GBN's Fraser delivers vs. Deerfield
Senior's goal, 3 assists give Spartans CSL North lead with 7-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NORTHBROOK -- Robbie Fraser is a demanding player who reaches for the highest level. He is sharply critical of his own performance, even when he reaches his own objective.
In a showdown of Central Suburban League North Division unbeatens Tuesday, Fraser put on an astonishing display of poise, skill and touch in scoring a goal and registering three assists as no. 8 Glenbrook North humbled Deerfield 7-0.
The Spartans (10-2-1, 3-0-0) won their sixth-straight game and emphatically ended the Warriors’ three-game winning streak. Fraser was the dynamic part at the center of their attack with three first half assists off set pieces.
All four of the Spartans’ first half goals were on dead balls. Fraser deflected the credit and found something slightly wanting in his performance.
“Honestly they were not my best deliveries but my teammates just bailed me out,” Fraser said. “I think we just did very well to get down into that area of the field to get those set pieces to start with.”
Glenbrook North coach Paul Vignocchi required no reserve in praising the play of Fraser, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, for his striking accomplishments.
“It all starts with Robbie Fraser in the middle,” Vignocchi said. “He does a phenomenal job controlling the midfield and distributing the ball to our attack. I thought our biggest key in the first half was not turning the ball over. We knew Deerfield was athletic, and they were going to pressure the ball pretty hard with their speed. I think we had maybe two or three turnovers the whole first half.
“We valued the ball, which was great, and that created the opportunities that we had.”
As Fraser showed, the art of the set piece is a learned craft. He approached it as an artist, tough, direct and always ready to refine and develop his capacity to improve.
“I have put in a lot of work over the summer just hitting and swinging at balls, working with my teammates at getting corners and free kicks,” Fraser said. “I developed a lot of it on my own time, this summer and past summers.”
Deerfield (5-7-0, 2-1-0) knew any chance it possessed of pulling off the upset required a fast start. Fraser disabused the Warriors of that notion in the seventh minute. Off a corner from the right, he angled a quick ball that senior midfielder Matt Metzger buried with a quick one touch inside the near post for the early Spartans’ advantage.
The Warriors were knocked back.
“First off Glenbrook North just had too much speed on the outside, and they were playing quick through the middle,” Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. “You have to recognize that is a very talented and fast team. They have a lot of skill all over the field.”
Hurtig said the Warriors failed to match the early intensity and physical play established by the Spartans.
“We were making some bad fouls, and then we could not defend dead ball plays,” he said. “They scored four goals off of dead ball plays and honestly, three of them were our fault because we did not go up and win the ball in the box. They were strong on dead ball plays, but we were incredibly soft and not hungry.”
Deerfield also suffered a significant blow when star senior midfielder Louis Solovy, the one who makes their attack hum, hit the ground hard in the first half and favored his right shoulder. Before the game got away, the Warriors hung tight, with senior forward Cory Johnson blasting two shots from distance and junior midfielder Noah Braunstein getting a header that was just wide of the mark.
Just as Deerfield recovered and started to get into its own flow, the wheels suddenly flew off, primarily because they could not stop the penetration of the Spartans’ dynamic middle, keyed by Fraser, senior midfielder Sahil Modi and junior Max Marquez.
Modi was fouled inside the box, leading to a penalty kick by senior forward Deng Deng Kur in the 13th minute that pushed the lead to 2-0. Fraser struck again in the 24th minute from the right wing, serving a direct kick that defender/midfielder George Luke buried with another lethal one touch.
The fourth goal was another moment of beauty, underlining the Spartans’ ability to synchronize movement and combination. Fraser initiated the sequence with a corner kick from the left edge that Modi quickly headed from the far post to Deng Kur for the goal in the 31st minute.
“We have been working a lot with organization in the attack and just moving the ball on the ground,” Fraser said. “It really showed today. It was probably our best game of letting the ball do the work, moving the ball around and getting it in good areas, where good things happen.”
Fraser put the finishing touches on his standout game by scoring a goal of his own, from a beautiful cross from Modi, in the 47th minute. Reserve senior forward Alex Kahn scored goals in the 59th and 78th minute.
Deerfield played better than the score suggests. Despite not having Solovy for much of the second half, the Warriors pressed with Johnson, who registered three hard shots on goal in the second half. Barak Farhi, Evan Oldham and Jude Tatham came off the bench and gave Deerfield quality play.
Deerfield’s two other starting forwards, Nikita Bankevich and Ryan David, maintained the attack, but they could not solve the Glenbrook North defense. As explosive as the Spartans’ offense is, their defense is solid and sharply constructed. Glenbrook North features quality depth in the back.
“We put (new) guys in and the level of play does not drop,” Glenbrook North defender Sam Heydt said. “It is still an organized, compact back and we did not have a lot of breakdowns defensively.”
Deerfield has witnessed this kind of difficult loss once before. The Warriors were beaten by no. 4 New Trier by an identical margin. The team grew from the experience.
“I think the foundation of this team is character, and we have a lot of guys who have pride,” Hurtig said. “When you have that you are able to bounce back. After a 7-0 loss to New Trier, we won three in a row, and we played a tough Maine South team very well.
“Now we just have to recognize we are not going to win conference, but we are still fighting for second place in the division and a good seed in the state tournament.”
Starting lineups
Deerfield
GK: Ryan Grady
D: Dylan Capp
D: Jeff Lehrman
D: Jack Hammontree
D: Eric Kenney
MF: Louis Solovy
MF: Adam Odzer
MF: Noah Braunstein
F: Cory Johnson
F: Nikita Bankevich
F: Ryan David
Glenbrook North
GK: Daniel Spencer
D: Sam Heydt
D: Ben Gordon
D: George Luke
D: Evan Goldberg
MF: Brandon Mankoff
MF: Max Marquez
MF: Matt Metzger
MF: Robbie Fraser
MF: Sahil Modi
F: Deng Deng Kur
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Robbie Fraser, sr., MF, Glenbrook North
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook North—Matt Metzger (Robbie Fraser), 7th minute
Glenbrook North—Deng Deng Kur (penalty kick), 13th minute
Glenbrook North—George Luke (Fraser), 24th minute
Glenbrook North—Kur (Fraser, Sahil Modi), 31st minute
Second half
Glenbrook North—Fraser (Modi), 47th minute
Glenbrook North—Alex Kahn, 59th minute
Glenbrook North—Kahn, 78th minute
Senior's goal, 3 assists give Spartans CSL North lead with 7-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NORTHBROOK -- Robbie Fraser is a demanding player who reaches for the highest level. He is sharply critical of his own performance, even when he reaches his own objective.
In a showdown of Central Suburban League North Division unbeatens Tuesday, Fraser put on an astonishing display of poise, skill and touch in scoring a goal and registering three assists as no. 8 Glenbrook North humbled Deerfield 7-0.
The Spartans (10-2-1, 3-0-0) won their sixth-straight game and emphatically ended the Warriors’ three-game winning streak. Fraser was the dynamic part at the center of their attack with three first half assists off set pieces.
All four of the Spartans’ first half goals were on dead balls. Fraser deflected the credit and found something slightly wanting in his performance.
“Honestly they were not my best deliveries but my teammates just bailed me out,” Fraser said. “I think we just did very well to get down into that area of the field to get those set pieces to start with.”
Glenbrook North coach Paul Vignocchi required no reserve in praising the play of Fraser, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, for his striking accomplishments.
“It all starts with Robbie Fraser in the middle,” Vignocchi said. “He does a phenomenal job controlling the midfield and distributing the ball to our attack. I thought our biggest key in the first half was not turning the ball over. We knew Deerfield was athletic, and they were going to pressure the ball pretty hard with their speed. I think we had maybe two or three turnovers the whole first half.
“We valued the ball, which was great, and that created the opportunities that we had.”
As Fraser showed, the art of the set piece is a learned craft. He approached it as an artist, tough, direct and always ready to refine and develop his capacity to improve.
“I have put in a lot of work over the summer just hitting and swinging at balls, working with my teammates at getting corners and free kicks,” Fraser said. “I developed a lot of it on my own time, this summer and past summers.”
Deerfield (5-7-0, 2-1-0) knew any chance it possessed of pulling off the upset required a fast start. Fraser disabused the Warriors of that notion in the seventh minute. Off a corner from the right, he angled a quick ball that senior midfielder Matt Metzger buried with a quick one touch inside the near post for the early Spartans’ advantage.
The Warriors were knocked back.
“First off Glenbrook North just had too much speed on the outside, and they were playing quick through the middle,” Deerfield coach Elliott Hurtig said. “You have to recognize that is a very talented and fast team. They have a lot of skill all over the field.”
Hurtig said the Warriors failed to match the early intensity and physical play established by the Spartans.
“We were making some bad fouls, and then we could not defend dead ball plays,” he said. “They scored four goals off of dead ball plays and honestly, three of them were our fault because we did not go up and win the ball in the box. They were strong on dead ball plays, but we were incredibly soft and not hungry.”
Deerfield also suffered a significant blow when star senior midfielder Louis Solovy, the one who makes their attack hum, hit the ground hard in the first half and favored his right shoulder. Before the game got away, the Warriors hung tight, with senior forward Cory Johnson blasting two shots from distance and junior midfielder Noah Braunstein getting a header that was just wide of the mark.
Just as Deerfield recovered and started to get into its own flow, the wheels suddenly flew off, primarily because they could not stop the penetration of the Spartans’ dynamic middle, keyed by Fraser, senior midfielder Sahil Modi and junior Max Marquez.
Modi was fouled inside the box, leading to a penalty kick by senior forward Deng Deng Kur in the 13th minute that pushed the lead to 2-0. Fraser struck again in the 24th minute from the right wing, serving a direct kick that defender/midfielder George Luke buried with another lethal one touch.
The fourth goal was another moment of beauty, underlining the Spartans’ ability to synchronize movement and combination. Fraser initiated the sequence with a corner kick from the left edge that Modi quickly headed from the far post to Deng Kur for the goal in the 31st minute.
“We have been working a lot with organization in the attack and just moving the ball on the ground,” Fraser said. “It really showed today. It was probably our best game of letting the ball do the work, moving the ball around and getting it in good areas, where good things happen.”
Fraser put the finishing touches on his standout game by scoring a goal of his own, from a beautiful cross from Modi, in the 47th minute. Reserve senior forward Alex Kahn scored goals in the 59th and 78th minute.
Deerfield played better than the score suggests. Despite not having Solovy for much of the second half, the Warriors pressed with Johnson, who registered three hard shots on goal in the second half. Barak Farhi, Evan Oldham and Jude Tatham came off the bench and gave Deerfield quality play.
Deerfield’s two other starting forwards, Nikita Bankevich and Ryan David, maintained the attack, but they could not solve the Glenbrook North defense. As explosive as the Spartans’ offense is, their defense is solid and sharply constructed. Glenbrook North features quality depth in the back.
“We put (new) guys in and the level of play does not drop,” Glenbrook North defender Sam Heydt said. “It is still an organized, compact back and we did not have a lot of breakdowns defensively.”
Deerfield has witnessed this kind of difficult loss once before. The Warriors were beaten by no. 4 New Trier by an identical margin. The team grew from the experience.
“I think the foundation of this team is character, and we have a lot of guys who have pride,” Hurtig said. “When you have that you are able to bounce back. After a 7-0 loss to New Trier, we won three in a row, and we played a tough Maine South team very well.
“Now we just have to recognize we are not going to win conference, but we are still fighting for second place in the division and a good seed in the state tournament.”
Starting lineups
Deerfield
GK: Ryan Grady
D: Dylan Capp
D: Jeff Lehrman
D: Jack Hammontree
D: Eric Kenney
MF: Louis Solovy
MF: Adam Odzer
MF: Noah Braunstein
F: Cory Johnson
F: Nikita Bankevich
F: Ryan David
Glenbrook North
GK: Daniel Spencer
D: Sam Heydt
D: Ben Gordon
D: George Luke
D: Evan Goldberg
MF: Brandon Mankoff
MF: Max Marquez
MF: Matt Metzger
MF: Robbie Fraser
MF: Sahil Modi
F: Deng Deng Kur
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Robbie Fraser, sr., MF, Glenbrook North
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook North—Matt Metzger (Robbie Fraser), 7th minute
Glenbrook North—Deng Deng Kur (penalty kick), 13th minute
Glenbrook North—George Luke (Fraser), 24th minute
Glenbrook North—Kur (Fraser, Sahil Modi), 31st minute
Second half
Glenbrook North—Fraser (Modi), 47th minute
Glenbrook North—Alex Kahn, 59th minute
Glenbrook North—Kahn, 78th minute