Palatine, Noga go ‘bowling,’
knock down Deerfield
Pirates notch second 2-1 victory for new coach
By Bill McLean
PALATINE — The shot that opened the scoring Tuesday night took a path similar to that of a bowling ball, hooking to the left at the last second.
Palatine junior forward Karol (pronounced “Karl”) Noga used his right foot to strike the ball near a sideline from about 20 yards. Pirates junior defender Andrew Kania fed the ball to his teammate in the 47th minute at Chic Anderson Stadium.
“I looked up and noticed the goalkeeper was off his line, so I went for it,” said Noga, whose shoe size did not adorn the back of his cleats.
Palatine didn’t exactly roll to a victory in perfect weather conditions, but it happily pocketed a 2-1 victory. Noga’s first tally of 2022 preceded sophomore teammate Jerry Afonrinwo’s first varsity goal, as the Pirates improved to 2-0-0 under first-year head coach and 2003 Palatine alumnus Aaron Morris.
Palatine defeated host Niles West 2-1 Monday night in the Central Suburban League/Mid-Suburban League Challenge behind senior Dennis ValleRauda’s brace.
“Palatine is a strong team, a physical club, with a lot of skill up-top,” said Warriors coach Ryan Crane, a 2008 Deerfield graduate and a fellow first-year varsity coach.
Crane’s club battled Tuesday with rostered defender Matthew Neumann in goal. The senior made 10 saves filling in for sophomore starter Xander Yang, who had to sit out the nonconference match after receiving a red card in a 3-2 loss to Hoffman Estates in the CSL/MSL event.
Injuries forced Crane to promote sophomore Christian Castro to the big club. The forward netted Deerfield’s goal in the 78th minute following a free kick from senior forward and fourth-year varsity booter Ryder Coleman.
“There was some scrambling going on in the box,” said Castro, who notched a hat-trick in a sophomore game Monday afternoon. “I slipped under a few defenders.”
He then beat winning keeper Charlie Rebollar (8 saves) from less than a foot out.
“We fight,” said Crane, whose crew fell to 0-2-0 with the loss. “We’ve faced adversity at times, but our resiliency has helped us. We have values, one being resiliency, and we talk a lot about energy and taking pride in it when we show more energy than the other team.”
Five minutes in, Palatine started to lose its oomph. The missing vigor dismayed Morris, a fullback under former Pirates boys and girls coach Willie Filian, who retired after 34 years this past spring.
“I was disappointed,” Morris admitted. “Our work rate and pressure dropped off uncharacteristically. We can control those things — that’s what I communicated to my team at halftime.”
Morris’ words struck a chord. ValleRauda pounded a shot-on-goal in the first minute of the second half. Noga delivered more heat with a shot shortly thereafter. Good-bye, sluggishness. Hello, relentlessness.
Noga earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his threat-a-second effort in each half and every time the ball was at or near his feet. He also made a fine defensive play three minutes after his goal, swiping the ball at midfield in a 1-v-1
before taking himself out of the action because of a leg cramp.
“Fast, and just dangerous in total,” electric reserve forward Afonrinwo said of Noga.
Afonrinwo sent the cross of the night. His pass found a charging ValleRauda in the 70th minute. The midfielder’s shot bruised the near post and nearly maimed a player or two as it ricocheted toward the field of play.
Three minutes later, Afonrinwo, after a throw-in from junior defender Jordan Mok, planted himself near keeper Neumann and used the top of his head to put the hosts up 2-0.
“What I try to do is give the team as much energy as possible off the bench,” Afonrinwo said. “That’s important because Dennis and Karol, they’re so good, so fast, so skillful.
“My goal, every minute I’m in there, is to make things happen, put a defense under constant pressure.”
Deerfield’s late goal Tuesday night turned the last 1 minute, 45 seconds into a delightful span of urgency and frenzy.
The difference between a two-goal lead and a one-goal advantage in soccer, after all, is akin to midnight and noon. Or night and day.
“Coming off our loss (to Hoffman Estates) made us hungry tonight,” Warriors junior midfielder Nathan Garcia said. “Not winning tonight was tough, but we showed something, showed what we’re made of when we scored when we did. That goal
got our adrenaline going and gave us the momentum we’d been trying to establish.
“We’ll be fine. We’re motivated to win; we’ll always be. We’re a hard-working team.”
Palatine hosts Buffalo Grove in the teams’ Mid-Suburban League opener on Thursday at 6:45 p.m.; Deerfield (0-2-0) visits Grayslake Central — ranked no. 17 in the Chicagoland Soccer First 50 — on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Grayslake Central finished 14-8-2 last season, but most importantly won their first five playoff games to finish a program-best fourth at the Class AA state tournament last fall. That landed them at no. 23 in Chicagoland Soccer Final 50 state-wide poll last November.
Footnotes
Deerfield led Hoffman Estates 2-0 on Monday night, thanks to goals from Coleman, a co-captain, and junior forward Mason Greitens. The visiting Hawks then struck for a trio of goals in the final 20 minutes in their 3-2 triumph. … Senior back James Weiner is also a Deerfield co-captain this fall. … Crane, a social studies teacher at his alma mater, was Deerfield’s goalkeepers coach under former Warriors helmsman Elliott Hurtig for 10 seasons before accepting the head coach position in February. Hurtig, Crane said Tuesday, is traveling across Europe. He’s in France for a month, with visits
to Scotland and Tuscany also on his itinerary. … Morris, like Filian did for many seasons, will also coach girls soccer at Palatine. … Crane was Deerfield’s goalkeepers coach for the school’s girls soccer program last spring, when the Warriors finished
third at the AA state tournament for coach Rich Grady, who is Crane’s assistant. … Afonrinwo is a member of Palatine High’s Advancement of Black Leaders club, which worked on a school-wide “art happening” that focused on identity, culture and leadership last year. … Crane started in goal for two regional championship squads at Deerfield and flashed his keeper abilities during Tuesday’s match at Palatine by deftly securing a pair of errant soccer balls along the sideline. … Paige Millstone, who is one of a trio of Palatine team managers, can play a bit herself; the senior is a Drake commit.
Starting lineups
Deerfield
GK Matthew Neumann
D Justin Blumenthal
D James Weiner
D Ethan Helfand
M Nathan Garcia
M Jason Nieder
M Addison Simon
M Cristian Carani
F Cole Gawin
F Ryder Coleman
F Ari Shamberg
Palatine
G Charlie Rebollar
D Fabian Vargas
D Karan Toor
D Jordan Mok
D Liam Rhattigan
D Andrew Kania
M Zachery Sondergaard
M Dennis ValleRauda
M Damien Drzewiecki
F Karol Noga
F Jesus Leyva
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Karol Noga, jr., F, Palatine
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Palatine—Noga (Kania), 47’
Palatine—Jerry Afonrinwo (Mok), 73’
Deerfield—Christian Castro (Coleman), 78’
knock down Deerfield
Pirates notch second 2-1 victory for new coach
By Bill McLean
PALATINE — The shot that opened the scoring Tuesday night took a path similar to that of a bowling ball, hooking to the left at the last second.
Palatine junior forward Karol (pronounced “Karl”) Noga used his right foot to strike the ball near a sideline from about 20 yards. Pirates junior defender Andrew Kania fed the ball to his teammate in the 47th minute at Chic Anderson Stadium.
“I looked up and noticed the goalkeeper was off his line, so I went for it,” said Noga, whose shoe size did not adorn the back of his cleats.
Palatine didn’t exactly roll to a victory in perfect weather conditions, but it happily pocketed a 2-1 victory. Noga’s first tally of 2022 preceded sophomore teammate Jerry Afonrinwo’s first varsity goal, as the Pirates improved to 2-0-0 under first-year head coach and 2003 Palatine alumnus Aaron Morris.
Palatine defeated host Niles West 2-1 Monday night in the Central Suburban League/Mid-Suburban League Challenge behind senior Dennis ValleRauda’s brace.
“Palatine is a strong team, a physical club, with a lot of skill up-top,” said Warriors coach Ryan Crane, a 2008 Deerfield graduate and a fellow first-year varsity coach.
Crane’s club battled Tuesday with rostered defender Matthew Neumann in goal. The senior made 10 saves filling in for sophomore starter Xander Yang, who had to sit out the nonconference match after receiving a red card in a 3-2 loss to Hoffman Estates in the CSL/MSL event.
Injuries forced Crane to promote sophomore Christian Castro to the big club. The forward netted Deerfield’s goal in the 78th minute following a free kick from senior forward and fourth-year varsity booter Ryder Coleman.
“There was some scrambling going on in the box,” said Castro, who notched a hat-trick in a sophomore game Monday afternoon. “I slipped under a few defenders.”
He then beat winning keeper Charlie Rebollar (8 saves) from less than a foot out.
“We fight,” said Crane, whose crew fell to 0-2-0 with the loss. “We’ve faced adversity at times, but our resiliency has helped us. We have values, one being resiliency, and we talk a lot about energy and taking pride in it when we show more energy than the other team.”
Five minutes in, Palatine started to lose its oomph. The missing vigor dismayed Morris, a fullback under former Pirates boys and girls coach Willie Filian, who retired after 34 years this past spring.
“I was disappointed,” Morris admitted. “Our work rate and pressure dropped off uncharacteristically. We can control those things — that’s what I communicated to my team at halftime.”
Morris’ words struck a chord. ValleRauda pounded a shot-on-goal in the first minute of the second half. Noga delivered more heat with a shot shortly thereafter. Good-bye, sluggishness. Hello, relentlessness.
Noga earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his threat-a-second effort in each half and every time the ball was at or near his feet. He also made a fine defensive play three minutes after his goal, swiping the ball at midfield in a 1-v-1
before taking himself out of the action because of a leg cramp.
“Fast, and just dangerous in total,” electric reserve forward Afonrinwo said of Noga.
Afonrinwo sent the cross of the night. His pass found a charging ValleRauda in the 70th minute. The midfielder’s shot bruised the near post and nearly maimed a player or two as it ricocheted toward the field of play.
Three minutes later, Afonrinwo, after a throw-in from junior defender Jordan Mok, planted himself near keeper Neumann and used the top of his head to put the hosts up 2-0.
“What I try to do is give the team as much energy as possible off the bench,” Afonrinwo said. “That’s important because Dennis and Karol, they’re so good, so fast, so skillful.
“My goal, every minute I’m in there, is to make things happen, put a defense under constant pressure.”
Deerfield’s late goal Tuesday night turned the last 1 minute, 45 seconds into a delightful span of urgency and frenzy.
The difference between a two-goal lead and a one-goal advantage in soccer, after all, is akin to midnight and noon. Or night and day.
“Coming off our loss (to Hoffman Estates) made us hungry tonight,” Warriors junior midfielder Nathan Garcia said. “Not winning tonight was tough, but we showed something, showed what we’re made of when we scored when we did. That goal
got our adrenaline going and gave us the momentum we’d been trying to establish.
“We’ll be fine. We’re motivated to win; we’ll always be. We’re a hard-working team.”
Palatine hosts Buffalo Grove in the teams’ Mid-Suburban League opener on Thursday at 6:45 p.m.; Deerfield (0-2-0) visits Grayslake Central — ranked no. 17 in the Chicagoland Soccer First 50 — on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Grayslake Central finished 14-8-2 last season, but most importantly won their first five playoff games to finish a program-best fourth at the Class AA state tournament last fall. That landed them at no. 23 in Chicagoland Soccer Final 50 state-wide poll last November.
Footnotes
Deerfield led Hoffman Estates 2-0 on Monday night, thanks to goals from Coleman, a co-captain, and junior forward Mason Greitens. The visiting Hawks then struck for a trio of goals in the final 20 minutes in their 3-2 triumph. … Senior back James Weiner is also a Deerfield co-captain this fall. … Crane, a social studies teacher at his alma mater, was Deerfield’s goalkeepers coach under former Warriors helmsman Elliott Hurtig for 10 seasons before accepting the head coach position in February. Hurtig, Crane said Tuesday, is traveling across Europe. He’s in France for a month, with visits
to Scotland and Tuscany also on his itinerary. … Morris, like Filian did for many seasons, will also coach girls soccer at Palatine. … Crane was Deerfield’s goalkeepers coach for the school’s girls soccer program last spring, when the Warriors finished
third at the AA state tournament for coach Rich Grady, who is Crane’s assistant. … Afonrinwo is a member of Palatine High’s Advancement of Black Leaders club, which worked on a school-wide “art happening” that focused on identity, culture and leadership last year. … Crane started in goal for two regional championship squads at Deerfield and flashed his keeper abilities during Tuesday’s match at Palatine by deftly securing a pair of errant soccer balls along the sideline. … Paige Millstone, who is one of a trio of Palatine team managers, can play a bit herself; the senior is a Drake commit.
Starting lineups
Deerfield
GK Matthew Neumann
D Justin Blumenthal
D James Weiner
D Ethan Helfand
M Nathan Garcia
M Jason Nieder
M Addison Simon
M Cristian Carani
F Cole Gawin
F Ryder Coleman
F Ari Shamberg
Palatine
G Charlie Rebollar
D Fabian Vargas
D Karan Toor
D Jordan Mok
D Liam Rhattigan
D Andrew Kania
M Zachery Sondergaard
M Dennis ValleRauda
M Damien Drzewiecki
F Karol Noga
F Jesus Leyva
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Karol Noga, jr., F, Palatine
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Palatine—Noga (Kania), 47’
Palatine—Jerry Afonrinwo (Mok), 73’
Deerfield—Christian Castro (Coleman), 78’