Deerfield maintains momentum vs. Grant
6 different Warriors score in shutout win
By A.J. Schmitz
DEERFIELD - The temperature dropped and a few bundled spectators shivered in the stands, but on the field, Deerfield was on fire.
“We played a solid game,” said Warriors coach Elliott Hurtig. “The fear was that since we played last night (Thursday) against Evanston, that we might have a little bit of a lag here, but we didn’t.”
The huge 1-0 upset win over the no. 12 Wildkits did not appear to negatively affect Deerfield (2-0-1). The Warriors intensity, emotion and energy were clearly on display Friday.
The hosts stormed past Grant 6-0 in a game that featured many Warriors contributions to the scorecard. A number were season firsts.
Riding the undefeated wave of their scoreless season premiere draw with Glenbrook North (0-0) and the Evanston win Thursday night, the Warriors happily welcomed a continued confidence boost Friday.
"We wrote on the board ‘Keep it rolling,’” Hurtig noted of the team’s pregame meeting. “We take the field; we go in with an expectation to win the game. That’s part of the culture we want to continue to foster.”
Message received.
It became clear early in the first half that the home team aimed for dominance. At seven minutes, an innocent throw-in turned into a fabulous headed goal for sophomore midfielder Ryder Coleman. When chaos in the box prevented Grant’s defenders from executing a proper clearance, Coleman took advantage and struck to give his team the early lead.
A minute later, junior forward David Jotkus intercepted an unlucky Grant goal kick and almost immediately finished from 25 yards to give the Warriors a quick two-goal edge.
The most dangerous lead in The Beautiful Game did not make the Warriors complacent. Senior forward Sam Strimling and senior midfielder and tri-captain Ari Wainer knocked in a goal each before the end of the first half for a 4-0 gap.
Deerfield maintained possession on the opposing end for nearly the entire half, all the while preventing a single shot on goal against goalkeeper, senior and tri-captain Josh Berman, who continued his shutout streak to three games.
Senior midfielder and tri-captain Nicholas Prus said defensive stinginess was largely the objective, despite the team’s profound trust in Berman’s ability to defend the net.
“Our goal for tonight was to just keep possession,” Prus said. “We just wanted to slow down a little bit in the back and in the midfield and keep the ball.”
Grant had a hard time contesting Deerfield’s fluid ball movement and possession game.
“We’re very young this year,” said Grant head coach Andy Flaker. “We were starting seven freshmen and sophomores. We have some of the most individual talent I have seen come into our program in a long time; we just need to meld and come together as a team. I think when we do, we are going to be putting some good stuff together.”
Hoping for a different tone in the second half, Flaker asked his team, “Who are we? We are a young team, yes, but who are we as a team? Are we going to come out and fight or are we going to roll over?
"They told me they were not going to roll over.”
The Bulldogs showed their spirit in the last 40 minutes and cut Deerfield’s productivity in half.
Grant fought ruthlessly to keep the ball out of their half, thanks in large part to midfielder and captain Tony Cruz. The junior’s speed and vision opened up a few promising opportunities for his strikers to no avail.
Deerfield's play remained top class after the break.
“Our defense has been really good this year,” Coleman said.
“There’s a lot of guys who are contributing,” said Hurtig, whose praise went beyond the back four. “Ryder Coleman came out and played really well tonight. When he is playing with defensive intensity, then he is a complete player. He’s got to keep that intensity for us.”
At 53 minutes, Coleman came flying down the right flank and played a brilliant cross over the Grant defense to find Prus on the far post. The ensuing gorgeous volley was rocketed into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
When asked if the cross that seemed too good to be true was fully intentional, Coleman confidently replied with a simple, “Yes.”
About his goal, Prus said, “I usually don’t consider myself a goal-scorer. I play CDM, so it was nice to get another goal today.” Prus scored the decisive goal in Deerfield’s 1-0 result against Evanston.
Senior forward Adam Shore was the last to join in on the chorus of Deerfield goal-scorers. He slotted in a nicely placed through-ball from senior defender Albert Covaci at 77 minutes.
Grant's coach saw the game as a good experience for his team and program’s future.
“That’s one of the reasons we schedule something like this,” he said. “It’s so they can see this is what you need to be at; this is where we need to be.”
Grant’s junior goalkeeper Trevor Wentz produced a game performance. He made a number of impressive saves but simply had to contest too many shots.
Hurtig commended the visitors’ effort and determination.
“Grant’s a young team, but they’ve got some promising players,” he said. “They’re playing against a lot of seniors, so they’re playing against guys who are two years older, three years older than them.
“That’s a tough demand, so I thought they fought hard.”
On Saturday, Deerfield extended it unbeaten streak to four games after a 3-3 tie against visiting Lake Forest.
Starting lineups
Grant
GK: Trevor Wentz
D: Colin Todd
D: Alex Sanchez
D: Dylan Sheppard
M: Tony Vazquez
M: Alex Shubin
M: Sebastian Gonzalez
M: Tony Cruz
M: Erik DeLuna
M: Eddie Murray
F: Miguel Nunez
Deerfield
GK: Josh Berman
D: Noah Weil
D: Ben Seed
D: Ko Vandeneijkhoff
D: James Weiner
M: Javier Espinosa De Los Monteros
M: Ari Wainer
M: Nicholas Prus
F: Ryder Coleman
F: David Jotkus
F: Peter Straus
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ryder Coleman, so., F, Deerfield
Scoring summary
First half
Deerfield: Coleman (UA) 7 minutes
Deerfield: Jotkus (UA) 8 minutes
Deerfield: Strimling (Shore) 24 minutes
Deerfield: Weiner (UA) 32 minutes
Second half
Deerfield: Prus (Coleman) 53 minutes
Deerfield: Shore (A. Covaci) 77 minutes
6 different Warriors score in shutout win
By A.J. Schmitz
DEERFIELD - The temperature dropped and a few bundled spectators shivered in the stands, but on the field, Deerfield was on fire.
“We played a solid game,” said Warriors coach Elliott Hurtig. “The fear was that since we played last night (Thursday) against Evanston, that we might have a little bit of a lag here, but we didn’t.”
The huge 1-0 upset win over the no. 12 Wildkits did not appear to negatively affect Deerfield (2-0-1). The Warriors intensity, emotion and energy were clearly on display Friday.
The hosts stormed past Grant 6-0 in a game that featured many Warriors contributions to the scorecard. A number were season firsts.
Riding the undefeated wave of their scoreless season premiere draw with Glenbrook North (0-0) and the Evanston win Thursday night, the Warriors happily welcomed a continued confidence boost Friday.
"We wrote on the board ‘Keep it rolling,’” Hurtig noted of the team’s pregame meeting. “We take the field; we go in with an expectation to win the game. That’s part of the culture we want to continue to foster.”
Message received.
It became clear early in the first half that the home team aimed for dominance. At seven minutes, an innocent throw-in turned into a fabulous headed goal for sophomore midfielder Ryder Coleman. When chaos in the box prevented Grant’s defenders from executing a proper clearance, Coleman took advantage and struck to give his team the early lead.
A minute later, junior forward David Jotkus intercepted an unlucky Grant goal kick and almost immediately finished from 25 yards to give the Warriors a quick two-goal edge.
The most dangerous lead in The Beautiful Game did not make the Warriors complacent. Senior forward Sam Strimling and senior midfielder and tri-captain Ari Wainer knocked in a goal each before the end of the first half for a 4-0 gap.
Deerfield maintained possession on the opposing end for nearly the entire half, all the while preventing a single shot on goal against goalkeeper, senior and tri-captain Josh Berman, who continued his shutout streak to three games.
Senior midfielder and tri-captain Nicholas Prus said defensive stinginess was largely the objective, despite the team’s profound trust in Berman’s ability to defend the net.
“Our goal for tonight was to just keep possession,” Prus said. “We just wanted to slow down a little bit in the back and in the midfield and keep the ball.”
Grant had a hard time contesting Deerfield’s fluid ball movement and possession game.
“We’re very young this year,” said Grant head coach Andy Flaker. “We were starting seven freshmen and sophomores. We have some of the most individual talent I have seen come into our program in a long time; we just need to meld and come together as a team. I think when we do, we are going to be putting some good stuff together.”
Hoping for a different tone in the second half, Flaker asked his team, “Who are we? We are a young team, yes, but who are we as a team? Are we going to come out and fight or are we going to roll over?
"They told me they were not going to roll over.”
The Bulldogs showed their spirit in the last 40 minutes and cut Deerfield’s productivity in half.
Grant fought ruthlessly to keep the ball out of their half, thanks in large part to midfielder and captain Tony Cruz. The junior’s speed and vision opened up a few promising opportunities for his strikers to no avail.
Deerfield's play remained top class after the break.
“Our defense has been really good this year,” Coleman said.
“There’s a lot of guys who are contributing,” said Hurtig, whose praise went beyond the back four. “Ryder Coleman came out and played really well tonight. When he is playing with defensive intensity, then he is a complete player. He’s got to keep that intensity for us.”
At 53 minutes, Coleman came flying down the right flank and played a brilliant cross over the Grant defense to find Prus on the far post. The ensuing gorgeous volley was rocketed into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
When asked if the cross that seemed too good to be true was fully intentional, Coleman confidently replied with a simple, “Yes.”
About his goal, Prus said, “I usually don’t consider myself a goal-scorer. I play CDM, so it was nice to get another goal today.” Prus scored the decisive goal in Deerfield’s 1-0 result against Evanston.
Senior forward Adam Shore was the last to join in on the chorus of Deerfield goal-scorers. He slotted in a nicely placed through-ball from senior defender Albert Covaci at 77 minutes.
Grant's coach saw the game as a good experience for his team and program’s future.
“That’s one of the reasons we schedule something like this,” he said. “It’s so they can see this is what you need to be at; this is where we need to be.”
Grant’s junior goalkeeper Trevor Wentz produced a game performance. He made a number of impressive saves but simply had to contest too many shots.
Hurtig commended the visitors’ effort and determination.
“Grant’s a young team, but they’ve got some promising players,” he said. “They’re playing against a lot of seniors, so they’re playing against guys who are two years older, three years older than them.
“That’s a tough demand, so I thought they fought hard.”
On Saturday, Deerfield extended it unbeaten streak to four games after a 3-3 tie against visiting Lake Forest.
Starting lineups
Grant
GK: Trevor Wentz
D: Colin Todd
D: Alex Sanchez
D: Dylan Sheppard
M: Tony Vazquez
M: Alex Shubin
M: Sebastian Gonzalez
M: Tony Cruz
M: Erik DeLuna
M: Eddie Murray
F: Miguel Nunez
Deerfield
GK: Josh Berman
D: Noah Weil
D: Ben Seed
D: Ko Vandeneijkhoff
D: James Weiner
M: Javier Espinosa De Los Monteros
M: Ari Wainer
M: Nicholas Prus
F: Ryder Coleman
F: David Jotkus
F: Peter Straus
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ryder Coleman, so., F, Deerfield
Scoring summary
First half
Deerfield: Coleman (UA) 7 minutes
Deerfield: Jotkus (UA) 8 minutes
Deerfield: Strimling (Shore) 24 minutes
Deerfield: Weiner (UA) 32 minutes
Second half
Deerfield: Prus (Coleman) 53 minutes
Deerfield: Shore (A. Covaci) 77 minutes