GBN erases film negatives, tops Deerfield
Spartans get defensive, post 2-0 league road victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
DEERFIELD -- The great film director Jean-Luc Godard once provocatively said that film was “the truth at 24 frames per second.” Of course, the meant analogue 35mm film. Regardless of the format, film or high definition video capture, the theory is direct and specific: film does not lie.
The Glenbrook North team had its own reckoning, or moment of truth, when they studied the video of its one-sided loss against Maine West from Monday night.
“We watched the video of the game, and we felt just sickened at seeing how unorganized we were [defensively],” Glenbrook North coach Paul Vignocchi said. “It was embarrassing for our guys to see that, which was a good thing. We are a defensive-minded program and that generates our offense.
“The four or five guys tonight that played in the back did a solid job for us.”
Glenbrook North (5-5-2, 2-2-0) was facing a crisis of sorts after a recent series of games. The Spartans had gone 3-3-0 since September 1. Most distressing, in two of those losses they surrendered four goals.
The Spartans made several key tactical decisions to tighten its backline and rising star Joey Martens provided the offensive spark with a beautiful late first half goal that Glenbrook North used to start its 2-0 victory over Deerfield in Central Suburban League North Division play Thursday night.
Vignocchi inserted two players who more typically play in the midfield, 6-foot-5 David Schueler and Konrad Kulesza, to shore up a back. The moves paid off. Deerfield struggled to develop any offensive consistency and appeared perpetually behind the Spartans.
“Those two changes were really good for us,” Vignocchi said. “Schueler has got the technical ability to strike a ball and play to our attacking players, and he is very patient on the ball, which is good. Konrad is fast, athletic and he has good ball control. Losing him on top changes us a bit.
“I wanted to solidify our back.”
The host Warriors (3-7-1, 1-2-1) felt out of sync much of the game. Coach Elliott Hurtig, normally upbeat, was clearly dejected at his team’s performance.
“I was very disappointed in our effort,” Hurtig said. “One of the things we have to do more than anything is play with a lot of desire and intensity. I felt like for whatever reason we were just flat tonight. I thought they were spacing us out, and we were not playing good team defense so that we were struggling to get some turnovers when we needed them and that really hurt us.”
Senior midfielder Jude Tatham scored the game-winner against Maine East on Monday. Coming off the vital win, Deerfield appeared ready to move up. The team appeared dissipated emotionally from the start.
“We just don’t have the mindset at the start,” Tatham said. “We are not game-ready and when a team comes at us with a lot of pressure, we are not sure what to do with the ball, and we make mistakes in the back.
“We have a lot of young players, especially in the back. It’s their first year on the varsity, and we need to get used to the fact when the whistle goes, that’s when the game starts and that is when the other team is going to go as hard as they can.
“We have to play well under pressure.”
Glenbrook North has been up and down. The play of Martens has been a constant. A skilled six-foot midfielder and forward, he has freely accepted the challenge of being the Spartans’ go-to offensive threat.
In the 35th minute, Martens completed a terrific scoring sequence by running off a flick by junior forward George Luke that he turned and smashed home for the vital first blow.
“George Luke headed the ball, and I got it on,” Martens said. “I was just running down the line, and I heard George. He flicked on a great ball, and I just put it away.”
Martens earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his play. He scored his team-best ninth goal of the year. Coming off the bench on last year’s senior-dominated side, he flashed tremendous promise.
The transition from role player to standout was not always an easy one. An injury to midfielder Max Marquez also increased the need for his increased output.
“With Max out, he has taken a lot of the burden on him,” Vignocchi said. “There were games at the beginning of the year where he was trying to do too much. He is trusting his teammates more, and it is paying off, and they are giving him the opportunity to finish.”
Martens has worked through the kinks.
“I remember the first game of the season against Barrington, I was struggling how to be the main guy on the team,” Martens said. “Now I have figured out with each game how to be the guy who takes control of the game.”
Like everybody else on the team, he was floored by the dominant way Maine West cruised past the Spartans on Monday. The Deerfield game marked a fresh start, a renewal.
“We’ve got a lot of talent, and I think the big thing for us coming out of the Maine West game was just trusting each other and getting the mental side of the game down,” he said.
“I think in this game, we trusted each other. We played out of the back. We were not scared to have the ball. It really showed. We played good soccer, and we got the result.”
Glenbrook North put the game effectively out of reach in the 51st minute as senior Ben Gordon, another positionally flexible player who moves freely between the back and middle, smashed in a short ball off a corner kick by Nico Adducci.
The sharp set piece score harkened back to last season where the Spartans were devastating on restarts. Gordon scored his third goal of the year.
“The set pieces are a big part of the game,” Gordon said. “We have not always been able to capitalize on them during the early part of the season. It is definitely nice to get one in tonight. It gave some energy to the rest of the team. It settled the team down.”
Deerfield remained fractured offensively. Senior midfielder Adam Odzer, lanky and dangerous, created some decent chances near the goal. He had a couple of decent shots. Most of the Warriors’ offense came from distance, and they were unable to build and develop like they have in recent games.
Sophomore forward Ari Wainer, so dangerous in space, was effectively bottled up. Senior midfielder Nikita Bankevich was never able to get off one of his patented and dangerous free kicks.
“We were not possessing,” Hurtig said. “What we did out there is exactly the opposite of how we game-planned. I am very disappointed, because if you play hard and you are focused and you lose, okay, you lose. When you come out flat and you are not fighting for each other, that is very problematic.
“Glenbrook North outhustled us, and they had some dangerous chances, and they finished on two of them.”
Starting lineups
Glenbrook North
GK: Jack McDonaugh
D: Patrick O’Brien
D: Ben Gordon
D: Konrad Kulesza
D: David Schueler
D: Noah Ben-Isvy
MF: Nate Aronson
MF: Nico Adducci
MF: Sam Sullivan
F: Joey Martens
F: George Luke
Deerfield
GK: Ryan Grady
D: Ko Vandeneijkhoff
D: Jack Hammontree
D: Nolan Horgan
MF: Nicholas Prus
MF: Eric Kenney
MF: Adam Odzer
MF: Caden Howell
MF: Nikita Bankevich
F: Tim Frankel
F: Ari Wainer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joey Martens, jr., F, Glenbrook North
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook North—Joey Martens (George Luke), 35th minute
Second half
Glenbrook North—Ben Gordon (Nico Adducci), 51st minute
Spartans get defensive, post 2-0 league road victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
DEERFIELD -- The great film director Jean-Luc Godard once provocatively said that film was “the truth at 24 frames per second.” Of course, the meant analogue 35mm film. Regardless of the format, film or high definition video capture, the theory is direct and specific: film does not lie.
The Glenbrook North team had its own reckoning, or moment of truth, when they studied the video of its one-sided loss against Maine West from Monday night.
“We watched the video of the game, and we felt just sickened at seeing how unorganized we were [defensively],” Glenbrook North coach Paul Vignocchi said. “It was embarrassing for our guys to see that, which was a good thing. We are a defensive-minded program and that generates our offense.
“The four or five guys tonight that played in the back did a solid job for us.”
Glenbrook North (5-5-2, 2-2-0) was facing a crisis of sorts after a recent series of games. The Spartans had gone 3-3-0 since September 1. Most distressing, in two of those losses they surrendered four goals.
The Spartans made several key tactical decisions to tighten its backline and rising star Joey Martens provided the offensive spark with a beautiful late first half goal that Glenbrook North used to start its 2-0 victory over Deerfield in Central Suburban League North Division play Thursday night.
Vignocchi inserted two players who more typically play in the midfield, 6-foot-5 David Schueler and Konrad Kulesza, to shore up a back. The moves paid off. Deerfield struggled to develop any offensive consistency and appeared perpetually behind the Spartans.
“Those two changes were really good for us,” Vignocchi said. “Schueler has got the technical ability to strike a ball and play to our attacking players, and he is very patient on the ball, which is good. Konrad is fast, athletic and he has good ball control. Losing him on top changes us a bit.
“I wanted to solidify our back.”
The host Warriors (3-7-1, 1-2-1) felt out of sync much of the game. Coach Elliott Hurtig, normally upbeat, was clearly dejected at his team’s performance.
“I was very disappointed in our effort,” Hurtig said. “One of the things we have to do more than anything is play with a lot of desire and intensity. I felt like for whatever reason we were just flat tonight. I thought they were spacing us out, and we were not playing good team defense so that we were struggling to get some turnovers when we needed them and that really hurt us.”
Senior midfielder Jude Tatham scored the game-winner against Maine East on Monday. Coming off the vital win, Deerfield appeared ready to move up. The team appeared dissipated emotionally from the start.
“We just don’t have the mindset at the start,” Tatham said. “We are not game-ready and when a team comes at us with a lot of pressure, we are not sure what to do with the ball, and we make mistakes in the back.
“We have a lot of young players, especially in the back. It’s their first year on the varsity, and we need to get used to the fact when the whistle goes, that’s when the game starts and that is when the other team is going to go as hard as they can.
“We have to play well under pressure.”
Glenbrook North has been up and down. The play of Martens has been a constant. A skilled six-foot midfielder and forward, he has freely accepted the challenge of being the Spartans’ go-to offensive threat.
In the 35th minute, Martens completed a terrific scoring sequence by running off a flick by junior forward George Luke that he turned and smashed home for the vital first blow.
“George Luke headed the ball, and I got it on,” Martens said. “I was just running down the line, and I heard George. He flicked on a great ball, and I just put it away.”
Martens earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his play. He scored his team-best ninth goal of the year. Coming off the bench on last year’s senior-dominated side, he flashed tremendous promise.
The transition from role player to standout was not always an easy one. An injury to midfielder Max Marquez also increased the need for his increased output.
“With Max out, he has taken a lot of the burden on him,” Vignocchi said. “There were games at the beginning of the year where he was trying to do too much. He is trusting his teammates more, and it is paying off, and they are giving him the opportunity to finish.”
Martens has worked through the kinks.
“I remember the first game of the season against Barrington, I was struggling how to be the main guy on the team,” Martens said. “Now I have figured out with each game how to be the guy who takes control of the game.”
Like everybody else on the team, he was floored by the dominant way Maine West cruised past the Spartans on Monday. The Deerfield game marked a fresh start, a renewal.
“We’ve got a lot of talent, and I think the big thing for us coming out of the Maine West game was just trusting each other and getting the mental side of the game down,” he said.
“I think in this game, we trusted each other. We played out of the back. We were not scared to have the ball. It really showed. We played good soccer, and we got the result.”
Glenbrook North put the game effectively out of reach in the 51st minute as senior Ben Gordon, another positionally flexible player who moves freely between the back and middle, smashed in a short ball off a corner kick by Nico Adducci.
The sharp set piece score harkened back to last season where the Spartans were devastating on restarts. Gordon scored his third goal of the year.
“The set pieces are a big part of the game,” Gordon said. “We have not always been able to capitalize on them during the early part of the season. It is definitely nice to get one in tonight. It gave some energy to the rest of the team. It settled the team down.”
Deerfield remained fractured offensively. Senior midfielder Adam Odzer, lanky and dangerous, created some decent chances near the goal. He had a couple of decent shots. Most of the Warriors’ offense came from distance, and they were unable to build and develop like they have in recent games.
Sophomore forward Ari Wainer, so dangerous in space, was effectively bottled up. Senior midfielder Nikita Bankevich was never able to get off one of his patented and dangerous free kicks.
“We were not possessing,” Hurtig said. “What we did out there is exactly the opposite of how we game-planned. I am very disappointed, because if you play hard and you are focused and you lose, okay, you lose. When you come out flat and you are not fighting for each other, that is very problematic.
“Glenbrook North outhustled us, and they had some dangerous chances, and they finished on two of them.”
Starting lineups
Glenbrook North
GK: Jack McDonaugh
D: Patrick O’Brien
D: Ben Gordon
D: Konrad Kulesza
D: David Schueler
D: Noah Ben-Isvy
MF: Nate Aronson
MF: Nico Adducci
MF: Sam Sullivan
F: Joey Martens
F: George Luke
Deerfield
GK: Ryan Grady
D: Ko Vandeneijkhoff
D: Jack Hammontree
D: Nolan Horgan
MF: Nicholas Prus
MF: Eric Kenney
MF: Adam Odzer
MF: Caden Howell
MF: Nikita Bankevich
F: Tim Frankel
F: Ari Wainer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joey Martens, jr., F, Glenbrook North
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook North—Joey Martens (George Luke), 35th minute
Second half
Glenbrook North—Ben Gordon (Nico Adducci), 51st minute