Hinsdale Central’s fast start stuns Carmel
Guido's early goal holds up for Malnati's opening win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
EVANSTON -- If every game starts out a blank slate, Samantha Guido saw an instant opportunity to forge the game to her style and liking. In her case location meant everything. She was in the right spot at the ideal time.
Possibility and chance fused together.
Making her second-straight start at forward, she applied pressure deep in the Carmel box and was the beneficiary of an open ball that she put away in the fourth minute as Hinsdale Central stunned the previously unbeaten no. 11 Corsairs 1-0 in the opening round of group play of the Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic here Saturday afternoon.
Junior defender Sophie Simmons played the original ball. Then Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match saw her chance.
“I thought I have to run over and get pressure,” Guido said. “I didn’t think anything was going to come of it and then the goalkeeper ended up missing the ball. I was able to slide in and poke it into the back of the net. It totally changed the mood of the game.”
Guido played defender in the Red Devils’ first four games as first-year coach Bryan Ciesiulka experimented with different formations and lineups. Hinsdale Central beat a solid York team in the its West Suburban Conference Silver Division opener on Thursday.
“I have always preferred to be more of an attacking player,” Guido said. “I am one of the bigger people on the field, so I am always in there for defensive support. Getting into the attack part of the field changed the whole aspect of the game.”
Every game is its own entity. The unexpected upends the larger narrative, bringing confidence and hope to one side and a bit of despair to the other.
“It was kind of crazy,” Guido said. “I was not expecting that, not four minutes in. It definitely made us push more and more, and it give us more energy. It hyped me, and it hyped my team. It made us all believe that we could win it.”
After a slow start, Hinsdale Central (2-4-1) has won its last two games.
“Today was awesome,” Ciesiulka said. “As a coaching staff, before the game we said we needed to get some chances in the first five minutes and hit it over and top and not mess around. Something good is going to happen. Credit Sophie and Sammy.”
Twenty-three is the other operative number. That is how many days have passed since Carmel (3-1-0) played its last game, a 4-0 victory over Palatine on March 15th. Spring break and a postponed Tuesday game against Warren only aggravated the separation between the Corsairs’ last games.
“I definitely thought it was a huge factor,” junior Carmel forward Skyler Thomas said. “We have been trying to get training in. We have had to do sprints inside the gym. Our preparation has been looking off a whiteboard. It has been hard putting our strategy into a game situation. We made one mistake in this game. The game could have gone either way.”
The goal was the first conceded by the Corsairs. Dazed at the start, Carmel worked well to find a rhythm. A certain disconnect was palpable. Carmel generated some solid scoring opportunities. Riley Harmon had two compelling moments in the 70th and 73rd minute. Carmel seemed a step behind and could not generate the normal velocity and accuracy.
“This is like the start of the second season,” Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. “An individual mistake happens early in the game, and it put us behind the whole game. It is natural to wonder how the game would have played out if we had not given up that goal or whether we would have allowed that goal if we had a chance to get in a couple more games. It probably would have been a totally different game.
“That’s soccer, and the nature of the spring sports season.”
Guido’s goal told one part of the story. Sophomore Red Devils’ keeper Fiona Fitzsimons wrote her own chapter. She was active and engaged, alert to the Corsairs’ attempts to push numbers forward. She broke up a near breakaway in the 68th minute by sprinting off her line. Whatever the result, she was not going to play passive and allow the game come to her.
“If you don’t come off the line, you are not really doing the job right,” Fitzsimons said. “If players are loose and coming at the goal and you just stay on your goal, you are not going to be able to do anything.”
She finished with seven saves. The early goal gave her some leeway to take chances. The Red Devils were not going to necessarily play it safe. “I think it was a full team effort,” Fitzsimons said. “We played every play as it were a zero-zero scenario.”
Samantha Moriarty, Olivia Rayis, Madeline Swade and Simmons constituted the skilled and disruptive backline that threw the Corsairs’ big-play attack off balance. The victory marked the team’s first shutout.
“The beginning of the season was a whole different kind of atmosphere,” Guido said. “The past couple of games we are really flowing as a team. We have bonded and that is reflected in our play on the field as well.”
Ciesiulka has been emphasizing the need to privilege possession. Midfielders Jane Cole and Elle Jenkins brought a consistency that created a fluent style the Corsairs were never able to transcend.
“Over the last week and a half we have definitely been building, and we are starting to play the way we want,” Ciesiulka said. “It’s taking time. I am asking a lot of them. It’s a new system. We have a lot of new girls, and I am a new coach.”
Making their tournament debut, Carmel had an admittedly disappointing start. But just getting to compete allowed the team to re-acclimate to the speed and physicality of the game and yielded benefits.
“It took us too long to figure out the tempo of the game,” Thomas said. “We realized too late there was still time to come back and do something. We know we have to play some great teams, but we will have a chance to win group play or be a wild card.”
Krawzak was encouraged.
“I liked the fact that up until the very end we battled and we never quit,.” he said. “The game was really close. They had some good chances, and we had some really good chances. One mistake decided the game. I was pleased with our play. I was just disappointed with the result.”
Starting lineups
Carmel
GK: Sophia Sarkis
D: Lily Sykes
D: Ciara Thomas
D: Maddy Splitt
D: Liz Galla
MF: Riley Harmon
MF: Olivia Salvi
MF: Mia Salvi
F: Kathleen Graham
F: Zenaya Barnes
F: Skyler Thomas
Hinsdale Central
GK: Fiona Fitzsimons
D: Samantha Moriarty
D: Olivia Rayis
D: Sophie Simmons
D: Madeline Swade
MF: Jane Cole
MF: Elle Jenkins
MF: Madigan Lynch
F: Camille Lubic
F: Jackie Blake
F: Samantha Guido
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Samantha Guido, jr., F, Hinsdale Central
Scoring summary
First half
Hinsdale Central —Samantha Guido (Sophie Simmons), fourth minute
Guido's early goal holds up for Malnati's opening win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
EVANSTON -- If every game starts out a blank slate, Samantha Guido saw an instant opportunity to forge the game to her style and liking. In her case location meant everything. She was in the right spot at the ideal time.
Possibility and chance fused together.
Making her second-straight start at forward, she applied pressure deep in the Carmel box and was the beneficiary of an open ball that she put away in the fourth minute as Hinsdale Central stunned the previously unbeaten no. 11 Corsairs 1-0 in the opening round of group play of the Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic here Saturday afternoon.
Junior defender Sophie Simmons played the original ball. Then Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match saw her chance.
“I thought I have to run over and get pressure,” Guido said. “I didn’t think anything was going to come of it and then the goalkeeper ended up missing the ball. I was able to slide in and poke it into the back of the net. It totally changed the mood of the game.”
Guido played defender in the Red Devils’ first four games as first-year coach Bryan Ciesiulka experimented with different formations and lineups. Hinsdale Central beat a solid York team in the its West Suburban Conference Silver Division opener on Thursday.
“I have always preferred to be more of an attacking player,” Guido said. “I am one of the bigger people on the field, so I am always in there for defensive support. Getting into the attack part of the field changed the whole aspect of the game.”
Every game is its own entity. The unexpected upends the larger narrative, bringing confidence and hope to one side and a bit of despair to the other.
“It was kind of crazy,” Guido said. “I was not expecting that, not four minutes in. It definitely made us push more and more, and it give us more energy. It hyped me, and it hyped my team. It made us all believe that we could win it.”
After a slow start, Hinsdale Central (2-4-1) has won its last two games.
“Today was awesome,” Ciesiulka said. “As a coaching staff, before the game we said we needed to get some chances in the first five minutes and hit it over and top and not mess around. Something good is going to happen. Credit Sophie and Sammy.”
Twenty-three is the other operative number. That is how many days have passed since Carmel (3-1-0) played its last game, a 4-0 victory over Palatine on March 15th. Spring break and a postponed Tuesday game against Warren only aggravated the separation between the Corsairs’ last games.
“I definitely thought it was a huge factor,” junior Carmel forward Skyler Thomas said. “We have been trying to get training in. We have had to do sprints inside the gym. Our preparation has been looking off a whiteboard. It has been hard putting our strategy into a game situation. We made one mistake in this game. The game could have gone either way.”
The goal was the first conceded by the Corsairs. Dazed at the start, Carmel worked well to find a rhythm. A certain disconnect was palpable. Carmel generated some solid scoring opportunities. Riley Harmon had two compelling moments in the 70th and 73rd minute. Carmel seemed a step behind and could not generate the normal velocity and accuracy.
“This is like the start of the second season,” Carmel coach Ray Krawzak said. “An individual mistake happens early in the game, and it put us behind the whole game. It is natural to wonder how the game would have played out if we had not given up that goal or whether we would have allowed that goal if we had a chance to get in a couple more games. It probably would have been a totally different game.
“That’s soccer, and the nature of the spring sports season.”
Guido’s goal told one part of the story. Sophomore Red Devils’ keeper Fiona Fitzsimons wrote her own chapter. She was active and engaged, alert to the Corsairs’ attempts to push numbers forward. She broke up a near breakaway in the 68th minute by sprinting off her line. Whatever the result, she was not going to play passive and allow the game come to her.
“If you don’t come off the line, you are not really doing the job right,” Fitzsimons said. “If players are loose and coming at the goal and you just stay on your goal, you are not going to be able to do anything.”
She finished with seven saves. The early goal gave her some leeway to take chances. The Red Devils were not going to necessarily play it safe. “I think it was a full team effort,” Fitzsimons said. “We played every play as it were a zero-zero scenario.”
Samantha Moriarty, Olivia Rayis, Madeline Swade and Simmons constituted the skilled and disruptive backline that threw the Corsairs’ big-play attack off balance. The victory marked the team’s first shutout.
“The beginning of the season was a whole different kind of atmosphere,” Guido said. “The past couple of games we are really flowing as a team. We have bonded and that is reflected in our play on the field as well.”
Ciesiulka has been emphasizing the need to privilege possession. Midfielders Jane Cole and Elle Jenkins brought a consistency that created a fluent style the Corsairs were never able to transcend.
“Over the last week and a half we have definitely been building, and we are starting to play the way we want,” Ciesiulka said. “It’s taking time. I am asking a lot of them. It’s a new system. We have a lot of new girls, and I am a new coach.”
Making their tournament debut, Carmel had an admittedly disappointing start. But just getting to compete allowed the team to re-acclimate to the speed and physicality of the game and yielded benefits.
“It took us too long to figure out the tempo of the game,” Thomas said. “We realized too late there was still time to come back and do something. We know we have to play some great teams, but we will have a chance to win group play or be a wild card.”
Krawzak was encouraged.
“I liked the fact that up until the very end we battled and we never quit,.” he said. “The game was really close. They had some good chances, and we had some really good chances. One mistake decided the game. I was pleased with our play. I was just disappointed with the result.”
Starting lineups
Carmel
GK: Sophia Sarkis
D: Lily Sykes
D: Ciara Thomas
D: Maddy Splitt
D: Liz Galla
MF: Riley Harmon
MF: Olivia Salvi
MF: Mia Salvi
F: Kathleen Graham
F: Zenaya Barnes
F: Skyler Thomas
Hinsdale Central
GK: Fiona Fitzsimons
D: Samantha Moriarty
D: Olivia Rayis
D: Sophie Simmons
D: Madeline Swade
MF: Jane Cole
MF: Elle Jenkins
MF: Madigan Lynch
F: Camille Lubic
F: Jackie Blake
F: Samantha Guido
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Samantha Guido, jr., F, Hinsdale Central
Scoring summary
First half
Hinsdale Central —Samantha Guido (Sophie Simmons), fourth minute