Saint Viator cools off hot Deerfield
Warriors suffer 1st loss of the season
By Patrick Z. McGavin
SCHAUMBURG -- Soccer is so fast, fluid and spontaneous that reflection is not always possible.
Deerfield forward Riley Schimanski found herself caught up in her own reverie.
As a freshman during the 2019 season, she got thrown into the mix after an illness caused star Mallori Killoren to miss a significant part of the season.
What was supposed to be a gradual immersion became a large and significant role.
Now the Chicagoland Soccer all-stater is a seasoned and savvy veteran who is the conductor of one of the most explosive offenses around.
“This team is really special,” she said. “We’ve had this bond, and everyone is really close and really supportive of each other.
“Being our senior year now, we want to go out with a bang. We want to go hard, and we want to win. I think working hard now is going to help us later in the postseason.”
Schimanski also knows how good a player Saint Viator midfielder Emilie Doersching is.
“Emilie plays on my club team, and she is always a tough competitor,” Schimanski said. “We locked her up a little today, but she is really good.”
Coming off a dominant 4-1 win over then no. 12 New Trier on Thursday, the Warriors looked to extend their magical start.
Deerfield started hot until Doersching took command with an assist and the game-winning goal in the 3-2 Saint Viator victory in the BodyArmour Series on Sunday at Olympic Park.
Playing their third game in 60 hours proved a little too taxing for the then no. 21 Warriors (7-1-1).
“Given our game against New Trier was Thursday and we had another tough game yesterday, physically 80 minutes is a lot, and it took a toll on our bodies,” midfielder Holly Deutsch said.
Legendary Saint Viator coach Mike Taylor retired last year after directing the Lions to their fourth state trophy in his 11 years with the girls.
Byron DeLeon, formerly of Maine East, has taken over the boys and girls program of the private school powerhouse.
Doersching was the top returning player from that team. Her goal and two assists powered the Lions to third place victory over St. Ignatius in the Class AA finals last spring.
The Northern Kentucky recruit earned Chicagoland Soccer all-state recognition with her deft shot-making prowess, vision and ability to set up her teammates.
She had 14 goals and 24 assists last year.
“I play the same position as last year, but I’m a senior now, and I have to be more of a leader because the younger girls look up to me,” Doersching said.
“We have a new coach, and we have been moving some players around, because we graduated some good players. We have been working to build up a new team. We started off slow, and we are getting our momentum up.”
Saint Viator (3-1-2) was ranked 20th in Chicagoland Soccer’s season-opening First 50 state-wide poll. The Lions tied Buffalo Grove 1-1 in their season opener March 14 and then fell to then no. 22 Lane on March 16. Since then, they’ve built a four game unbeaten streak (3-0-1).
On Sunday, Deerfield dominated the first half in both possession time and quality of chances.
Schimanski created incredible pressure up-top. Deutsch and midfielder Emily Fox also played with tremendous urgency and poise.
Fox delivered in the 11th minute with a beautiful left-footed free kick from 22 yards that curved inside the far post.
She has been a revelation since bursting on the scene last year as a freshman when she scored 17 goals and added 10 assists to achieve Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List status.
“Coming in as a freshman like that, you don’t know what to expect playing with all of these older people,” Fox said.
“As I started scoring goals, I got a lot more confident.”
The team’s lead playmaker, Deutsch saw something in Fox right away.
“She got more comfortable with the team,” Deutsch said.
The Warriors’ attack has been brilliant and scary good this season, averaging just under five goals a game.
The four goals Deerfield scored against New Trier Thursday is the most the Trevians have allowed since 2019.
“We are a very attacking-based team,” Fox said. “Holly’s a great winger, and she is wonderful at crossing for me or Riley.
“That’s how we get a lot of our goals.”
Up 1-0 to start the second half, Deerfield exploded off the jump. Coach Rich Grady inserted freshman midfielder Caroline McAnally with the second half starters.
The move paid off spectacularly as she darted down the right edge and played a ball to the streaking Deutsch.
Deutsch moved quickly to her left and hammered home a ball from about 12 yards for the 2-0 advantage.
Everything was looking up, and Deerfield seemed it was on a path to avenge its 2021 supersectional loss to the Lions. Until they weren’t.
Moments later, Doersching took control. Her deep pressure yielded a foul on the left edge.
Working from there, her sharply played ball into the box found a streaking Gabriella Letto.
Her header at the 45th minute cut the Deerfield advantage in half.
It also launched a dominant 15-minute stretch by the Lions.
“The first goal definitely got our energy up,” Doersching said.
“That’s really big for us when we score that first goal, because after that we tend to keep scoring.”
Physical and athletic, Letto maintained the pressure minutes later. Shielding her defender off her back, she caught a through-ball and made another deft, quick touch for the tying goal in the 50th minute.
“Speaking as someone who is new here because I played club my last three years, I felt I had to be a role model,” Letto said.
“Even when we were down, we had to dig deeper and come together and stay positive. I felt alive after that first goal, and I just felt like we were going to get this.”
Doersching completed the comeback in the 61st minute by finishing a looping ball from 18 yards on the right wing. She earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
“There are going to be instances when we are down, and we have to keep pushing through,” she said.
“We have been working a lot on shooting and scoring in practice.”
Momentum often moves downhill. Deerfield could not quite stop the change of fortunes.
“Normally we are very good at responding once we get scored on,” Fox said.
“Today I guess we were just unlucky.”
Schimanski and Deutsch had great looks in the final 20 minutes. The Warriors recovered, and found their stride.
They just could not quite put on a last, clean touch.
“We have chemistry, and our work rate, on and off the field, in practice or games, has been very high,” Deutsch said.
“We have this mindset of really wanting to punish teams.”
This game got away from them. The Warriors look to learn from the experience.
“We had a bad 15-20 minutes, but I thought we responded well,” Grady said.
“We just could not find the tying goal.”
Grady saw positives, especially strong play from sophomore midfielder Ruby Levy, who saw her first extended time since returning from an injury.
“It was a good game, and it gave us insights into what we needed to work on,” Grady said.
“I’m disappointed in the way we were scored on. We will learn from it. I told the girls, with the schedule we play, we were not going to go undefeated.”
Starting lineups
Saint Viator
G: Kyli Ziebka
D: Emma Ziebka
D: Mary Craig
D: Joey Westerkamp
D: Monica Correa
MF: Allison Konopka
MF: Sydney Grant
MF: Gabriella Letto
MF: Emillie Doersching
F: Taylor Brackett
F: Meghan McLaughlin
Deerfield
GK: Lauren Gottlieb
D: Maddie Stevens
D: Katie Morgan
D: Emma Gassman
D: Ally Linn
MF: Holly Deutsch
MF: Emily Fox
MF: Jessie Fisher
MF: Erin Emory
F: Riley Schimanski
F: Ryane Emory
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Emilie Doersching, sr., MF, Saint Viator
Scoring summary
First half
Deerfield: Emily Fox (free kick), 11th minute
Second half
Deerfield: Holly Deutsch (Caroline McAnally), 42nd minute
SV: Gabriella Letto (Emillie Doersching, 45th minute
SV: Letto (Monica Correa), 50th minute
SV: Doersching (Taylor Brackett), 61st minute
Warriors suffer 1st loss of the season
By Patrick Z. McGavin
SCHAUMBURG -- Soccer is so fast, fluid and spontaneous that reflection is not always possible.
Deerfield forward Riley Schimanski found herself caught up in her own reverie.
As a freshman during the 2019 season, she got thrown into the mix after an illness caused star Mallori Killoren to miss a significant part of the season.
What was supposed to be a gradual immersion became a large and significant role.
Now the Chicagoland Soccer all-stater is a seasoned and savvy veteran who is the conductor of one of the most explosive offenses around.
“This team is really special,” she said. “We’ve had this bond, and everyone is really close and really supportive of each other.
“Being our senior year now, we want to go out with a bang. We want to go hard, and we want to win. I think working hard now is going to help us later in the postseason.”
Schimanski also knows how good a player Saint Viator midfielder Emilie Doersching is.
“Emilie plays on my club team, and she is always a tough competitor,” Schimanski said. “We locked her up a little today, but she is really good.”
Coming off a dominant 4-1 win over then no. 12 New Trier on Thursday, the Warriors looked to extend their magical start.
Deerfield started hot until Doersching took command with an assist and the game-winning goal in the 3-2 Saint Viator victory in the BodyArmour Series on Sunday at Olympic Park.
Playing their third game in 60 hours proved a little too taxing for the then no. 21 Warriors (7-1-1).
“Given our game against New Trier was Thursday and we had another tough game yesterday, physically 80 minutes is a lot, and it took a toll on our bodies,” midfielder Holly Deutsch said.
Legendary Saint Viator coach Mike Taylor retired last year after directing the Lions to their fourth state trophy in his 11 years with the girls.
Byron DeLeon, formerly of Maine East, has taken over the boys and girls program of the private school powerhouse.
Doersching was the top returning player from that team. Her goal and two assists powered the Lions to third place victory over St. Ignatius in the Class AA finals last spring.
The Northern Kentucky recruit earned Chicagoland Soccer all-state recognition with her deft shot-making prowess, vision and ability to set up her teammates.
She had 14 goals and 24 assists last year.
“I play the same position as last year, but I’m a senior now, and I have to be more of a leader because the younger girls look up to me,” Doersching said.
“We have a new coach, and we have been moving some players around, because we graduated some good players. We have been working to build up a new team. We started off slow, and we are getting our momentum up.”
Saint Viator (3-1-2) was ranked 20th in Chicagoland Soccer’s season-opening First 50 state-wide poll. The Lions tied Buffalo Grove 1-1 in their season opener March 14 and then fell to then no. 22 Lane on March 16. Since then, they’ve built a four game unbeaten streak (3-0-1).
On Sunday, Deerfield dominated the first half in both possession time and quality of chances.
Schimanski created incredible pressure up-top. Deutsch and midfielder Emily Fox also played with tremendous urgency and poise.
Fox delivered in the 11th minute with a beautiful left-footed free kick from 22 yards that curved inside the far post.
She has been a revelation since bursting on the scene last year as a freshman when she scored 17 goals and added 10 assists to achieve Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List status.
“Coming in as a freshman like that, you don’t know what to expect playing with all of these older people,” Fox said.
“As I started scoring goals, I got a lot more confident.”
The team’s lead playmaker, Deutsch saw something in Fox right away.
“She got more comfortable with the team,” Deutsch said.
The Warriors’ attack has been brilliant and scary good this season, averaging just under five goals a game.
The four goals Deerfield scored against New Trier Thursday is the most the Trevians have allowed since 2019.
“We are a very attacking-based team,” Fox said. “Holly’s a great winger, and she is wonderful at crossing for me or Riley.
“That’s how we get a lot of our goals.”
Up 1-0 to start the second half, Deerfield exploded off the jump. Coach Rich Grady inserted freshman midfielder Caroline McAnally with the second half starters.
The move paid off spectacularly as she darted down the right edge and played a ball to the streaking Deutsch.
Deutsch moved quickly to her left and hammered home a ball from about 12 yards for the 2-0 advantage.
Everything was looking up, and Deerfield seemed it was on a path to avenge its 2021 supersectional loss to the Lions. Until they weren’t.
Moments later, Doersching took control. Her deep pressure yielded a foul on the left edge.
Working from there, her sharply played ball into the box found a streaking Gabriella Letto.
Her header at the 45th minute cut the Deerfield advantage in half.
It also launched a dominant 15-minute stretch by the Lions.
“The first goal definitely got our energy up,” Doersching said.
“That’s really big for us when we score that first goal, because after that we tend to keep scoring.”
Physical and athletic, Letto maintained the pressure minutes later. Shielding her defender off her back, she caught a through-ball and made another deft, quick touch for the tying goal in the 50th minute.
“Speaking as someone who is new here because I played club my last three years, I felt I had to be a role model,” Letto said.
“Even when we were down, we had to dig deeper and come together and stay positive. I felt alive after that first goal, and I just felt like we were going to get this.”
Doersching completed the comeback in the 61st minute by finishing a looping ball from 18 yards on the right wing. She earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
“There are going to be instances when we are down, and we have to keep pushing through,” she said.
“We have been working a lot on shooting and scoring in practice.”
Momentum often moves downhill. Deerfield could not quite stop the change of fortunes.
“Normally we are very good at responding once we get scored on,” Fox said.
“Today I guess we were just unlucky.”
Schimanski and Deutsch had great looks in the final 20 minutes. The Warriors recovered, and found their stride.
They just could not quite put on a last, clean touch.
“We have chemistry, and our work rate, on and off the field, in practice or games, has been very high,” Deutsch said.
“We have this mindset of really wanting to punish teams.”
This game got away from them. The Warriors look to learn from the experience.
“We had a bad 15-20 minutes, but I thought we responded well,” Grady said.
“We just could not find the tying goal.”
Grady saw positives, especially strong play from sophomore midfielder Ruby Levy, who saw her first extended time since returning from an injury.
“It was a good game, and it gave us insights into what we needed to work on,” Grady said.
“I’m disappointed in the way we were scored on. We will learn from it. I told the girls, with the schedule we play, we were not going to go undefeated.”
Starting lineups
Saint Viator
G: Kyli Ziebka
D: Emma Ziebka
D: Mary Craig
D: Joey Westerkamp
D: Monica Correa
MF: Allison Konopka
MF: Sydney Grant
MF: Gabriella Letto
MF: Emillie Doersching
F: Taylor Brackett
F: Meghan McLaughlin
Deerfield
GK: Lauren Gottlieb
D: Maddie Stevens
D: Katie Morgan
D: Emma Gassman
D: Ally Linn
MF: Holly Deutsch
MF: Emily Fox
MF: Jessie Fisher
MF: Erin Emory
F: Riley Schimanski
F: Ryane Emory
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Emilie Doersching, sr., MF, Saint Viator
Scoring summary
First half
Deerfield: Emily Fox (free kick), 11th minute
Second half
Deerfield: Holly Deutsch (Caroline McAnally), 42nd minute
SV: Gabriella Letto (Emillie Doersching, 45th minute
SV: Letto (Monica Correa), 50th minute
SV: Doersching (Taylor Brackett), 61st minute