Lane passes stingy Von Steuben
Indians gain semifinals with 4-0 victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Not one Lane team member said it directly, but the manner, focus and direction of the team is unquestionable. Except for basketball, every Chicago Public League team plays their sport as if connected to an asterisk.
The Indians’ soccer team wants to move beyond the perimeter of the city and announce itself as an elite program, capable of playing with any comparable school. Yet when the seedings for the state tournament were issued last week, the Indians could only manage a no. 7 seed.
Every time the Indians play a team outside the Public League, it becomes a referendum on their legitimacy. The Lane players are driven to prove their value and worth.
“I think we are just getting that momentum,” sophomore Lane midfielder Caryle Makuch said. “At the beginning of the season we were just getting to know one another. Now we are just focused on going further in the state playoffs than what we did last year. We have that on our minds, and we have that to keep going.”
Makuch had a crucial play to set up the Indians’ second goal and solidified the Indians’ attack with her combination of pressure, speed and creativity with the ball. She earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction for her play.
Lane’s dual quest for success moved on with impressive speed and precision as the no. 14 Indians recorded goals at the start of each half to knock out a spirited and previously unbeaten Von Steuben team 4-0 in a city tournament quarterfinal Saturday at Back of the Yards on the Southwest Side.
The top four seeds from the Premier Division powered their way to the semifinals.
The Indians (14-2-3) advance to the 5 p.m. match against Young, a 5-0 winner over Curie, Tuesday at home. Jones and Payton play in the second semifinal at 7 p.m. Lane registered its 10th-consecutive shutout since being edged 2-1 by no. 13 Nazareth on April 13. The Indians have outscored the opposition by a combined 58-0 during the run.
Lane has defeated Young in the city final the last two years. Now the Indians move forward in pursuit of three-consecutive city tournament championships.
“I think we need to keep up what we are doing,” star senior forward Lena Price-Williams said. “We are moving as a unit, and we are making the fast passes. We also need to keep up our mental toughness and understand that nobody is going to give us this win. We have to go hard 100 percent of the time.”
The early morning game was played against the blustery and emphatic winds that gashed up to 20-miles per hour toward the south goal that Lane played at in the first half. The field, designed for football, was tight on the sides and shallow at the ends.
“We are used to playing on a much bigger field,” Price-Johnson said. “We had to adjust our style, make shorter passes and be more direct. It was harder to run our normal offense, the one-two touch, give-and-go.”
Price-Johnson played through the conditions, using her speed at the start to get to the edge and drill a ball that hit off the post. Her momentum carried her into the rebound, and she finished for the early Indians’ advantage.
Von Steuben (13-1-3) held its own through the balance of the half. Sophomore keeper Samantha Washington recorded six saves in the first half.
The Panthers were in the Premier last year. Coach Greg Domanico had a very young team, and they failed to win a division game, which brought relegation to the First Division North. Last year’s team won just won three games during the season but flashed its promise by also reaching the city quarterfinals, where they lost to Lane.
“Our goal every year is to reach the quarterfinals of the city,” Domanico said. “This was a tough draw, to get Lane, but I think our girls were excited. And they were not intimidated about playing them, the way we have in past years.”
The Panthers came of age, and the younger players developed experience and confidence. Washington did not concede a goal in conference play. “She made the leap from being a freshman last year to really coming into her own,” Domanico said.
“She is still very raw, but she has great instincts and athleticism and is learning how to play the position.”
Danielle Ito-Labelle, the team captain and veteran player, witnessed the team’s growth and development. Their quest echoed Lane’s, only at a different level.
“Most of the first half we played right with them, and we even got a shot on goal, which is something I am not sure we have ever been able to do before,” Ito-Labelle said of a sharp ball played by forward Avrey Walter that required Lane keeper Maggie Grossman to make a diving stop.
Von Steuben assistant coach, Jeff Lucco, is the Taft boys coach who directed the Eagles to a memorable city tournament run that ended in an iconic final against Lane.
“I told Jeff there is no such thing as a moral victory,” Domanico said. “But when you look at Lane’s results against the other city schools -- they tied Jones but beat every other team by at least five goals -- I think we competed really well.”
Interestingly, playing into the wind settled Lane down and the Indians showed greater precision, movement and spacing in the second half.
“The first half was hard because the field was so narrow,” Makuch said. “A lot of times we were trying to get it through, but it was not going because there were a lot of defenders in the box. The wind in the first half was blowing toward the goal so whoever we tried to slide it through, the ball went too far.
“Trying to play around that and trying to find the balance of holding the ball and getting it away was difficult.”
In the 45th minute, Makuch drove the right wing and unleashed a ball from about 22 yards that held up in the wind and smashed off the near post. Grace Dunaway, a normal starter who was playing spot minutes because of an injury, put the second shot away.
“I definitely think going into the wind helped us because a lot of our passes went much shorter,” Makuch said. “They were not going away, and we were able to make the pass toward the box, what we call the dollar pass. We were able to get those and score.”
Save for a Ito-Labelle free kick from about 35 yards that pushed wide left, the Panthers never generated any other significant scoring opportunities.
Lane put the game away in the final minutes. Midfielder Izzy Oganovich drove the right side and served a cross into the box that junior midfielder Ayla Guvenver directed into the near post in the 76th minute.
Lane sophomore forward Kayla Dutton, the team’s powerful kicking specialist from deep, finished the scoring in the 78th minute by perfectly curving a ball from the top of the box.
Lane moved on. Von Steuben gained its own measure of satisfaction.
“Lane is a great team, and we played terrific soccer for 75 minutes until we just got tired there at the end,” Domanico said.
Starting lineups
Von Steuben
GK: Sammy Washington
D: Zoely Rodriguez
D: Danielle Ito-Labelle
D: Jazmine Juarez
D: Lupe Badillo
MF: Quinatzi Gonzalez
MF: Mayeri Diaz
MF: Alexa Cervantes
F: Yaya Jimenez
F: Ryley Walter
F: Avrey Walter
Lane
GK: Maggie Grossman
D: Leah Finkielsztein
D: Izzy Oganovich
D: Sam Sorich
D: Kinuko Mrozik
MF: Johanna Bozic
MF: Sydney Varga
MF: Alana Coffman
MF: Carlye Makuch
F: Lena Price-Williams
F: Ayser Guvener
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Caryle Makuch, so., MF, Lane
Indians gain semifinals with 4-0 victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Not one Lane team member said it directly, but the manner, focus and direction of the team is unquestionable. Except for basketball, every Chicago Public League team plays their sport as if connected to an asterisk.
The Indians’ soccer team wants to move beyond the perimeter of the city and announce itself as an elite program, capable of playing with any comparable school. Yet when the seedings for the state tournament were issued last week, the Indians could only manage a no. 7 seed.
Every time the Indians play a team outside the Public League, it becomes a referendum on their legitimacy. The Lane players are driven to prove their value and worth.
“I think we are just getting that momentum,” sophomore Lane midfielder Caryle Makuch said. “At the beginning of the season we were just getting to know one another. Now we are just focused on going further in the state playoffs than what we did last year. We have that on our minds, and we have that to keep going.”
Makuch had a crucial play to set up the Indians’ second goal and solidified the Indians’ attack with her combination of pressure, speed and creativity with the ball. She earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction for her play.
Lane’s dual quest for success moved on with impressive speed and precision as the no. 14 Indians recorded goals at the start of each half to knock out a spirited and previously unbeaten Von Steuben team 4-0 in a city tournament quarterfinal Saturday at Back of the Yards on the Southwest Side.
The top four seeds from the Premier Division powered their way to the semifinals.
The Indians (14-2-3) advance to the 5 p.m. match against Young, a 5-0 winner over Curie, Tuesday at home. Jones and Payton play in the second semifinal at 7 p.m. Lane registered its 10th-consecutive shutout since being edged 2-1 by no. 13 Nazareth on April 13. The Indians have outscored the opposition by a combined 58-0 during the run.
Lane has defeated Young in the city final the last two years. Now the Indians move forward in pursuit of three-consecutive city tournament championships.
“I think we need to keep up what we are doing,” star senior forward Lena Price-Williams said. “We are moving as a unit, and we are making the fast passes. We also need to keep up our mental toughness and understand that nobody is going to give us this win. We have to go hard 100 percent of the time.”
The early morning game was played against the blustery and emphatic winds that gashed up to 20-miles per hour toward the south goal that Lane played at in the first half. The field, designed for football, was tight on the sides and shallow at the ends.
“We are used to playing on a much bigger field,” Price-Johnson said. “We had to adjust our style, make shorter passes and be more direct. It was harder to run our normal offense, the one-two touch, give-and-go.”
Price-Johnson played through the conditions, using her speed at the start to get to the edge and drill a ball that hit off the post. Her momentum carried her into the rebound, and she finished for the early Indians’ advantage.
Von Steuben (13-1-3) held its own through the balance of the half. Sophomore keeper Samantha Washington recorded six saves in the first half.
The Panthers were in the Premier last year. Coach Greg Domanico had a very young team, and they failed to win a division game, which brought relegation to the First Division North. Last year’s team won just won three games during the season but flashed its promise by also reaching the city quarterfinals, where they lost to Lane.
“Our goal every year is to reach the quarterfinals of the city,” Domanico said. “This was a tough draw, to get Lane, but I think our girls were excited. And they were not intimidated about playing them, the way we have in past years.”
The Panthers came of age, and the younger players developed experience and confidence. Washington did not concede a goal in conference play. “She made the leap from being a freshman last year to really coming into her own,” Domanico said.
“She is still very raw, but she has great instincts and athleticism and is learning how to play the position.”
Danielle Ito-Labelle, the team captain and veteran player, witnessed the team’s growth and development. Their quest echoed Lane’s, only at a different level.
“Most of the first half we played right with them, and we even got a shot on goal, which is something I am not sure we have ever been able to do before,” Ito-Labelle said of a sharp ball played by forward Avrey Walter that required Lane keeper Maggie Grossman to make a diving stop.
Von Steuben assistant coach, Jeff Lucco, is the Taft boys coach who directed the Eagles to a memorable city tournament run that ended in an iconic final against Lane.
“I told Jeff there is no such thing as a moral victory,” Domanico said. “But when you look at Lane’s results against the other city schools -- they tied Jones but beat every other team by at least five goals -- I think we competed really well.”
Interestingly, playing into the wind settled Lane down and the Indians showed greater precision, movement and spacing in the second half.
“The first half was hard because the field was so narrow,” Makuch said. “A lot of times we were trying to get it through, but it was not going because there were a lot of defenders in the box. The wind in the first half was blowing toward the goal so whoever we tried to slide it through, the ball went too far.
“Trying to play around that and trying to find the balance of holding the ball and getting it away was difficult.”
In the 45th minute, Makuch drove the right wing and unleashed a ball from about 22 yards that held up in the wind and smashed off the near post. Grace Dunaway, a normal starter who was playing spot minutes because of an injury, put the second shot away.
“I definitely think going into the wind helped us because a lot of our passes went much shorter,” Makuch said. “They were not going away, and we were able to make the pass toward the box, what we call the dollar pass. We were able to get those and score.”
Save for a Ito-Labelle free kick from about 35 yards that pushed wide left, the Panthers never generated any other significant scoring opportunities.
Lane put the game away in the final minutes. Midfielder Izzy Oganovich drove the right side and served a cross into the box that junior midfielder Ayla Guvenver directed into the near post in the 76th minute.
Lane sophomore forward Kayla Dutton, the team’s powerful kicking specialist from deep, finished the scoring in the 78th minute by perfectly curving a ball from the top of the box.
Lane moved on. Von Steuben gained its own measure of satisfaction.
“Lane is a great team, and we played terrific soccer for 75 minutes until we just got tired there at the end,” Domanico said.
Starting lineups
Von Steuben
GK: Sammy Washington
D: Zoely Rodriguez
D: Danielle Ito-Labelle
D: Jazmine Juarez
D: Lupe Badillo
MF: Quinatzi Gonzalez
MF: Mayeri Diaz
MF: Alexa Cervantes
F: Yaya Jimenez
F: Ryley Walter
F: Avrey Walter
Lane
GK: Maggie Grossman
D: Leah Finkielsztein
D: Izzy Oganovich
D: Sam Sorich
D: Kinuko Mrozik
MF: Johanna Bozic
MF: Sydney Varga
MF: Alana Coffman
MF: Carlye Makuch
F: Lena Price-Williams
F: Ayser Guvener
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Caryle Makuch, so., MF, Lane