterpart of the cool, skilled and highly composed free kick specialist. The Palatine junior has a preternatural touch and ability to create scoring chances, either off of corner kicks or on set pieces. All three of her goals developed out of restarts and set pieces.
"Missy set us up for the whole game," Ellis said. "She got our momentum up, and that helped all of us realize we could win the game. The goals I scored, they completely set me up for that. Missy and the others, they did all the work to get fouled.
"I just put it in there."
Ellis scored her first goal in the 50th minute from about 25 yards out from the left edge. She finessed the ball with terrific arc and applied just enough English for the ball to bounce before the Ela keeper and slide past her. Her second goal followed in the 62nd minute, a more traditional free kick from about 28 yards out that she again gave perfect placement in the upper left corner.
"Everybody on the team mixes really well and we know our roles," Ellis said. "I mostly work on free kicks and corners. The goals, especially the second and third we got, changed the way we played because now we were more settled, and we knew that we could just move the ball around instead of just pushing ahead for more."
Having a defensive anchor like Stone pushes the Celtic Select side over the top. Two weeks after her dramatic save of a penalty kick against FC United helped her team reach and win the championship of the Celtic Cup, Stone again showed her ability to impact a game.
After Celtic went up 3-0, Ela caught a break when it was awarded a penalty kick. Stone's very presence seemed to unnerve Bridges, whose shot was off the mark. It was a telling example of an elite player whose reputation precedes her. Bridges appeared to try to put extra velocity on the ball but it negatively affected the direction and accuracy.
"Every time I take a penalty kick, I just try to be overly confident," Stone said. "I make sure the other team knows I'm super confident and that they know I'm going to make the save. I try to psych them out and when the shot comes, I just make my read."
As the final defensive piece, Stone had a superb view of her team's second half performance. From her vantagepoint she saw the greater cohesion on offense and a more varied line of attack take shape.
"The first half was really tough for us," she said. "We were very sloppy in the first half, and we realized what we needed to fix.
"It was more of a mental fix to focus and clean up our play."
Starting lineups
Ela Elite
GK: Abigayle Smith
D: Tara Frank
D: Kaitlyn Horndasch
D: Erin Nelson
D: Emma Wenkowski
M: Madison Bridges
M: Makenzie Bridges
M: Emily Fabbrini
M: Chloe Holm
F: Heather Bradshaw
F: Adriana Gawronski
Celtic Select
GK: Kelsie Stone
D: Kaitlyn Strauss
D: Jennifer Josten
D: Jane Kapinos
M: Missy Adrian
M: Lauren Ellis
M: Katherine Gillette
M: Kendall Kane
M: McKenna Miller
F: Tara Bergles
F: Marissa Glaviano
MVP of the match: Lauren Ellis, MF, Celtic Select