Glenbrook South tops feisty Deerfield
Titans absorb Warriors’ energy to earn 2-0 win
By Gary Larsen
DEERFIELD — To be sure, Glenbrook South was happy with its 2-0 win over host Deerfield on Thursday. Deerfield, naturally, was disappointed to lose.
But when the winning team leaves the field slightly disgruntled and the losing team seems downright cheerful, it stands as proof that performance often means more to a team than a result.
And if the regular season can be viewed as simply practice for the post-season, then Deerfield (1-7-1) had one heck of a practice against Glenbrook South (5-1-2).
“Deerfield had a great energy about them the entire game,” Titans coach Reggie Lara said. “Their pressure on defense was spectacular. Honestly, I think we’re lucky to come out of here with a 2-0 win.”
Deerfield coach Elliot Hurtig watched his boys leave the field after the loss with heads held justifiably high.
“That was a good game for us,” Hurtig said. “We played with tremendous energy, and the desire to win tackles and head balls and to just fight. We had to because we knew they were a really talented team with skill and size, and that we were underdogs.”
From the outset, the underdog gave the favorite all it could handle. Neither offense camped out in the other’s defensive third as both teams found chances through 40 minutes.
Glenbrook South’s Zach Ochab shot high from distance at six minutes and South keeper Aris Edlund charged off his line to snatch a shot off the foot of Deerfield’s Adam Shore at eight minutes.
Deerfield earned a corner kick at 10 minutes and one minute later Glenbrook South forward Danny Sergiev was tripped in the box. His ensuing penalty kick stretched the back netting to give South a 1-0 lead.
The game was only 11 minutes old and the pace of play established by Deerfield was off the charts.
“They were definitely playing hard, and we didn’t come out with the intensity we needed to,” Sergiev said. “Honestly, their intensity in the first half made us want to play harder in the second half. So I’m glad they applied that intensity.”
Deerfield’s Ari Wainer hit a low, bending shot that Edlund stopped at 12 minutes and Ochab chased a through-ball sent into the box at 16 minutes but Deerfield keeper Jess Kaufman beat him to it.
Deerfield sent a free kick into the mixer but South defender Jose Santos-DeSoto headed it away at 28 minutes. Santos-DeSoto used his head to clear out a good handful of long Deerfield serves on the day.
The backline of Santos-DeSoto, Michael Zenzola, David Sohn, and Drew Maytum helped key the Titans’ third shutout of the year. Glenbrook South has only given up six goals through eight games.
“We always have really good defenders, and I don’t ever have to worry too much,” Edlund said. “Most of the time our defenders have it covered and as a keeper you only have to handle one or two shots the whole game. So I just have to stay awake.”
Deerfield forward Ryder Coleman hit a hard shot from 16 yards that Edlund saved at 32 minutes and South took its lead to halftime. The Warriors were only chasing one goal, however, and they knew they’d brought the thunder throughout the first half.
“I’m really proud of how everyone played. Everyone gave it their all,” Deerfield defender Ben Taxman said. “From our starters to our subs off the bench, I’m proud of how everyone played.”
Glenbrook South’s mission at intermission was clear.
“They were winning the middle third,” Lara said. “We kind of cleaned things up in the possession after the half and as we started to do that the game started to tip in our favor.”
But not before Edlund came up big. Coleman got deep on the left side and hit a ball headed for the upper ninety at the far post at 47 minutes, but Edlund elevated and tipped it over the bar to keep his slate clean.
“(Coleman) kind of caught it just enough that it was floating into the goal,” Edlund said. “At the last second I was able to get a hand on it.”
Glenbrook South padded its lead on a scrappy play from midfielder Blake Shechtman. Shechtman won a ball on the right side and centered it to Sergiev, who then slid it to Ochab on the left side, where he shot from 14 yards and sent it inside the far post at 48 minutes.
“We have a tendency to make mistakes defensively,” Hurtig said, “and small mistakes led to big chances for GBS.”
South earned a free kick from 18 yards at 51 minutes but Sergiev’s shot hit a wall of Warriors, and long free kicks and corner kicks sent in by both teams provided most of the danger for much of the second half.
Deerfield had one final dangerous scoring chance at 78 minutes. Wainer broke in alone on Edlund near the post on the left side but Edlund made a terrific sprawling stop to secure the shutout.
“Aris is a fantastic keeper and that was the save of the season so far,” Sergiev said.
Glenbrook South entered 2019 with high expectations. A solid record and a No. 18 ranking in the current Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 suggest that the Titans are having a fine season.
Lara believes it can be even finer.
“On paper we sound really good with a 5-1-2 record,” Lara said. “But what I’m excited about is that we have yet to put together a full eighty minutes of soccer. We haven’t scratched the surface as to how well we can play as a team. I think once we start to do that we’ll take this team to another level.”
Lara applauded the midfield play of Shechtman and Jhovany Guadarrama in Thursday’s win, plus the play of Sergiev and Justin Leszynski up-top.
“And Michael Sanchez came off the bench to give us some nice play and Luke Jacob played right back in the second half and did very well,” Lara said.
Deerfield intends to use Thursday’s effort as a blueprint for the way the Warriors want to play moving forward.
“We’re turning the page. Our start hasn’t been what we wanted but (Central Suburban League North Division) play starts next week, and we’re looking to sweep our conference,” Taxman said.
“We didn’t score today, but I know we’ll finish on our chances. Our strikers have a lot of talent and the rest of the team is going to support them.”
Hurtig called the game Taxman played against South “his best game of the season so far.
“He was going up strong and winning head balls, he was reading the play really well, breaking up plays, and he was just playing great one-on-one defense.”
Hurtig also applauded the play of backup keeper Kaufman, loved the energy that Adam Shore and Sam Strimling provided, and pointed to the hustle that Nick Prus has given all season to a team that looks ready for the next part of its season.
“We want to win those five conference games and to do that you have to play with everything you have,” Hurtig said. “I think the guys realize that the game is more fun with you do that.
“I think we had ten minutes in each half when we weren’t (playing with intensity) so I’d say we had sixty minutes today. And that’s pretty good.”
Starting lineups
Glenbrook South
GK: Aris Edlund
D: Jose Santos-DeSoto
D: Michael Zenzola
D: Drew Maytum
D: David Sohn
M: Tengis Purevrentsen
M: Jhovany Guadarrama
M: Blake Shechtman
F: Justin Leszynski
F: Danny Sergiev
F: Zach Ochab
Deerfield
GK: Jess Kaufman
D: Ben Taxman
D: Jack Hammontree
D: David Jotkus
D: Peter Straus
M: Logan Wallis
M: Nicholas Prus
M: Ryder Coleman
M: Ari Wainer
F: Nicholas Compisi
F: Adam Shore
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Danny Sergiev, sr., F, Glenbrook South
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook South — Sergiev (PK) 11th minute
Second half
Glenbrook South — Ochab (Sergiev) 48th minute
Titans absorb Warriors’ energy to earn 2-0 win
By Gary Larsen
DEERFIELD — To be sure, Glenbrook South was happy with its 2-0 win over host Deerfield on Thursday. Deerfield, naturally, was disappointed to lose.
But when the winning team leaves the field slightly disgruntled and the losing team seems downright cheerful, it stands as proof that performance often means more to a team than a result.
And if the regular season can be viewed as simply practice for the post-season, then Deerfield (1-7-1) had one heck of a practice against Glenbrook South (5-1-2).
“Deerfield had a great energy about them the entire game,” Titans coach Reggie Lara said. “Their pressure on defense was spectacular. Honestly, I think we’re lucky to come out of here with a 2-0 win.”
Deerfield coach Elliot Hurtig watched his boys leave the field after the loss with heads held justifiably high.
“That was a good game for us,” Hurtig said. “We played with tremendous energy, and the desire to win tackles and head balls and to just fight. We had to because we knew they were a really talented team with skill and size, and that we were underdogs.”
From the outset, the underdog gave the favorite all it could handle. Neither offense camped out in the other’s defensive third as both teams found chances through 40 minutes.
Glenbrook South’s Zach Ochab shot high from distance at six minutes and South keeper Aris Edlund charged off his line to snatch a shot off the foot of Deerfield’s Adam Shore at eight minutes.
Deerfield earned a corner kick at 10 minutes and one minute later Glenbrook South forward Danny Sergiev was tripped in the box. His ensuing penalty kick stretched the back netting to give South a 1-0 lead.
The game was only 11 minutes old and the pace of play established by Deerfield was off the charts.
“They were definitely playing hard, and we didn’t come out with the intensity we needed to,” Sergiev said. “Honestly, their intensity in the first half made us want to play harder in the second half. So I’m glad they applied that intensity.”
Deerfield’s Ari Wainer hit a low, bending shot that Edlund stopped at 12 minutes and Ochab chased a through-ball sent into the box at 16 minutes but Deerfield keeper Jess Kaufman beat him to it.
Deerfield sent a free kick into the mixer but South defender Jose Santos-DeSoto headed it away at 28 minutes. Santos-DeSoto used his head to clear out a good handful of long Deerfield serves on the day.
The backline of Santos-DeSoto, Michael Zenzola, David Sohn, and Drew Maytum helped key the Titans’ third shutout of the year. Glenbrook South has only given up six goals through eight games.
“We always have really good defenders, and I don’t ever have to worry too much,” Edlund said. “Most of the time our defenders have it covered and as a keeper you only have to handle one or two shots the whole game. So I just have to stay awake.”
Deerfield forward Ryder Coleman hit a hard shot from 16 yards that Edlund saved at 32 minutes and South took its lead to halftime. The Warriors were only chasing one goal, however, and they knew they’d brought the thunder throughout the first half.
“I’m really proud of how everyone played. Everyone gave it their all,” Deerfield defender Ben Taxman said. “From our starters to our subs off the bench, I’m proud of how everyone played.”
Glenbrook South’s mission at intermission was clear.
“They were winning the middle third,” Lara said. “We kind of cleaned things up in the possession after the half and as we started to do that the game started to tip in our favor.”
But not before Edlund came up big. Coleman got deep on the left side and hit a ball headed for the upper ninety at the far post at 47 minutes, but Edlund elevated and tipped it over the bar to keep his slate clean.
“(Coleman) kind of caught it just enough that it was floating into the goal,” Edlund said. “At the last second I was able to get a hand on it.”
Glenbrook South padded its lead on a scrappy play from midfielder Blake Shechtman. Shechtman won a ball on the right side and centered it to Sergiev, who then slid it to Ochab on the left side, where he shot from 14 yards and sent it inside the far post at 48 minutes.
“We have a tendency to make mistakes defensively,” Hurtig said, “and small mistakes led to big chances for GBS.”
South earned a free kick from 18 yards at 51 minutes but Sergiev’s shot hit a wall of Warriors, and long free kicks and corner kicks sent in by both teams provided most of the danger for much of the second half.
Deerfield had one final dangerous scoring chance at 78 minutes. Wainer broke in alone on Edlund near the post on the left side but Edlund made a terrific sprawling stop to secure the shutout.
“Aris is a fantastic keeper and that was the save of the season so far,” Sergiev said.
Glenbrook South entered 2019 with high expectations. A solid record and a No. 18 ranking in the current Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 suggest that the Titans are having a fine season.
Lara believes it can be even finer.
“On paper we sound really good with a 5-1-2 record,” Lara said. “But what I’m excited about is that we have yet to put together a full eighty minutes of soccer. We haven’t scratched the surface as to how well we can play as a team. I think once we start to do that we’ll take this team to another level.”
Lara applauded the midfield play of Shechtman and Jhovany Guadarrama in Thursday’s win, plus the play of Sergiev and Justin Leszynski up-top.
“And Michael Sanchez came off the bench to give us some nice play and Luke Jacob played right back in the second half and did very well,” Lara said.
Deerfield intends to use Thursday’s effort as a blueprint for the way the Warriors want to play moving forward.
“We’re turning the page. Our start hasn’t been what we wanted but (Central Suburban League North Division) play starts next week, and we’re looking to sweep our conference,” Taxman said.
“We didn’t score today, but I know we’ll finish on our chances. Our strikers have a lot of talent and the rest of the team is going to support them.”
Hurtig called the game Taxman played against South “his best game of the season so far.
“He was going up strong and winning head balls, he was reading the play really well, breaking up plays, and he was just playing great one-on-one defense.”
Hurtig also applauded the play of backup keeper Kaufman, loved the energy that Adam Shore and Sam Strimling provided, and pointed to the hustle that Nick Prus has given all season to a team that looks ready for the next part of its season.
“We want to win those five conference games and to do that you have to play with everything you have,” Hurtig said. “I think the guys realize that the game is more fun with you do that.
“I think we had ten minutes in each half when we weren’t (playing with intensity) so I’d say we had sixty minutes today. And that’s pretty good.”
Starting lineups
Glenbrook South
GK: Aris Edlund
D: Jose Santos-DeSoto
D: Michael Zenzola
D: Drew Maytum
D: David Sohn
M: Tengis Purevrentsen
M: Jhovany Guadarrama
M: Blake Shechtman
F: Justin Leszynski
F: Danny Sergiev
F: Zach Ochab
Deerfield
GK: Jess Kaufman
D: Ben Taxman
D: Jack Hammontree
D: David Jotkus
D: Peter Straus
M: Logan Wallis
M: Nicholas Prus
M: Ryder Coleman
M: Ari Wainer
F: Nicholas Compisi
F: Adam Shore
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Danny Sergiev, sr., F, Glenbrook South
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook South — Sergiev (PK) 11th minute
Second half
Glenbrook South — Ochab (Sergiev) 48th minute