Deerfield moving in right direction
Tatham brace leads to 4-1 home win over Antioch
By Rusty Silber
DEERFIELD -- Deerfield is starting to come together at the right time of the season -- just before the postseason arrives. The Warriors are putting together confidence and victories at the same time.
Jude Tatham scored a pair of goals and led a three-goal second half outburst as Deerfield powered past visiting Antioch 4-1 in a nonconference matchup Monday night. Joey Puyear and Nolan Horgan put away the other Warriors' goals.
"With the Maine West game, we need to put together a series of games now and go into the playoffs on a roll," Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. "So the guys came out knowing that we need to talk more and bring up their energy."
Deerfield (5-7-2) upset Maine West 2-1 at home last Tuesday and prevented those Warriors from earning at least a piece of the Central Suburban League North Division title. They carried that momentum over to this victory.
Deerfield is trying to establish its own identity and seems to be finding the right path.
"When we play with that type of energy it builds our confidence," Hurtig added. "We've had several halves that we've played like that, but we need to play an entire game where we're playing with that kind of energy and confidence. Their starting to feel much more unified.
"Last Friday, they went out to Culver's for dinner and their starting to talk more about community, team and fighting for each other. I think it's coming together at the right time on and off the field."
Deerfield will has more regular season opportunities to show it has the right stuff. The Warriors host Niles West in a CSL crossover Thursday night. Nonconference , games Saturday afternoon with Evanston and then a Senior Night celebration against Payton on Oct. 9 to conclude its pre-playoff campaign. Hurtig's troops open the Class 3A playoffs the following week with a home quarterfinal match against Grant.
On Monday, Tatham scored the game-winning goal early in the second half. His second tally of the game earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
Tatham's goal came in the 43rd minute near the back post. He received a low line cross from teammate Nicolas Compisi for Deerfield's 2-1 advantage.
"We started to realize if we played simple and played composed, we could beat (Antioch)," said Tatham, who now has six goals on the season. "That goal really was all (Nicolas) Compisi. I was in my position just waiting for his ball. He took out two defenders and crossed it straight to the far post. I was just there waiting for it."
Compisi's effort setting up the goal shows the work ethic and composure that Deerfield keeps improving on in these games of late.
"I just love taking people on," Compisi said. "That's just what I do. I took it the other way, and they had no idea what was going on. I took it down the line and played a square ball. That's what we need to do and what we need to work on.
"We're not putting enough balls in that are straight to the feet. We're doing too many fancy things rather than putting balls on the ground, and that's how we score goals. The assist means just as much as a goal, mostly depends on how nice the assist is. That one felt like a goal to me."
The Warriors put in two more goals before the final whistle. Puyear finished a shot into the back of the net off a pass from Adam Odzer in the 65th minute that made the score 3-1.
Then on a give-and-go play in the 70th minute, Tim Frenkel led Horgan for the final goal in the comfortable win.
The offense didn't have the only say in the game. Deerfield keeper Ryan Grady contributed his second penalty kick save in the last three games. The other came against Vernon Hills and preserved a 1-1 tie. The senior seems to be in midseason form after recently returning from an off-season injury. He finished with three saves.
"I do like to make those PK saves," Grady said. "You're obviously not expected to save them. When you do it's an added bonus."
Grady missed time in the net after he suffered a broken bone in his right wrist. After surgery, he initially returned to the team to play forward. His return has helped the team improve over the last half of the season.
Tatham opened the scoring for the Warriors in the 21st minute off a free kick that found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
But Antioch (3-14-0) drew even a couple minutes later with an unassisted goal from Alex Keeler.
The Sequoits have been a team trying to rebuild under first-year coach Mike McDermott. Antioch played well in the first half and stayed right with the Warriors.
"We did have a more complete and one of our best halves," McDermott said. "It did come together. The team as a whole is starting to come together. We've a great core of talent that has been in the system and in the program for a while.
"We do have some young talent that's up and coming. But we want to focus on what we have now, because, it's not to late. If we pick up a couple of wins here and hit some momentum into the playoffs. Who's to say that we can't surprise a couple of teams that might be overlooking us."
Starting lineups
Antioch
GK-Joey Whittall
D-Joey Kestian
D-Eli Ruano
D-Christian Ortiz
MF-Brandon Pinto
MF-Trevor Niznik
MF-Alex Keeler
MF-Troy Coleman
MF-Adam Lynn
F-Brock Jurinek
F-Remigijus Ivanovas
Deerfield
GK-Ryan Grady
D-Jack Hammontree
D-Adam Odzer
D-Ko Vandeneijkhoff
D-Nicolas Horgan
MF-Nikita Bankevich
MF-Ari Wainer
MF-Eric Kenney
F-Nicolas Compisi
F-Jude Tatham
F-Tim Frenkel
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jude Tatham (DFLD) F
Scoring summary
First half
Deerfield: Tatham (unassisted) 21
Antioch: Keeler (unassisted) 23
Second half
Deerfield: Tatham (Compisi) 43
Deerfield: Puyear (Odzer) 65
Deerfield: Horgan (Frenkel) 70
Tatham brace leads to 4-1 home win over Antioch
By Rusty Silber
DEERFIELD -- Deerfield is starting to come together at the right time of the season -- just before the postseason arrives. The Warriors are putting together confidence and victories at the same time.
Jude Tatham scored a pair of goals and led a three-goal second half outburst as Deerfield powered past visiting Antioch 4-1 in a nonconference matchup Monday night. Joey Puyear and Nolan Horgan put away the other Warriors' goals.
"With the Maine West game, we need to put together a series of games now and go into the playoffs on a roll," Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. "So the guys came out knowing that we need to talk more and bring up their energy."
Deerfield (5-7-2) upset Maine West 2-1 at home last Tuesday and prevented those Warriors from earning at least a piece of the Central Suburban League North Division title. They carried that momentum over to this victory.
Deerfield is trying to establish its own identity and seems to be finding the right path.
"When we play with that type of energy it builds our confidence," Hurtig added. "We've had several halves that we've played like that, but we need to play an entire game where we're playing with that kind of energy and confidence. Their starting to feel much more unified.
"Last Friday, they went out to Culver's for dinner and their starting to talk more about community, team and fighting for each other. I think it's coming together at the right time on and off the field."
Deerfield will has more regular season opportunities to show it has the right stuff. The Warriors host Niles West in a CSL crossover Thursday night. Nonconference , games Saturday afternoon with Evanston and then a Senior Night celebration against Payton on Oct. 9 to conclude its pre-playoff campaign. Hurtig's troops open the Class 3A playoffs the following week with a home quarterfinal match against Grant.
On Monday, Tatham scored the game-winning goal early in the second half. His second tally of the game earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
Tatham's goal came in the 43rd minute near the back post. He received a low line cross from teammate Nicolas Compisi for Deerfield's 2-1 advantage.
"We started to realize if we played simple and played composed, we could beat (Antioch)," said Tatham, who now has six goals on the season. "That goal really was all (Nicolas) Compisi. I was in my position just waiting for his ball. He took out two defenders and crossed it straight to the far post. I was just there waiting for it."
Compisi's effort setting up the goal shows the work ethic and composure that Deerfield keeps improving on in these games of late.
"I just love taking people on," Compisi said. "That's just what I do. I took it the other way, and they had no idea what was going on. I took it down the line and played a square ball. That's what we need to do and what we need to work on.
"We're not putting enough balls in that are straight to the feet. We're doing too many fancy things rather than putting balls on the ground, and that's how we score goals. The assist means just as much as a goal, mostly depends on how nice the assist is. That one felt like a goal to me."
The Warriors put in two more goals before the final whistle. Puyear finished a shot into the back of the net off a pass from Adam Odzer in the 65th minute that made the score 3-1.
Then on a give-and-go play in the 70th minute, Tim Frenkel led Horgan for the final goal in the comfortable win.
The offense didn't have the only say in the game. Deerfield keeper Ryan Grady contributed his second penalty kick save in the last three games. The other came against Vernon Hills and preserved a 1-1 tie. The senior seems to be in midseason form after recently returning from an off-season injury. He finished with three saves.
"I do like to make those PK saves," Grady said. "You're obviously not expected to save them. When you do it's an added bonus."
Grady missed time in the net after he suffered a broken bone in his right wrist. After surgery, he initially returned to the team to play forward. His return has helped the team improve over the last half of the season.
Tatham opened the scoring for the Warriors in the 21st minute off a free kick that found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
But Antioch (3-14-0) drew even a couple minutes later with an unassisted goal from Alex Keeler.
The Sequoits have been a team trying to rebuild under first-year coach Mike McDermott. Antioch played well in the first half and stayed right with the Warriors.
"We did have a more complete and one of our best halves," McDermott said. "It did come together. The team as a whole is starting to come together. We've a great core of talent that has been in the system and in the program for a while.
"We do have some young talent that's up and coming. But we want to focus on what we have now, because, it's not to late. If we pick up a couple of wins here and hit some momentum into the playoffs. Who's to say that we can't surprise a couple of teams that might be overlooking us."
Starting lineups
Antioch
GK-Joey Whittall
D-Joey Kestian
D-Eli Ruano
D-Christian Ortiz
MF-Brandon Pinto
MF-Trevor Niznik
MF-Alex Keeler
MF-Troy Coleman
MF-Adam Lynn
F-Brock Jurinek
F-Remigijus Ivanovas
Deerfield
GK-Ryan Grady
D-Jack Hammontree
D-Adam Odzer
D-Ko Vandeneijkhoff
D-Nicolas Horgan
MF-Nikita Bankevich
MF-Ari Wainer
MF-Eric Kenney
F-Nicolas Compisi
F-Jude Tatham
F-Tim Frenkel
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jude Tatham (DFLD) F
Scoring summary
First half
Deerfield: Tatham (unassisted) 21
Antioch: Keeler (unassisted) 23
Second half
Deerfield: Tatham (Compisi) 43
Deerfield: Puyear (Odzer) 65
Deerfield: Horgan (Frenkel) 70