Deerfield pressure leads to shutout win
Johnson’s 46th-minute gives Warriors 1-0 win over Ridgewood
By Patrick Z. McGavin
DEERFIELD -- Cory Johnson had a bounce to his step. From the very start, the Deerfield senior forward was dialed in, active and alert. At times he was almost too wound up -- his left-footed blasts achieved great lift and speed but fell just off the mark.
He was the catalyst for a lean and avid Warriors’ attack that rarely allowed visiting Ridgewood the opportunity to catch its breath.
“They were down our throat the whole night,” Ridgewood coach Armando Cabrera said.
Ridgewood played admirably in nullifying or offsetting the Warriors’ attack until Johnson simply took over by intercepting a pass and advancing the ball down the left edge and unleashing a low-liner in the 46th minute that propelled Deerfield to the 1-0 home victory Wednesday night.
Rebels’ keeper Brian Kwiatkowski, who was sensational the whole night, lunged and leapt and kept the Warriors’ attack at bay with seven saves. He got a touch on the goal, but it arrived with too much speed and power to wholly slow down.
Johnson scored his second goal of the year for the Warriors (2-4-0), who have won two of their last three games after a 0-3-0 start. Deerfield entered the game off a tough 1-0 loss at Lake Forest the night before.
The quick turnaround proved important.
“After that game we were all a little bit upset,” Johnson said. “We just wanted to play as hard as we could. That’s what we did. I think our team played really hard, and we played well together. We were finding feet, and we were finding each other and that created a lot of chances. I was able to finish that one.”
Kwiatkowski denied one of the strongest scoring chances in the first half when he jumped on another low liner launched by Johnson off a short corner. Deerfield generated eight corner kicks, indicative of its dominance in possession time and dangerous opportunities.
“I thought in the second half we did a really nice job of possessing the ball and finding feet,” Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. “We have tried to put a lot of pressure on the other team and force them into mistakes. In the first half, I thought they were able to deal with our pressure a little more. In the second half, our team pressure was much better.”
The pressure yielded the turnover that Johnson converted.
“I saw the one-on-one opportunity, and I was confident with the shot,” Johnson said. “I just tried to put one in.”
Johnson received the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for his play.
“The thing that was so nice is that Cory got the ball and went right at the defender,” Hurtig said. “He has been playing really well for us. You just see a player who is in attack mode. He has that attitude of just taking the ball and taking players on.”
Ridgewood has a strong recent tradition and reached the championship of the Class AA state title game in 2010. This is a transition year for the Rebels (1-3-0). Kwiatkowski anchored a standout back. This iteration is young, with up to eight sophomore starters. Midfielders David Nowak and Enzo DeCeglie generated some decent combination play with forward Giovanni Alduino.
Deerfield has conceded just one goal in its last three games. Ridgewood never mounted a serious attempt. The Warriors’ defense, with athletic and rangy junior keeper Ryan Grady, has improved tremendously in the last week. Barak Farhi epitomized the rapidly stronger play with a superb individual defensive maneuver in the 69th minute, moving swiftly to tackle a Rebel pushing the ball hard down the left edge to get the ball inside the box.
Grady recorded two saves in posting his second shutout of the year.
Ridgewood was a bit compromised in the match.
“We were missing a couple of key players,” Cabrera said. “One of them, Ivan Garcia, is out with a concussion. Deerfield came out and was motivated the whole game. That is a quality team.
“I think (the offensive struggle) is because right now we are lacking experience. Our defense is young, and we did well to hold them to the one (goal).”
This is Cabrera’s third year directing the program. He graduated 20 seniors last year.
“We strive to have our style be comparable to the way Deerfield plays,” he said. “Deerfield possesses and moves the ball and that is how we want to play. It is good for our players to see this kind of quality soccer.”
Deerfield did not rest or play it safe with the lead. Less than a minute after the goal, senior midfielder Louis Solovy blasted a shot that Kwiatkowski made a brilliant save on.
“After Cory’s goal, as you saw, the energy picked up right away,” Solovy said. “We were hoping for more goals. We got the win, but we wanted to finish more of those opportunities and get more confidence.”
Deerfield’s improvement is a function of its developing versatility. With seven games in nine days, the team is finding its groove.
“Already different players are stepping up in different situations,” Hurtig said. “There has been a shift in position with the players. But the thing I really like about this team is that so many of the players are interchangeable. That is really fantastic to have players who can play all over the field.”
Deerfield is trying out different possibilities off dead balls and set pieces. Solovy, a gymnast, has mastered the flip throw-in as a new wrinkle. Twice his flip throws produced headers inside the box that were extremely dangerous.
“I got fourth at state in the high bar and four in the floor exercise last year,” Solovy said. “The (flip) is something I have had since my freshman year. We need to execute on it more, but I think it is a really good trick to have in our suite.”
Deerfield is riding a new optimism.
“I think we have put the losses behind us and we look forward to more wins,” Solovy said.
Starting lineups
Ridgewood
GK: Brian Kwiatkowski
D: Muhammad Diab
D: Matthew Wilk
D: Christian Montoya
D: Sebastian Banas
MF: David Nowak
MF: Enzo DeCeglie
MF: Dawid Ozlanski
MF: Vasyl Lysyshyn
F: Giovanni Alduino
F: Damian Banas
Deerfield
GK: Ryan Grady
D: Dylan Capp
D: Jack Hammontree
D: Barak Farhi
D: Adam Odzer
MF: Louis Solovy
MF: Jeff Lehrman
MF: Ryan David
F: Logan Wallis
F: Cory Johnson
F: Nikita Bankevich
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Cory Johnson, Deerfield, sr., F
Scoring summary
Second half
Deerfield—Cory Johnson (unassisted), 46th minute
Johnson’s 46th-minute gives Warriors 1-0 win over Ridgewood
By Patrick Z. McGavin
DEERFIELD -- Cory Johnson had a bounce to his step. From the very start, the Deerfield senior forward was dialed in, active and alert. At times he was almost too wound up -- his left-footed blasts achieved great lift and speed but fell just off the mark.
He was the catalyst for a lean and avid Warriors’ attack that rarely allowed visiting Ridgewood the opportunity to catch its breath.
“They were down our throat the whole night,” Ridgewood coach Armando Cabrera said.
Ridgewood played admirably in nullifying or offsetting the Warriors’ attack until Johnson simply took over by intercepting a pass and advancing the ball down the left edge and unleashing a low-liner in the 46th minute that propelled Deerfield to the 1-0 home victory Wednesday night.
Rebels’ keeper Brian Kwiatkowski, who was sensational the whole night, lunged and leapt and kept the Warriors’ attack at bay with seven saves. He got a touch on the goal, but it arrived with too much speed and power to wholly slow down.
Johnson scored his second goal of the year for the Warriors (2-4-0), who have won two of their last three games after a 0-3-0 start. Deerfield entered the game off a tough 1-0 loss at Lake Forest the night before.
The quick turnaround proved important.
“After that game we were all a little bit upset,” Johnson said. “We just wanted to play as hard as we could. That’s what we did. I think our team played really hard, and we played well together. We were finding feet, and we were finding each other and that created a lot of chances. I was able to finish that one.”
Kwiatkowski denied one of the strongest scoring chances in the first half when he jumped on another low liner launched by Johnson off a short corner. Deerfield generated eight corner kicks, indicative of its dominance in possession time and dangerous opportunities.
“I thought in the second half we did a really nice job of possessing the ball and finding feet,” Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. “We have tried to put a lot of pressure on the other team and force them into mistakes. In the first half, I thought they were able to deal with our pressure a little more. In the second half, our team pressure was much better.”
The pressure yielded the turnover that Johnson converted.
“I saw the one-on-one opportunity, and I was confident with the shot,” Johnson said. “I just tried to put one in.”
Johnson received the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for his play.
“The thing that was so nice is that Cory got the ball and went right at the defender,” Hurtig said. “He has been playing really well for us. You just see a player who is in attack mode. He has that attitude of just taking the ball and taking players on.”
Ridgewood has a strong recent tradition and reached the championship of the Class AA state title game in 2010. This is a transition year for the Rebels (1-3-0). Kwiatkowski anchored a standout back. This iteration is young, with up to eight sophomore starters. Midfielders David Nowak and Enzo DeCeglie generated some decent combination play with forward Giovanni Alduino.
Deerfield has conceded just one goal in its last three games. Ridgewood never mounted a serious attempt. The Warriors’ defense, with athletic and rangy junior keeper Ryan Grady, has improved tremendously in the last week. Barak Farhi epitomized the rapidly stronger play with a superb individual defensive maneuver in the 69th minute, moving swiftly to tackle a Rebel pushing the ball hard down the left edge to get the ball inside the box.
Grady recorded two saves in posting his second shutout of the year.
Ridgewood was a bit compromised in the match.
“We were missing a couple of key players,” Cabrera said. “One of them, Ivan Garcia, is out with a concussion. Deerfield came out and was motivated the whole game. That is a quality team.
“I think (the offensive struggle) is because right now we are lacking experience. Our defense is young, and we did well to hold them to the one (goal).”
This is Cabrera’s third year directing the program. He graduated 20 seniors last year.
“We strive to have our style be comparable to the way Deerfield plays,” he said. “Deerfield possesses and moves the ball and that is how we want to play. It is good for our players to see this kind of quality soccer.”
Deerfield did not rest or play it safe with the lead. Less than a minute after the goal, senior midfielder Louis Solovy blasted a shot that Kwiatkowski made a brilliant save on.
“After Cory’s goal, as you saw, the energy picked up right away,” Solovy said. “We were hoping for more goals. We got the win, but we wanted to finish more of those opportunities and get more confidence.”
Deerfield’s improvement is a function of its developing versatility. With seven games in nine days, the team is finding its groove.
“Already different players are stepping up in different situations,” Hurtig said. “There has been a shift in position with the players. But the thing I really like about this team is that so many of the players are interchangeable. That is really fantastic to have players who can play all over the field.”
Deerfield is trying out different possibilities off dead balls and set pieces. Solovy, a gymnast, has mastered the flip throw-in as a new wrinkle. Twice his flip throws produced headers inside the box that were extremely dangerous.
“I got fourth at state in the high bar and four in the floor exercise last year,” Solovy said. “The (flip) is something I have had since my freshman year. We need to execute on it more, but I think it is a really good trick to have in our suite.”
Deerfield is riding a new optimism.
“I think we have put the losses behind us and we look forward to more wins,” Solovy said.
Starting lineups
Ridgewood
GK: Brian Kwiatkowski
D: Muhammad Diab
D: Matthew Wilk
D: Christian Montoya
D: Sebastian Banas
MF: David Nowak
MF: Enzo DeCeglie
MF: Dawid Ozlanski
MF: Vasyl Lysyshyn
F: Giovanni Alduino
F: Damian Banas
Deerfield
GK: Ryan Grady
D: Dylan Capp
D: Jack Hammontree
D: Barak Farhi
D: Adam Odzer
MF: Louis Solovy
MF: Jeff Lehrman
MF: Ryan David
F: Logan Wallis
F: Cory Johnson
F: Nikita Bankevich
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Cory Johnson, Deerfield, sr., F
Scoring summary
Second half
Deerfield—Cory Johnson (unassisted), 46th minute