Lane squeaks by Young in CPL semifinal
Dunaway 2nd half rebound the difference in 1-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The essence of the Young and Lane rivalry was plain to see. The intensity, emotion, and depth of feeling inflected every gesture, large and small. That is the prism through which every movement is watched and studied.
“I think any game between Lane and Young is the city championship game, even if it's during the regular season,” Lane coach Michelle Vale said. “As much as they want to beat us, we want to beat them.”
Less than two weeks ago, in the same space, the narrative was deeply one-sided as Lane scored three times in the first half en route to the 5-0 victory that secured the Premier title. Young had two weeks that memory to burn and coalesce, providing just the right motivation.
“The last time we played them I don't think we were there mentally,” Young defender Mariah Helm said. “I think everybody came in with the mindset that we are going to compete today. We showed we could play and stick with them.”
The effort shown by both sides was exhilarating -- Young keeper Sloane Kistinger defying caution and throwing her body to deprive Lane of scoring opportunities, or Lane defender Leah Finkielsztein furiously chasing down a Young attacking player with a sliding stop with the outcome in the balance.
After playing for the city title six times in the last seven years, Young and Lane squared off a round sooner, but the atmosphere was unchanged. “I think we were very focused about the idea if we lost today, we were done with the city season,” Vale said.
In an intense, physical and charged game, no. 13 Lane played off its depth and versatility as sophomore forward Grace Dunaway finished a rebound shot in the 46th minute of a scoring sequence engineered by midfielder Sydney Varga for the 1-0 victory over the Dolphins in a Chicago Public League city tournament semifinal Tuesday night at Lane Stadium.
Lane (15-2-3) advanced to its seventh-consecutive city championship match with its 11th-consecutive victory -- all by shutout. The Indians have outscored the opposition by a combined 59-0 margin during the streak.
Dunaway scored her 17th goal of the year. She has been limited by hip and hamstring injuries.
“They have been putting me in for five-minute repetitions at a time,” Dunaway said. “I probably played a total of about 10 minutes today. I just did my best to make an impact.”
Verga, a sophomore, was the agent of change in the match. She was part of a strong midfield that provided Lane a significant edge in possession and scoring chances. She proved particularly adept and dangerous at using her speed and quickness to get to the edge.
Her strong play and instinctive performance earned her the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction.
The Lane goal was the result of many intertwined factors. Early in the second half, Indians’ midfielder Alana Coffman slotted the ball wide to Varga on the right flank.
“I saw the sideline, and I just took it,” Varga said. “I crossed it in, hoping somebody would be there. I think Cam [freshman Camaron Niforos] shot it, and Grace was right there to put it away. I think it was a great goal, and obviously it helped us win the game.”
Varga remained aggressive, intent on sustaining the pressure and waiting for a chance to break the Dolphins down.
“We knew it was going to be a hard match today, because we knew that Young wanted to win just as badly as we did,” Varga said. “We had a lot of energy built up, and we used that for determination and fire and pushing that much harder to win the ball.
“Even though [Kistinger] was making some great saves, we kept shooting because we knew one of them was about to go in.
Kistinger, athletic and lanky, neutralized Lane’s possession advantage up to that point. She was spectacular, anticipating Lane’s attack and using her size and range to register a series of denials. She recorded nine saves.
It was the second-consecutive game Dunaway inserted herself into the action at a judicious moment. She had a similar goal against Von Steuben in the quarterfinal Saturday.
“The cross came to Camaron, and there was like a pile up,” Dunaway said of her game-winning goal. “The goalie was on the ground. Camaron took a shot and it deflected and I was right there, and I was able to finish it.”
Young could not get a clearance.
“Sloane made a very good save on the first ball, but unfortunately they had somebody there,” Young coach Spero Mandakas said. “We did a very good job of keeping everything in front of us. We did not want to be in a situation where they were 1-v.-1 with our keeper. I was very proud of the girls and their effort.”
Lane’s pressure achieved its purpose. Indian's sophomore midfielder Carly Makuch hit the post in the 20th minute. Kistinger made a sharp point-blank save of a Coffman laser in the first half. Young's stops fueled its hope to spring a counter or find an offensive thrust of its own.
“They definitely had the best of it in the offensive end, but I was comfortable with that as long as we kept them in front of us and did not give them chances with our keeper,” Mandakas said. “We played amazing. Unfortunately we did not take advantage of our opportunities.”
The division title was important. Public League players are avid for the thrill and excitement of the city title. Players on both sides knew the game was not going to be a simple echo of the earlier game.
“In the locker room at halftime we had a talk about staying positive and staying aggressive up top,” Dunaway said. “It is a different game plan in the playoffs compared to the last time we played them. They came out strong, and we had to match that. I think playing our hardest definitely made an impact. Once we got that goal I feel like everybody settled, and we were able to play even better.”
Young (12-10-0) found its offense. In the 50th minute in the Dolphins' first significant action at the Lane goal, freshman midfielder Mia Lisanti slotted a ball to junior forward Sara Woods, the team's offensive catalyst in its city tournament run. Woods came into the game having scored eight goals in the Dolphins’ three city tournament games.
Fast and electric in space, Woods juked her defender and rode her off her hip as she drilled a left-footed ball that Lane keeper Maggie Grossman secured. The play symbolized Young’s awakening offense.
The defining play of the second half involved Young junior forward Sophie Putrim. Explosively fast, she ran past the Indians’ backline for a direct confrontation with Grossman. Her shot from about 14 yards edged over the top of the bar.
“We saw her get behold the defense,” Mandakas said. “A good striker like her, she put a good finish on the shot. She tried to go high over the keeper, and unfortunately she pushed it over.”
Lane had to calibrate its own defensive intensity.
“It is the playoffs, and we expect teams to come out hard,” Finkielsztein said. “The game started out, and it looked like we were definitely dominating. Toward the last 15-20 minutes they wanted it, and they came at us very hard. I think we did a very good job of keeping our composure and keeping our ground on defense.”
That was the difference. Young fought brilliantly. The final part of the equation simply eluded them.
“The girls really battled and hung with them,” Mandakas said. “They are going to score goals. In a game like this, we have to be ready to score one or two goals in order to get a good result.
“Unfortunately they had one more chance.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK: Sloane Kistinger
D: Cameron Herman
D: Addie Schlensker
D: Mariah Helm
D: Kyra Sobel
MF: Jessica O’Donnell
MF: Sarah Heise
MF: Mia Lisanti
F: Sara Woods
F: Gabrielle Cattan
F: Sophie Putrim
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-Johnson
F: Ayser Guvener
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sydney Varga, so., MF, Lane
Dunaway 2nd half rebound the difference in 1-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The essence of the Young and Lane rivalry was plain to see. The intensity, emotion, and depth of feeling inflected every gesture, large and small. That is the prism through which every movement is watched and studied.
“I think any game between Lane and Young is the city championship game, even if it's during the regular season,” Lane coach Michelle Vale said. “As much as they want to beat us, we want to beat them.”
Less than two weeks ago, in the same space, the narrative was deeply one-sided as Lane scored three times in the first half en route to the 5-0 victory that secured the Premier title. Young had two weeks that memory to burn and coalesce, providing just the right motivation.
“The last time we played them I don't think we were there mentally,” Young defender Mariah Helm said. “I think everybody came in with the mindset that we are going to compete today. We showed we could play and stick with them.”
The effort shown by both sides was exhilarating -- Young keeper Sloane Kistinger defying caution and throwing her body to deprive Lane of scoring opportunities, or Lane defender Leah Finkielsztein furiously chasing down a Young attacking player with a sliding stop with the outcome in the balance.
After playing for the city title six times in the last seven years, Young and Lane squared off a round sooner, but the atmosphere was unchanged. “I think we were very focused about the idea if we lost today, we were done with the city season,” Vale said.
In an intense, physical and charged game, no. 13 Lane played off its depth and versatility as sophomore forward Grace Dunaway finished a rebound shot in the 46th minute of a scoring sequence engineered by midfielder Sydney Varga for the 1-0 victory over the Dolphins in a Chicago Public League city tournament semifinal Tuesday night at Lane Stadium.
Lane (15-2-3) advanced to its seventh-consecutive city championship match with its 11th-consecutive victory -- all by shutout. The Indians have outscored the opposition by a combined 59-0 margin during the streak.
Dunaway scored her 17th goal of the year. She has been limited by hip and hamstring injuries.
“They have been putting me in for five-minute repetitions at a time,” Dunaway said. “I probably played a total of about 10 minutes today. I just did my best to make an impact.”
Verga, a sophomore, was the agent of change in the match. She was part of a strong midfield that provided Lane a significant edge in possession and scoring chances. She proved particularly adept and dangerous at using her speed and quickness to get to the edge.
Her strong play and instinctive performance earned her the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction.
The Lane goal was the result of many intertwined factors. Early in the second half, Indians’ midfielder Alana Coffman slotted the ball wide to Varga on the right flank.
“I saw the sideline, and I just took it,” Varga said. “I crossed it in, hoping somebody would be there. I think Cam [freshman Camaron Niforos] shot it, and Grace was right there to put it away. I think it was a great goal, and obviously it helped us win the game.”
Varga remained aggressive, intent on sustaining the pressure and waiting for a chance to break the Dolphins down.
“We knew it was going to be a hard match today, because we knew that Young wanted to win just as badly as we did,” Varga said. “We had a lot of energy built up, and we used that for determination and fire and pushing that much harder to win the ball.
“Even though [Kistinger] was making some great saves, we kept shooting because we knew one of them was about to go in.
Kistinger, athletic and lanky, neutralized Lane’s possession advantage up to that point. She was spectacular, anticipating Lane’s attack and using her size and range to register a series of denials. She recorded nine saves.
It was the second-consecutive game Dunaway inserted herself into the action at a judicious moment. She had a similar goal against Von Steuben in the quarterfinal Saturday.
“The cross came to Camaron, and there was like a pile up,” Dunaway said of her game-winning goal. “The goalie was on the ground. Camaron took a shot and it deflected and I was right there, and I was able to finish it.”
Young could not get a clearance.
“Sloane made a very good save on the first ball, but unfortunately they had somebody there,” Young coach Spero Mandakas said. “We did a very good job of keeping everything in front of us. We did not want to be in a situation where they were 1-v.-1 with our keeper. I was very proud of the girls and their effort.”
Lane’s pressure achieved its purpose. Indian's sophomore midfielder Carly Makuch hit the post in the 20th minute. Kistinger made a sharp point-blank save of a Coffman laser in the first half. Young's stops fueled its hope to spring a counter or find an offensive thrust of its own.
“They definitely had the best of it in the offensive end, but I was comfortable with that as long as we kept them in front of us and did not give them chances with our keeper,” Mandakas said. “We played amazing. Unfortunately we did not take advantage of our opportunities.”
The division title was important. Public League players are avid for the thrill and excitement of the city title. Players on both sides knew the game was not going to be a simple echo of the earlier game.
“In the locker room at halftime we had a talk about staying positive and staying aggressive up top,” Dunaway said. “It is a different game plan in the playoffs compared to the last time we played them. They came out strong, and we had to match that. I think playing our hardest definitely made an impact. Once we got that goal I feel like everybody settled, and we were able to play even better.”
Young (12-10-0) found its offense. In the 50th minute in the Dolphins' first significant action at the Lane goal, freshman midfielder Mia Lisanti slotted a ball to junior forward Sara Woods, the team's offensive catalyst in its city tournament run. Woods came into the game having scored eight goals in the Dolphins’ three city tournament games.
Fast and electric in space, Woods juked her defender and rode her off her hip as she drilled a left-footed ball that Lane keeper Maggie Grossman secured. The play symbolized Young’s awakening offense.
The defining play of the second half involved Young junior forward Sophie Putrim. Explosively fast, she ran past the Indians’ backline for a direct confrontation with Grossman. Her shot from about 14 yards edged over the top of the bar.
“We saw her get behold the defense,” Mandakas said. “A good striker like her, she put a good finish on the shot. She tried to go high over the keeper, and unfortunately she pushed it over.”
Lane had to calibrate its own defensive intensity.
“It is the playoffs, and we expect teams to come out hard,” Finkielsztein said. “The game started out, and it looked like we were definitely dominating. Toward the last 15-20 minutes they wanted it, and they came at us very hard. I think we did a very good job of keeping our composure and keeping our ground on defense.”
That was the difference. Young fought brilliantly. The final part of the equation simply eluded them.
“The girls really battled and hung with them,” Mandakas said. “They are going to score goals. In a game like this, we have to be ready to score one or two goals in order to get a good result.
“Unfortunately they had one more chance.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK: Sloane Kistinger
D: Cameron Herman
D: Addie Schlensker
D: Mariah Helm
D: Kyra Sobel
MF: Jessica O’Donnell
MF: Sarah Heise
MF: Mia Lisanti
F: Sara Woods
F: Gabrielle Cattan
F: Sophie Putrim
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-Johnson
F: Ayser Guvener
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sydney Varga, so., MF, Lane