New heroes emerge as Young edges Jones
Dolphins take key CPL Premier match 1-0
By Dave Owen
CHICAGO – A great adjustment to a new position, a sisterly helping hand and a fast-emerging freshman were all huge elements in Young’s 1-0 win Friday at Jones.
Perhaps most prominent of all those factors was freshman Mia Lisanti, whose win of a loose ball in the box, spin move and 12-yard shot inside the left post with 16 minutes left to play produced the deciding goal.
“I felt the girl on my left, the goal was behind me and I got the ball on my right foot,” Lisanti said of her fourth goal of the spring. “I just turned naturally because there was no one behind me, and I was there (for the open shot).”
The win kept the Dolphins (9-8-0, 5-1-0 in conference) in position for the Chicago Public League Premier Division title, and continued a scoring surge for Lisanti.
“That’s three games in a row for her with a goal,” Young coach Spero Mandakas said. “Mia’s been a great player for us, but we’ve been waiting for her to make that turn, take it on her own and do it herself. She had a great turn and a great finish.”
Getting more comfortable as her freshman season has progressed is paying off for Lisanti, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match.
“The first few games I was really nervous, and I just wanted to make my teammates look as good as possible,” she said. “Eventually I was kind of told that ‘You have to do things too. You have the skill level to take girls on yourself.’
“These last few games I’ve been trying to get in there myself, and show I can do things for myself and my teammates to make everyone look better.”
Things didn’t look great going into the half for Young. After doing an excellent job of containing Jones star striker Zoe Wright for the first 35 minutes, standout Dolphins defender Cameron Herman left with an ankle injury and never returned.
“The strategy was to make sure we were keeping an eye on Zoe and putting pressure on her,” Mandakas said. “Cam Herman played a great game in the first half. Unfortunately she got a cleat on the ankle right before the end of the first half, so she was on the sideline.
“But her sister Carson jumped in there for her, and we switched (Kyra) Sobel to Zoe (in the second half), and she played well on her. Our focus is next man up, and she (Carson Herman) stepped in and did the job for us.”
The entire Young defense did its best to ease the transition.
“It was a bit of a shock having one of your main defenders go down, so we were kind of adjusting to her being out,” Young junior Keila Vega said. “Carson Herman came in, and we knew she had the potential to do what Cameron can, so we wanted to give her confidence that ‘You can do it too.’ She did everything she could, and played really well.”
Not to be outdone on a night of rising to challenges, usual striker Vega made her season debut at defender – and helped produce a shutout of a high-powered Jones offense.
“I usually play striker up-top, and playing defensively was kind of a new aspect of the game for me,” Vega said. “I’m not used to that, but me playing defense allowed me to execute what I want to, try something different and build the team up. Even though I’m not on top scoring, I’m pushing (the ball) up and setting them up to score.”
The hunch that Vega’s skills would be a good matchup against Jones’ forwards was a winning move, in a pressure situation.
“With this Jones game there was so much pressure on us as a must-win game,” Vega said. “I just did everything possible, grabbed any type of advice from other defenders and just put it all on the field.”
For its part, Jones (9-2-1, 3-1-1 in the CPL Premier Division) had come out of the gate executing its game plan as hoped. But as the match progressed, Young more than answered the challenge.
“The first 20 minutes we looked really good, and then it’s the same thing we did against Lane (a 2-2 tie earlier this month),” Jones coach Derek Bylsma said. “We start out (early) trying to play through-balls, our strikers do a good job of holding the ball and dropping it back, and we do a good job playing short passes.
“Then as the game goes on a little, our girls want to go forward so bad that they don’t have the patience. There’s not enough players who have played at a high level since they were five. It’s the building of the program – I used to have two that could do it, now I have seven, and it’s just maturing. We’re getting there.”
Jones standout junior defender Gabriela Baxtrom also noticed the tide turning midway through the first half.
“We’ve been working on simple passes, and we did that in the first 20 minutes I’d say,” Baxtrom said. “But we didn’t for the whole game.
“I don’t know if we get overconfident or we just lose our cool, but we lose the spark from when we’re making good passes and moving the ball up the field.
“The rest of the first half was a little rocky,” Baxtrom added, “then the second half we worked really hard. And even when we got scored on, we kept pushing and pushing.”
In a 0-0 deadlock entering the second half, Jones came out strong – a Gillian Miller 15-yard shot on goal six minutes in, then in the 10th minute, a one-hop save by Young goalkeeper Sloane Kistinger on a Wright 20-yard shot.
As the focus of the Young defense all night, that shot was one of the few slivers of daylight Wright had.
“Zoe’s been a little injured from a knock on her ankle,” Bylsma said, “and they man-marked her and were one-and-a half or double-teaming her. So we tried to move her around a little bit to the center and outside. But Spero’s known her for four years, and she’s not going to surprise people anymore.”
Young began its eventually decisive offensive push in the 11th minute of the half. Off a nice low send up the right side by Jessica O’Donnell, Olivia Putrim’s 15-yard shot was snared by Jones goalkeeper Devin Barry.
The Dolphins would make Barry and the Eagles defense work much more over the next nine minutes of play.
First, a nice clear by midfielder Janai Cedeno off a cross to the box thwarted a 2-on-2 threat.
“Janai I thought was exceptional tonight,” Bylsma said. “She’s an excellent passer and dribbler, and defensively she’s a hammer.”
Barry came off her line to narrowly win a race to three sends in the nine-minute sequence. Then on the second of two-straight corner kicks by Young’s Olivia Putrim 23 minutes in, O’Donnell’s well-defended one-timer from in front went wide right.
Just three minutes later, Lisanti made the nifty spin free of the defense to create open space – and netted the decisive finish.
“We had some really good possessions the last few minutes (before the goal),” Lisanti said, “and we had some really good pushes.”
Said Mandakas: “Our wingers Olivia (Putrim) and Sara (Woods) did a good job of putting pressure on, and our mids did a great job distributing and realizing we could beat them with through-balls. They did a great job getting it there.”
Young’s defense made the 1-0 lead stand up. Vega’s strong clear with 11 minutes left sprung Sophie Putrim in – only to be denied by Baxtrom.
A hand ball produced a 50-yard free kick by Jones’ Dani Schulgasser in the 31st minute. But off a deflection, Young goalkeeper Sloane Kistinger beat Yulissa Quezada to the loose ball.
Later, Addie Schlensker and Mariah Helm each had nice clears to stop Jones threats around 30 yards out. At the other end, Barry made a nice diving catch save on Woods’ right-side attack and shot in the 38th minute.
A foul in the closing seconds set up one last Jones chance, a 60-yard Izzy Kamba free kick. But a block of that last ditch distance send was followed by the final whistle, setting off a Young celebration.
“Young’s a good team, and Spero’s a great guy, so I don’t mind losing to them,” Bylsma said. “But we’ve never beaten them, and every time it’s a little closer. The last three games have been 1-0.
“I would love to play them in the city playoffs. It’s just a matter of time until we beat them.”
Before Friday’s narrow setback, times had been very good for Jones this spring.
“I’m really pleased with how far the program’s come,” Baxtrom said. “Since my freshman year we were in Premier (Division), then we dropped down to Division I and now we’re back up to Premier. So I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs.
“But we’re definitely the best we’ve ever been, and I’m really excited about that especially for next year since I’m only a junior.”
As for the rest of this year, Friday showed one defensive flaw to fix.
“It’s communication,” Baxtrom said. “When there’s a player going out wide, every time she would get the ball and dribble, dribble, dribble. We needed to communicate more on who should go to her and who should cycle.
“That’s never happened before to us this season, because we’re playing three in the back for the first time. Now when it does, we know we need to communicate more.”
As for Young, having the entire roster back Monday from spring break produced good practices – then a huge win.
“It was getting people back, and the intensity we put into training this week,” Mandakas said. “The girls really bought in and were working hard in training playing at game speed.”
Things get even faster from here for the Dolphins.
“This puts us in place to control our own destiny,” Mandakas said. “We play Lane Wednesday, last conference game. If we beat them, we win the conference. If we lose, we face possibly being pushed down to fourth.
“But this gives us confidence going forward. We’ve seen some tough teams and had it taken to us, but this shows where we are now with our focus.”
After an early stumble in Premier League play, Young has hit its stride at a good time.
“This win is just a confidence booster,” Vega said. “We lost against Payton early, so this was a must-win game. This allows us to say ‘We’re back in this. We got this, whatever happens from now on is up to us and isn’t in anybody else’s hands.’ We control our future.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK- Sloane Kistinger
D- Kyra Sobel
D- Mariah Helm
D- Keila Vega
D- Cameron Herman
M- Ellavieve McCarthy
M- Addie Schlensker
M- Olivia Putrim
M- Gabrielle Cattan
F- Sophie Putrim
F- Mia Lisanti
Jones
GK- Devin Barry
D- Izzy Kamba
D- Gabriela Baxtrom
D- Charlotte Geissler
M- Kassie Cortez
M- Zoe Wright
M- Janai Cedeno
M- Rachel Sohn
M- Dani Schulgasser
F- Lauren Nichols
F- Gillian Miller
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Mia Lisanti, fr. F, Young
Dolphins take key CPL Premier match 1-0
By Dave Owen
CHICAGO – A great adjustment to a new position, a sisterly helping hand and a fast-emerging freshman were all huge elements in Young’s 1-0 win Friday at Jones.
Perhaps most prominent of all those factors was freshman Mia Lisanti, whose win of a loose ball in the box, spin move and 12-yard shot inside the left post with 16 minutes left to play produced the deciding goal.
“I felt the girl on my left, the goal was behind me and I got the ball on my right foot,” Lisanti said of her fourth goal of the spring. “I just turned naturally because there was no one behind me, and I was there (for the open shot).”
The win kept the Dolphins (9-8-0, 5-1-0 in conference) in position for the Chicago Public League Premier Division title, and continued a scoring surge for Lisanti.
“That’s three games in a row for her with a goal,” Young coach Spero Mandakas said. “Mia’s been a great player for us, but we’ve been waiting for her to make that turn, take it on her own and do it herself. She had a great turn and a great finish.”
Getting more comfortable as her freshman season has progressed is paying off for Lisanti, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match.
“The first few games I was really nervous, and I just wanted to make my teammates look as good as possible,” she said. “Eventually I was kind of told that ‘You have to do things too. You have the skill level to take girls on yourself.’
“These last few games I’ve been trying to get in there myself, and show I can do things for myself and my teammates to make everyone look better.”
Things didn’t look great going into the half for Young. After doing an excellent job of containing Jones star striker Zoe Wright for the first 35 minutes, standout Dolphins defender Cameron Herman left with an ankle injury and never returned.
“The strategy was to make sure we were keeping an eye on Zoe and putting pressure on her,” Mandakas said. “Cam Herman played a great game in the first half. Unfortunately she got a cleat on the ankle right before the end of the first half, so she was on the sideline.
“But her sister Carson jumped in there for her, and we switched (Kyra) Sobel to Zoe (in the second half), and she played well on her. Our focus is next man up, and she (Carson Herman) stepped in and did the job for us.”
The entire Young defense did its best to ease the transition.
“It was a bit of a shock having one of your main defenders go down, so we were kind of adjusting to her being out,” Young junior Keila Vega said. “Carson Herman came in, and we knew she had the potential to do what Cameron can, so we wanted to give her confidence that ‘You can do it too.’ She did everything she could, and played really well.”
Not to be outdone on a night of rising to challenges, usual striker Vega made her season debut at defender – and helped produce a shutout of a high-powered Jones offense.
“I usually play striker up-top, and playing defensively was kind of a new aspect of the game for me,” Vega said. “I’m not used to that, but me playing defense allowed me to execute what I want to, try something different and build the team up. Even though I’m not on top scoring, I’m pushing (the ball) up and setting them up to score.”
The hunch that Vega’s skills would be a good matchup against Jones’ forwards was a winning move, in a pressure situation.
“With this Jones game there was so much pressure on us as a must-win game,” Vega said. “I just did everything possible, grabbed any type of advice from other defenders and just put it all on the field.”
For its part, Jones (9-2-1, 3-1-1 in the CPL Premier Division) had come out of the gate executing its game plan as hoped. But as the match progressed, Young more than answered the challenge.
“The first 20 minutes we looked really good, and then it’s the same thing we did against Lane (a 2-2 tie earlier this month),” Jones coach Derek Bylsma said. “We start out (early) trying to play through-balls, our strikers do a good job of holding the ball and dropping it back, and we do a good job playing short passes.
“Then as the game goes on a little, our girls want to go forward so bad that they don’t have the patience. There’s not enough players who have played at a high level since they were five. It’s the building of the program – I used to have two that could do it, now I have seven, and it’s just maturing. We’re getting there.”
Jones standout junior defender Gabriela Baxtrom also noticed the tide turning midway through the first half.
“We’ve been working on simple passes, and we did that in the first 20 minutes I’d say,” Baxtrom said. “But we didn’t for the whole game.
“I don’t know if we get overconfident or we just lose our cool, but we lose the spark from when we’re making good passes and moving the ball up the field.
“The rest of the first half was a little rocky,” Baxtrom added, “then the second half we worked really hard. And even when we got scored on, we kept pushing and pushing.”
In a 0-0 deadlock entering the second half, Jones came out strong – a Gillian Miller 15-yard shot on goal six minutes in, then in the 10th minute, a one-hop save by Young goalkeeper Sloane Kistinger on a Wright 20-yard shot.
As the focus of the Young defense all night, that shot was one of the few slivers of daylight Wright had.
“Zoe’s been a little injured from a knock on her ankle,” Bylsma said, “and they man-marked her and were one-and-a half or double-teaming her. So we tried to move her around a little bit to the center and outside. But Spero’s known her for four years, and she’s not going to surprise people anymore.”
Young began its eventually decisive offensive push in the 11th minute of the half. Off a nice low send up the right side by Jessica O’Donnell, Olivia Putrim’s 15-yard shot was snared by Jones goalkeeper Devin Barry.
The Dolphins would make Barry and the Eagles defense work much more over the next nine minutes of play.
First, a nice clear by midfielder Janai Cedeno off a cross to the box thwarted a 2-on-2 threat.
“Janai I thought was exceptional tonight,” Bylsma said. “She’s an excellent passer and dribbler, and defensively she’s a hammer.”
Barry came off her line to narrowly win a race to three sends in the nine-minute sequence. Then on the second of two-straight corner kicks by Young’s Olivia Putrim 23 minutes in, O’Donnell’s well-defended one-timer from in front went wide right.
Just three minutes later, Lisanti made the nifty spin free of the defense to create open space – and netted the decisive finish.
“We had some really good possessions the last few minutes (before the goal),” Lisanti said, “and we had some really good pushes.”
Said Mandakas: “Our wingers Olivia (Putrim) and Sara (Woods) did a good job of putting pressure on, and our mids did a great job distributing and realizing we could beat them with through-balls. They did a great job getting it there.”
Young’s defense made the 1-0 lead stand up. Vega’s strong clear with 11 minutes left sprung Sophie Putrim in – only to be denied by Baxtrom.
A hand ball produced a 50-yard free kick by Jones’ Dani Schulgasser in the 31st minute. But off a deflection, Young goalkeeper Sloane Kistinger beat Yulissa Quezada to the loose ball.
Later, Addie Schlensker and Mariah Helm each had nice clears to stop Jones threats around 30 yards out. At the other end, Barry made a nice diving catch save on Woods’ right-side attack and shot in the 38th minute.
A foul in the closing seconds set up one last Jones chance, a 60-yard Izzy Kamba free kick. But a block of that last ditch distance send was followed by the final whistle, setting off a Young celebration.
“Young’s a good team, and Spero’s a great guy, so I don’t mind losing to them,” Bylsma said. “But we’ve never beaten them, and every time it’s a little closer. The last three games have been 1-0.
“I would love to play them in the city playoffs. It’s just a matter of time until we beat them.”
Before Friday’s narrow setback, times had been very good for Jones this spring.
“I’m really pleased with how far the program’s come,” Baxtrom said. “Since my freshman year we were in Premier (Division), then we dropped down to Division I and now we’re back up to Premier. So I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs.
“But we’re definitely the best we’ve ever been, and I’m really excited about that especially for next year since I’m only a junior.”
As for the rest of this year, Friday showed one defensive flaw to fix.
“It’s communication,” Baxtrom said. “When there’s a player going out wide, every time she would get the ball and dribble, dribble, dribble. We needed to communicate more on who should go to her and who should cycle.
“That’s never happened before to us this season, because we’re playing three in the back for the first time. Now when it does, we know we need to communicate more.”
As for Young, having the entire roster back Monday from spring break produced good practices – then a huge win.
“It was getting people back, and the intensity we put into training this week,” Mandakas said. “The girls really bought in and were working hard in training playing at game speed.”
Things get even faster from here for the Dolphins.
“This puts us in place to control our own destiny,” Mandakas said. “We play Lane Wednesday, last conference game. If we beat them, we win the conference. If we lose, we face possibly being pushed down to fourth.
“But this gives us confidence going forward. We’ve seen some tough teams and had it taken to us, but this shows where we are now with our focus.”
After an early stumble in Premier League play, Young has hit its stride at a good time.
“This win is just a confidence booster,” Vega said. “We lost against Payton early, so this was a must-win game. This allows us to say ‘We’re back in this. We got this, whatever happens from now on is up to us and isn’t in anybody else’s hands.’ We control our future.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK- Sloane Kistinger
D- Kyra Sobel
D- Mariah Helm
D- Keila Vega
D- Cameron Herman
M- Ellavieve McCarthy
M- Addie Schlensker
M- Olivia Putrim
M- Gabrielle Cattan
F- Sophie Putrim
F- Mia Lisanti
Jones
GK- Devin Barry
D- Izzy Kamba
D- Gabriela Baxtrom
D- Charlotte Geissler
M- Kassie Cortez
M- Zoe Wright
M- Janai Cedeno
M- Rachel Sohn
M- Dani Schulgasser
F- Lauren Nichols
F- Gillian Miller
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Mia Lisanti, fr. F, Young