Rochelle Zell grabs
momentum-building win over Hope
Shapira nets Tigers goals in 3-2 Chicago Prep Conference victory
By Bobby Narang
Jesse Shapira can’t figure out the formula to his success against conference foe Hope.
In his young career, the Rochelle Zell sophomore forward has produced some of his best performances against conference foe Hope.
Earlier this season, Shapira scored a hat-trick on the road against them. The three goals accounted for all of the Tigers output in the 4-3 defeat in Chicago Prep Conference action Aug. 30.
After losing two straight to the Eagles dating back to the conference championship game loss last spring, the Tigers and Shapira were motivated to pull out a home victory Thursday.
Rochelle Zell senior forward Zach Rosen concocted had a simple formula for the game: get the ball to Shapira.
Eleven minutes in the game, Shapira scored the first of his triple to spark the Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Eagles in Deerfield. Shapira’s hat-trick raised his season total to a team-best 18 goals.
Rochelle Zell (8-4-2, 3-4-2) gained a confidence-building win over the Eagles (8-4-0, 6-3-0) as it prepares for the postseason.
“I think it’s about motivation,” Shapira said of his scoring spree. “We all wanted to play well and get some revenge. We lost the conference championship to them and losing to them earlier in the regular season really motivated us. They just beat the best team in conference (league champion Cristo Rey). We can use this to help us.
“My teammates really helped me today. I can’t get these goals without them getting me the ball. Zach played great.”
Hope coach Jorge Linares said his players came out flat early in the game. The Eagles’ youth showed. With only three seniors, nine sophomores account for the majority of the roster.
“We were tired after yesterday's game," Linares said. “In the first half, everyone was sleepy. They reacted better in the second half, but it was too late. This was new for us. We’re used to playing on turf fields, not grass fields and this is a small field. We even practice on turf.
“We played better in the second half. It was too difficult to make a (big) comeback.”
Rosen, who was recently moved from midfielder to forward, had the first two assists on Shapira's goals, raising his season total to eight. Shapira scored on a short hopper in the 11th minute, then added his second goal on a soft hit from 12 yards into a wide-open net in the 18th minute.
Rosen said the entire team was motivated to end their series losing streak to the Eagles at two games.
“Just this whole year, we’ve been so up and down," Rosen said. “We’ve been up, but this is the real tough win we've gotten, especially against them. It feels amazing. I know (Jesse) is our guy, so if I get him the ball, I know he’s going to finish it.
“I've talked about this (game) all season. … I knew this could be a trap game for them since they had a big game yesterday. We played a full 80 minutes, with 100 percent intensity. It was the first time all season. We pressured for a full 80 minutes.
“They’re a phenomenal possession team. We had a foot in their face at all times. Our defense stopped reaching and poking and just contained. We started reading the fly ball so much better. We got almost half of the 50/50 balls. I wanted to beat them so bad. They ruined our perfect conference season last year.”
Shapira and Rosen both were easy to spot -- both players donned headbands and raced up and down the pitch with boundless energy. Shapira was forced to ditch his headband late in the first half because “the ref told me to.”
Meanwhile, sporting a big smile, Rosen said the refs left him alone regarding his headband because “I didn’t have a string on the end.”
Though down 2-0 early, Hope made the Tigers earn the victory, bouncing back from the early setbacks to nearly tie the game. Sophomore Adrian Bahena scored on a penalty kick in the 21st minute to slice the deficit to 2-1. The Eagles had three quality shots in the final 15 minutes of the first half but couldn’t find the equalizer.
After the break Shapira struck again in the 56th minute to pad the lead.
He blasted a shot that dribbled off the hands of Hope’s keeper to hit the back of the net.
“The boys knew exactly what they needed to do, and we executed what we planned,” Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez said. “I wish we would’ve done this earlier in the season. We need to play more like this, so other teams don’t take us lightly.
Jesse had a nice game. He’s one of the fastest guys in the conference. The duo of Zach and Jesse up-top are our workhorses, working together and working hard. It’s changing our whole offense. Just look at all the goals.”
Rochelle Zell goalie Jacob Weiss tallied five of his seven saves in the first half. Weiss had two key saves in the final 17 minutes to earn the win.
Rochelle Zell defender Shomri Mlotek credited high energy for the victory over the second place Eagles.
“The key was playing the full 80 minutes and pushing through,” Mlotek said. “The defense was communicating well. It feels so good to beat this team. We can build off this win by playing our game and playing hard from start to finish.”
Jovany RosasDeJesus scored the Eagles' second goal, knocking in a shot off his own rebound to slice the margin to 3-2 with 23:13 remaining in regulation.
Hope sophomore forward Brayan Gomez said Thursday’s game was a valuable learning experience for the young team.
“We’ve had a rough schedule this week, so we were all tired,” Gomez said. “We played so good on Wednesday. Today, we were sluggish, almost sleepy like. I feel we have to learn from this. We have to stay humble and play hard against every team.”
Starting lineups
Hope
GK Xavier Magana
D Jose Ruiz
D Jesus Villanueva Jr.
D Miles Coleman
D Xavier Catalan
MF Luis Gutierrez
MF Fabian Villanueva
MF Jovany RosasDeJesus
MF Adrian Bahena
F Brayan Gomez
F Diego Garcia
Rochelle Zell
GK Jacob Weiss
D Eitan Noy
D Shomri Mlotek
D Coby Halpern
D Gabe Hirsch
M Harrison Harkavy
M Ben Rosenfeld
M Jeremy Budin
M Oren Nochimowski
F Jesse Shapira
F Zach Rosen
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jesse Shapira, so., F, Rochelle Zell
Scoring summary
First half
RZ — Jesse Shapira (Zach Rosen), 11th minute
RZ — Jesse Shapira (Zach Rosen), 18th minute
Hope — Adrian Bahena (penalty kick), 21st minute
Second half
RZ — Jesse Shapira (unassisted), 56th minute
Hope — Jovany RosasDeJesus (Diego Garcia), 57th minute
momentum-building win over Hope
Shapira nets Tigers goals in 3-2 Chicago Prep Conference victory
By Bobby Narang
Jesse Shapira can’t figure out the formula to his success against conference foe Hope.
In his young career, the Rochelle Zell sophomore forward has produced some of his best performances against conference foe Hope.
Earlier this season, Shapira scored a hat-trick on the road against them. The three goals accounted for all of the Tigers output in the 4-3 defeat in Chicago Prep Conference action Aug. 30.
After losing two straight to the Eagles dating back to the conference championship game loss last spring, the Tigers and Shapira were motivated to pull out a home victory Thursday.
Rochelle Zell senior forward Zach Rosen concocted had a simple formula for the game: get the ball to Shapira.
Eleven minutes in the game, Shapira scored the first of his triple to spark the Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Eagles in Deerfield. Shapira’s hat-trick raised his season total to a team-best 18 goals.
Rochelle Zell (8-4-2, 3-4-2) gained a confidence-building win over the Eagles (8-4-0, 6-3-0) as it prepares for the postseason.
“I think it’s about motivation,” Shapira said of his scoring spree. “We all wanted to play well and get some revenge. We lost the conference championship to them and losing to them earlier in the regular season really motivated us. They just beat the best team in conference (league champion Cristo Rey). We can use this to help us.
“My teammates really helped me today. I can’t get these goals without them getting me the ball. Zach played great.”
Hope coach Jorge Linares said his players came out flat early in the game. The Eagles’ youth showed. With only three seniors, nine sophomores account for the majority of the roster.
“We were tired after yesterday's game," Linares said. “In the first half, everyone was sleepy. They reacted better in the second half, but it was too late. This was new for us. We’re used to playing on turf fields, not grass fields and this is a small field. We even practice on turf.
“We played better in the second half. It was too difficult to make a (big) comeback.”
Rosen, who was recently moved from midfielder to forward, had the first two assists on Shapira's goals, raising his season total to eight. Shapira scored on a short hopper in the 11th minute, then added his second goal on a soft hit from 12 yards into a wide-open net in the 18th minute.
Rosen said the entire team was motivated to end their series losing streak to the Eagles at two games.
“Just this whole year, we’ve been so up and down," Rosen said. “We’ve been up, but this is the real tough win we've gotten, especially against them. It feels amazing. I know (Jesse) is our guy, so if I get him the ball, I know he’s going to finish it.
“I've talked about this (game) all season. … I knew this could be a trap game for them since they had a big game yesterday. We played a full 80 minutes, with 100 percent intensity. It was the first time all season. We pressured for a full 80 minutes.
“They’re a phenomenal possession team. We had a foot in their face at all times. Our defense stopped reaching and poking and just contained. We started reading the fly ball so much better. We got almost half of the 50/50 balls. I wanted to beat them so bad. They ruined our perfect conference season last year.”
Shapira and Rosen both were easy to spot -- both players donned headbands and raced up and down the pitch with boundless energy. Shapira was forced to ditch his headband late in the first half because “the ref told me to.”
Meanwhile, sporting a big smile, Rosen said the refs left him alone regarding his headband because “I didn’t have a string on the end.”
Though down 2-0 early, Hope made the Tigers earn the victory, bouncing back from the early setbacks to nearly tie the game. Sophomore Adrian Bahena scored on a penalty kick in the 21st minute to slice the deficit to 2-1. The Eagles had three quality shots in the final 15 minutes of the first half but couldn’t find the equalizer.
After the break Shapira struck again in the 56th minute to pad the lead.
He blasted a shot that dribbled off the hands of Hope’s keeper to hit the back of the net.
“The boys knew exactly what they needed to do, and we executed what we planned,” Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez said. “I wish we would’ve done this earlier in the season. We need to play more like this, so other teams don’t take us lightly.
Jesse had a nice game. He’s one of the fastest guys in the conference. The duo of Zach and Jesse up-top are our workhorses, working together and working hard. It’s changing our whole offense. Just look at all the goals.”
Rochelle Zell goalie Jacob Weiss tallied five of his seven saves in the first half. Weiss had two key saves in the final 17 minutes to earn the win.
Rochelle Zell defender Shomri Mlotek credited high energy for the victory over the second place Eagles.
“The key was playing the full 80 minutes and pushing through,” Mlotek said. “The defense was communicating well. It feels so good to beat this team. We can build off this win by playing our game and playing hard from start to finish.”
Jovany RosasDeJesus scored the Eagles' second goal, knocking in a shot off his own rebound to slice the margin to 3-2 with 23:13 remaining in regulation.
Hope sophomore forward Brayan Gomez said Thursday’s game was a valuable learning experience for the young team.
“We’ve had a rough schedule this week, so we were all tired,” Gomez said. “We played so good on Wednesday. Today, we were sluggish, almost sleepy like. I feel we have to learn from this. We have to stay humble and play hard against every team.”
Starting lineups
Hope
GK Xavier Magana
D Jose Ruiz
D Jesus Villanueva Jr.
D Miles Coleman
D Xavier Catalan
MF Luis Gutierrez
MF Fabian Villanueva
MF Jovany RosasDeJesus
MF Adrian Bahena
F Brayan Gomez
F Diego Garcia
Rochelle Zell
GK Jacob Weiss
D Eitan Noy
D Shomri Mlotek
D Coby Halpern
D Gabe Hirsch
M Harrison Harkavy
M Ben Rosenfeld
M Jeremy Budin
M Oren Nochimowski
F Jesse Shapira
F Zach Rosen
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jesse Shapira, so., F, Rochelle Zell
Scoring summary
First half
RZ — Jesse Shapira (Zach Rosen), 11th minute
RZ — Jesse Shapira (Zach Rosen), 18th minute
Hope — Adrian Bahena (penalty kick), 21st minute
Second half
RZ — Jesse Shapira (unassisted), 56th minute
Hope — Jovany RosasDeJesus (Diego Garcia), 57th minute