Deerfield lead evaporates quickly
in 1-1 tie with Highland Park
Goals come in 1-minute span of wide-open 2nd half
By Ken Keenan
DEERFIELD -- A tight-marking, midfield ping-pong match between Central
Suburban League North Divison rivals Highland Park and Deerfield Thursday
night turned into a wide-open track meet in the second half, with the teams
exchanging goals in a one-minute span en route to a 1-1 draw.
The tie left Deerfield, playing in its first conference match of the
season, with a 7-2-2 mark overall. Highland Park left the pitch at
4-2-4 overall, and 1-0-2 in league play, running the Giants' unbeaten
streak to seven (3-0-4).
Relentless Deerfield senior midfielder Nick Klabjan broke the ice,
scoring on a sharp angle from the right side with 21:52 remaining in
the second half. Klabjan, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match,
fired a low shot to the far post past Highland Park senior goalkeeper
Juan Chavez after receiving a pass from senior forward Zach Himel.
"I played (the ball) out wide, and I saw the goalkeeper had the near
post covered, so I put it to the far post," said Klabjan, who later collided
with Chavez during an unsuccessful mad dash to the net with 12 seconds
left in the match, leaving both players momentarily dazed. "That last
ball, I stumbled a little and tripped over the ball into the goalie."
Just over 60 seconds after Klabjan's tally, Giants' senior forward
Cristian Carrasco tied the score with a bending, rising blast from 35
yards out on the right side. Carrasco made a nice move from left to
right, and then unleashed a laser that tipped off the outstretched
hands of Warriors' senior keeper Zach Zusman into the top left corner,
just under the crossbar.
"I'm not usually the type of player to shoot, but I saw the keeper go
off his line, and it went in the top corner," Carrasco said.
Highland Park senior midfielder Eamonn Moore said, "After (Deerfield)
scored, we needed to pick up the intensity and put more pressure on
them -- and we got rewarded for it."
Giants' head coach Blake Novotny quipped, "We've been waiting for
(Moore) to do that all year. It was a great shot. Since (Deerfield)
plays with three tight mids in the middle, we wanted to stretch the
flank. They gave us some long-range shots -- and one went in -- but
you can't be thinking 30-yard bombs. We penetrated a few times, but it
wasn't in the flow of the play."
Deerfield was frustrated that the 1-0 advantage disappeared so quickly
and by the up-tempo nature of the second half which deviated from
their game plan.
"We scored a nice goal, but we didn't hold the lead," said Deerfield
head coach Elliott Hurtig. "You want to take control of the game after
scoring first, and we weren't able to. We were not doing a good job
keeping our shape in the midfield. We were getting stretched out, and
(the Giants) were getting long balls and possession -- and we didn't
have the numbers coming back.
"They were doing a good job finding an outside guy ... putting
pressure on our defenders."
Stellar Deerfield senior defender Will Schmetterer said, "We were
playing too fast, and it turned into a crapshoot. When the speed picks
up, we have to play to the intelligence we have."
Added Warriors' senior midfielder Seth Bornstein: "You've got to be
alert every second of the game."
Zusman certainly was alert in the 28th minute, when he made a diving,
two-handed save on a wide-angle try by Giants' senior midfielder Aidan
Subra. An ensuing corner kick by Subra -- who displayed flashy
dribbling skills throughout the match -- also was stopped by Zusman.
Deerfield's best chance in the early going came when Klabjan headed a
ball wide-right from in tight with 25:20 left before the break.
The Wild West Show in the second half saw Highland Park senior
defender Matt Frisch fire a 40-yard bender on net in the 43rd minute,
and a nice turnaround try by junior forward Ethan Ochoa four minutes
later.
A hustling run by Deerfield senior forward Matt Record resulted in a
corner kick by Klabjan, which Schmetterer headed wide with 29:40 left.
Two minutes passed before Warriors' senior mid Seth Bornstein bolted
down the right side in pursuit of a long ball, leading to a collision
with Chavez, who then was temporarily replaced by senior keeper Cy
Radic.
"It was a stressful game, really stressful in back," Chavez said.
Carrasco said, "Everyone was pumped up, and it was a battle. I guess
we can walk away a little happy with the tie."
Added Moore: "It's always a battle with Deerfield. We really wanted to
show them up."
Klabjan said, "To me, a tie is always frustrating. But not everything
goes in (the net) when you want it to. But it's more important to play
the right way and get better. It's about showing on the field that
you're the better team."
Added Bornstein: "It was a big game, and Highland Park was not going
to come out and just let us take it. You've got to come out to play,
and pick it up as the game goes along.
"There's plenty of conference games left, so we've got to get back out
there and keep working hard."
Hurtig, who was especially pleased with the play of junior Collin
Hinds in a relief role after starting junior defender Evan Gerke left
the game with an injury in the 65th minute, agreed with Bornstein.
"We have to be tough," Hurtig said. "We've got to get at it and
recognize nothing is easy."
Starting lineups
Highland Park
GK: Juan Chavez
D: Ambrosio Toledo
D: Geo Marban
D: Luis Solano
D: Matt Frisch
M: Aidan Subra
M: Gabriel Mundo
M: Eammon Moore
M: Ethan Feinburg
F: Ethan Ochoa
F: Caleb Cunningham
Deerfield
GK: Zach Zusman
D: Evan Gerke
D: Will Schmetterer
D: Michael Such
D: Levi Goldstein
M: Ari Patterson
M: Nick Klabjan
M: Matt Grady
F: Steven Shore
F: Eli Perez
F: Matt Record
Man of the Match: Nick Klabjan, F, Deerfield
Officials: Lou DeFelice, Nahum Escobar, Cesar Alfaro
in 1-1 tie with Highland Park
Goals come in 1-minute span of wide-open 2nd half
By Ken Keenan
DEERFIELD -- A tight-marking, midfield ping-pong match between Central
Suburban League North Divison rivals Highland Park and Deerfield Thursday
night turned into a wide-open track meet in the second half, with the teams
exchanging goals in a one-minute span en route to a 1-1 draw.
The tie left Deerfield, playing in its first conference match of the
season, with a 7-2-2 mark overall. Highland Park left the pitch at
4-2-4 overall, and 1-0-2 in league play, running the Giants' unbeaten
streak to seven (3-0-4).
Relentless Deerfield senior midfielder Nick Klabjan broke the ice,
scoring on a sharp angle from the right side with 21:52 remaining in
the second half. Klabjan, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match,
fired a low shot to the far post past Highland Park senior goalkeeper
Juan Chavez after receiving a pass from senior forward Zach Himel.
"I played (the ball) out wide, and I saw the goalkeeper had the near
post covered, so I put it to the far post," said Klabjan, who later collided
with Chavez during an unsuccessful mad dash to the net with 12 seconds
left in the match, leaving both players momentarily dazed. "That last
ball, I stumbled a little and tripped over the ball into the goalie."
Just over 60 seconds after Klabjan's tally, Giants' senior forward
Cristian Carrasco tied the score with a bending, rising blast from 35
yards out on the right side. Carrasco made a nice move from left to
right, and then unleashed a laser that tipped off the outstretched
hands of Warriors' senior keeper Zach Zusman into the top left corner,
just under the crossbar.
"I'm not usually the type of player to shoot, but I saw the keeper go
off his line, and it went in the top corner," Carrasco said.
Highland Park senior midfielder Eamonn Moore said, "After (Deerfield)
scored, we needed to pick up the intensity and put more pressure on
them -- and we got rewarded for it."
Giants' head coach Blake Novotny quipped, "We've been waiting for
(Moore) to do that all year. It was a great shot. Since (Deerfield)
plays with three tight mids in the middle, we wanted to stretch the
flank. They gave us some long-range shots -- and one went in -- but
you can't be thinking 30-yard bombs. We penetrated a few times, but it
wasn't in the flow of the play."
Deerfield was frustrated that the 1-0 advantage disappeared so quickly
and by the up-tempo nature of the second half which deviated from
their game plan.
"We scored a nice goal, but we didn't hold the lead," said Deerfield
head coach Elliott Hurtig. "You want to take control of the game after
scoring first, and we weren't able to. We were not doing a good job
keeping our shape in the midfield. We were getting stretched out, and
(the Giants) were getting long balls and possession -- and we didn't
have the numbers coming back.
"They were doing a good job finding an outside guy ... putting
pressure on our defenders."
Stellar Deerfield senior defender Will Schmetterer said, "We were
playing too fast, and it turned into a crapshoot. When the speed picks
up, we have to play to the intelligence we have."
Added Warriors' senior midfielder Seth Bornstein: "You've got to be
alert every second of the game."
Zusman certainly was alert in the 28th minute, when he made a diving,
two-handed save on a wide-angle try by Giants' senior midfielder Aidan
Subra. An ensuing corner kick by Subra -- who displayed flashy
dribbling skills throughout the match -- also was stopped by Zusman.
Deerfield's best chance in the early going came when Klabjan headed a
ball wide-right from in tight with 25:20 left before the break.
The Wild West Show in the second half saw Highland Park senior
defender Matt Frisch fire a 40-yard bender on net in the 43rd minute,
and a nice turnaround try by junior forward Ethan Ochoa four minutes
later.
A hustling run by Deerfield senior forward Matt Record resulted in a
corner kick by Klabjan, which Schmetterer headed wide with 29:40 left.
Two minutes passed before Warriors' senior mid Seth Bornstein bolted
down the right side in pursuit of a long ball, leading to a collision
with Chavez, who then was temporarily replaced by senior keeper Cy
Radic.
"It was a stressful game, really stressful in back," Chavez said.
Carrasco said, "Everyone was pumped up, and it was a battle. I guess
we can walk away a little happy with the tie."
Added Moore: "It's always a battle with Deerfield. We really wanted to
show them up."
Klabjan said, "To me, a tie is always frustrating. But not everything
goes in (the net) when you want it to. But it's more important to play
the right way and get better. It's about showing on the field that
you're the better team."
Added Bornstein: "It was a big game, and Highland Park was not going
to come out and just let us take it. You've got to come out to play,
and pick it up as the game goes along.
"There's plenty of conference games left, so we've got to get back out
there and keep working hard."
Hurtig, who was especially pleased with the play of junior Collin
Hinds in a relief role after starting junior defender Evan Gerke left
the game with an injury in the 65th minute, agreed with Bornstein.
"We have to be tough," Hurtig said. "We've got to get at it and
recognize nothing is easy."
Starting lineups
Highland Park
GK: Juan Chavez
D: Ambrosio Toledo
D: Geo Marban
D: Luis Solano
D: Matt Frisch
M: Aidan Subra
M: Gabriel Mundo
M: Eammon Moore
M: Ethan Feinburg
F: Ethan Ochoa
F: Caleb Cunningham
Deerfield
GK: Zach Zusman
D: Evan Gerke
D: Will Schmetterer
D: Michael Such
D: Levi Goldstein
M: Ari Patterson
M: Nick Klabjan
M: Matt Grady
F: Steven Shore
F: Eli Perez
F: Matt Record
Man of the Match: Nick Klabjan, F, Deerfield
Officials: Lou DeFelice, Nahum Escobar, Cesar Alfaro