Freshman leads Deerfield past Lakes
Killoren brace powers Warriors to 2-0 win
By Rusty Silber
LAKE VILLA -- Then you saw her, but recently you hadn't.
Deerfield freshman Malori Killoren hadn't made an appearance on the Warriors' scoring sheet since her first varsity goal in the 6-0 win over Northside that opened the season March 18.
Then came Friday afternoon.
Killoren scored a brace to make up for lost time and led Deerfield past host Lakes 2-0 in a nonconference match that was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed because of unplayable field conditions after the heavy rains this week.
The precocious freshman showed her abilities by going through defenders for her first goal and personally switching fields on a long carry before scoring on a breakaway for her second to earn Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match honor.
The Class of 2020 member has been involved in a learning process with her teammates, a good number of whom were part of the Warriors Class 2A state runner-up team from last year.
"It's very enjoyable playing with these girls that are so good," Killoren said. "It's really good soccer with all the older girls, welcoming and inviting. They help me a lot. Mirelle (Hass), Melanie (Imyak) and I normally play in the middle, and we communicate on give-and-goes. Erin (Rosenzweig) also helps tell me where to go on the field."
Deerfield (2-1-3) played Lakes (1-3-1) to a scoreless first half on a wet grass field.
The Warriors were looking for a spark and found it when a Rosenzweig pass found Killoren. She converted in the 48th minute for a 1-0 lead.
Lakes pushed forward and tried to get the tying goal in the final 10 minutes. The Eagles had a prime opportunity for the equalizer with a corner kick in the 76th minute. After the ball was sent to the top of the penalty area, it was deflected just outside the box. Killoren got control of it and decided to take it forward. She had a couple of options to pass it off but kept control of the ball. She carried it for 70 yards before depositing the breakaway insurance goal into the Lakes net.
"I knew I was running fast, but I wasn't paying attention," Killoren said. "I was trying to get past all of the (Eagles). I've been in positions like that before.
"So I just take it, dribble it around, be aggressive, hold my stance. Then when I got to the box. I looked for the position of the goalie, either coming out or staying in. I saw her coming out on an angle, so I took an extra touch to get it around her."
It was an enjoyable result for the Warriors, who really didn't compete in the first half with the level of play they wanted. Lakes had solid chances at times, and Deerfield had to play more on the defensive side of the ball at times. But with a second half adjustment, the Warriors came out with the intensity they wanted.
"The second half was much better then the first," Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. "We were nervous. We were hesitant and everybody was trying to do everybody else's job. We just told them at halftime, not to worry, be positive and do what we can do in the second half.
"We did switch things up tactically a little bit, that gave us some more space. I thought everybody did a nice job in the second half, and we had two great finishes."
The Warriors may have put together their best half of the season so far. One of the senior midfielders felt that way.
"The second half, we definitely had a lot more movement," Haas said. "Everyone was moving off the ball, which made it a lot easier to make the passes and runs down the field to see the open players. I definitely thought those passes were better with switching the field. It definitely made it more calm in the second half and more relaxed."
Lakes played the game a lot closer then the final score indicated. But the Eagles have to work on playing a complete 80 minutes.
"Any coach at this stage of the season would say the same thing," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "We're not playing to our best; we're just playing to survive.
"We want to play good quality soccer then the byproduct of it can turn into wins. We had moments in the first half that we attacked very well. I thought our touch was a bit off, and when we had moments where we could've done some damage to them, we lost those opportunities
"We did defend beautifully in the first half and for the better part of the game. I really thought we did good things defensively, and at times we did play well offensively."
Both teams will be take part in the opening round of the PepsiCo Showdown, which starts Saturday morning at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.
Thirteenth-seeded Deerfield, which finished second in the tournament's Gatorade bracket in 2015, takes on Nazareth at 11:30 a.m.
Lakes, seeded second in the LJ's Healing Hearts bracket, played Shepard in an exhibition game at 8:30 a.m.
Deerfield coach Grady has an interesting side job outside of his responsibilities at the school. He is a referee with the Major Arena Soccer League and will be one of the officials taking part in the championship series between the Baltimore Blast and Soles de Sonora (Mexico).
The Soles won the opening game of the series 4-2 in Baltimore on Friday night. Game 2, and the possibility of a tiebreaking mini-game if Baltimore evens the series, will take place Sunday evening in Mexico. Grady will fly to Mexico to take on the assignment Sunday morning.
Grady has a long history of being a ref in previous indoor leagues including the Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. Sunday's assignment is his 11th championship contest.
"This will be the first time to go to Mexico," Grady said. "I'm excited about it and ready to go to do the game."
The MASL action can be seen on YouTube at 7:05 p.m. Sunday evening.
Starting Lineups
Deerfield
GK-Karly Morris
D-Molli Goodman
D-Devin Compisi
D-Julia Harlan
D-Ashley Morgan
MF-Mirelle Haas
MF-Rachel Levin
MF-Melanie Imyak
MF-Malori Killoren
F-Erin Rosenzweig
F-Chloe Kappas
F-Samantha Linn
Lakes
GK-Molly Bakrins
D-Hannah Morway
D-Hannah Dexheimer
D-Izzy Quaranta
D-Jacque Pettigrew
MF-Lindsay Smith
MF-Bella Pighini
MF-Alyssa Bombicino
MF-Faith Conway
MF-Riley Matchett
F-Kaitlyn Baertsch
Killoren brace powers Warriors to 2-0 win
By Rusty Silber
LAKE VILLA -- Then you saw her, but recently you hadn't.
Deerfield freshman Malori Killoren hadn't made an appearance on the Warriors' scoring sheet since her first varsity goal in the 6-0 win over Northside that opened the season March 18.
Then came Friday afternoon.
Killoren scored a brace to make up for lost time and led Deerfield past host Lakes 2-0 in a nonconference match that was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed because of unplayable field conditions after the heavy rains this week.
The precocious freshman showed her abilities by going through defenders for her first goal and personally switching fields on a long carry before scoring on a breakaway for her second to earn Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match honor.
The Class of 2020 member has been involved in a learning process with her teammates, a good number of whom were part of the Warriors Class 2A state runner-up team from last year.
"It's very enjoyable playing with these girls that are so good," Killoren said. "It's really good soccer with all the older girls, welcoming and inviting. They help me a lot. Mirelle (Hass), Melanie (Imyak) and I normally play in the middle, and we communicate on give-and-goes. Erin (Rosenzweig) also helps tell me where to go on the field."
Deerfield (2-1-3) played Lakes (1-3-1) to a scoreless first half on a wet grass field.
The Warriors were looking for a spark and found it when a Rosenzweig pass found Killoren. She converted in the 48th minute for a 1-0 lead.
Lakes pushed forward and tried to get the tying goal in the final 10 minutes. The Eagles had a prime opportunity for the equalizer with a corner kick in the 76th minute. After the ball was sent to the top of the penalty area, it was deflected just outside the box. Killoren got control of it and decided to take it forward. She had a couple of options to pass it off but kept control of the ball. She carried it for 70 yards before depositing the breakaway insurance goal into the Lakes net.
"I knew I was running fast, but I wasn't paying attention," Killoren said. "I was trying to get past all of the (Eagles). I've been in positions like that before.
"So I just take it, dribble it around, be aggressive, hold my stance. Then when I got to the box. I looked for the position of the goalie, either coming out or staying in. I saw her coming out on an angle, so I took an extra touch to get it around her."
It was an enjoyable result for the Warriors, who really didn't compete in the first half with the level of play they wanted. Lakes had solid chances at times, and Deerfield had to play more on the defensive side of the ball at times. But with a second half adjustment, the Warriors came out with the intensity they wanted.
"The second half was much better then the first," Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. "We were nervous. We were hesitant and everybody was trying to do everybody else's job. We just told them at halftime, not to worry, be positive and do what we can do in the second half.
"We did switch things up tactically a little bit, that gave us some more space. I thought everybody did a nice job in the second half, and we had two great finishes."
The Warriors may have put together their best half of the season so far. One of the senior midfielders felt that way.
"The second half, we definitely had a lot more movement," Haas said. "Everyone was moving off the ball, which made it a lot easier to make the passes and runs down the field to see the open players. I definitely thought those passes were better with switching the field. It definitely made it more calm in the second half and more relaxed."
Lakes played the game a lot closer then the final score indicated. But the Eagles have to work on playing a complete 80 minutes.
"Any coach at this stage of the season would say the same thing," Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said. "We're not playing to our best; we're just playing to survive.
"We want to play good quality soccer then the byproduct of it can turn into wins. We had moments in the first half that we attacked very well. I thought our touch was a bit off, and when we had moments where we could've done some damage to them, we lost those opportunities
"We did defend beautifully in the first half and for the better part of the game. I really thought we did good things defensively, and at times we did play well offensively."
Both teams will be take part in the opening round of the PepsiCo Showdown, which starts Saturday morning at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.
Thirteenth-seeded Deerfield, which finished second in the tournament's Gatorade bracket in 2015, takes on Nazareth at 11:30 a.m.
Lakes, seeded second in the LJ's Healing Hearts bracket, played Shepard in an exhibition game at 8:30 a.m.
Deerfield coach Grady has an interesting side job outside of his responsibilities at the school. He is a referee with the Major Arena Soccer League and will be one of the officials taking part in the championship series between the Baltimore Blast and Soles de Sonora (Mexico).
The Soles won the opening game of the series 4-2 in Baltimore on Friday night. Game 2, and the possibility of a tiebreaking mini-game if Baltimore evens the series, will take place Sunday evening in Mexico. Grady will fly to Mexico to take on the assignment Sunday morning.
Grady has a long history of being a ref in previous indoor leagues including the Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. Sunday's assignment is his 11th championship contest.
"This will be the first time to go to Mexico," Grady said. "I'm excited about it and ready to go to do the game."
The MASL action can be seen on YouTube at 7:05 p.m. Sunday evening.
Starting Lineups
Deerfield
GK-Karly Morris
D-Molli Goodman
D-Devin Compisi
D-Julia Harlan
D-Ashley Morgan
MF-Mirelle Haas
MF-Rachel Levin
MF-Melanie Imyak
MF-Malori Killoren
F-Erin Rosenzweig
F-Chloe Kappas
F-Samantha Linn
Lakes
GK-Molly Bakrins
D-Hannah Morway
D-Hannah Dexheimer
D-Izzy Quaranta
D-Jacque Pettigrew
MF-Lindsay Smith
MF-Bella Pighini
MF-Alyssa Bombicino
MF-Faith Conway
MF-Riley Matchett
F-Kaitlyn Baertsch