Lane starts hot, then holds off Jones rally
Juniors Zehra Halilic and Camaron Niforos key victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Soccer is a lot like jazz, a riff on spontaneity and rhythm shaped by a desire to cut against the grain.
“We have a lot of young talent on our team,” Lane midfielder Camaron Niforos said. “That makes us different from a lot of teams. Our coach [Michelle Vale] always tells us not to connect the dots.
“Get as many people involved as possible and make it unpredictable.”
Lane has been untouchable through the first two weeks of the season, demonstrating confidence and style, camaraderie and verve.
“It is a lot easier to play when you have a lot of people who have played together for a long time,” Niforos said.
In its Chicago Public League Premier Division showdown with rival Jones, Lane proved free, associative and hard to contain; and that turned the Eagles’ world into an early nightmare. Lane asserted its style, and the game had a fierce logic and shape.
Just as Lane appeared ready to dominate the narrative, Jones fought back and decided to make its own stand.
“I think what we are going to take away from this game is that we are here to play,” Jones forward Avery Kaplan said. “When I was here as a freshman, I remember thinking in playing Lane to always be prepared to be blown out.
“Now we are here to play. They saw it. We saw it. Everybody in the stands saw it. We are coming for blood, and it does not matter who we are going through. If it is Lane, so be it. We are not scared of them.”
Lane survived through the impressive play of Niforos and junior defender Zehra Halilic.
Halilic scored a goal and added an assist and Niforos scored what turned out to be the difference-maker as Lane, ranked no. 14 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, survived Jones’ furious rally with the 3-2 victory Monday at Lane Stadium on the North Side.
The Indians appeared on the verge of a rout until Jones struck back with a fury.
Lane (4-0-0, 3-0-0) ran out to a 3-0 lead in the first 45 minutes. By the intense conclusion featuring Kaplan just missing on one shot and the Eagles generating several dangerous set pieces on corner kicks, Lane had just enough to escape with the victory.
“This group is continuing to learn how to believe in themselves,” Jones coach Derek Bylsma said. “We went from being a big underdog, and now we are starting to be more respected, and our players are starting to believe more in themselves. This is a really good team. This is the best team I have had since I have been here.”
The two teams have a great recent history. Two years ago, on the same field, Jones stunned Lane with two early goals only for the Indians to fight back for the 2-2 tie. In the city championship, Lane jumped out to a 2-0 lead only for the Eagles to force a second half tie until Lane pulled away with three unanswered goals.
Niforos, a midfielder, represents the next wave of the Indians’ depth and talent. For the second-consecutive year, she earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match in the Jones game. She has a knack for elevating her play in the biggest games.
“I definitely go in with a specific mentality,” Niforos said. “I go in really confident that we could win, but also have that never-give-up kind of attitude. We know going into these games Young and Jones are more aggressive and play a full-force style, and Payton is more technical and possessive and plays like we do, so it is a matter of flipping the switch on and off and adjusting your game.”
Niforos shared the MVP honors with Halilic. The two ignited the Indians’ fast start. Lane had the advantage of the swirling wind off the opening whistle. Niforos controlled the ball on the left wing and played a pass that deflected to the far right flank with Halilic, a defender, trailing the play.
Halilic unwinded and lofted a loopy shot that curved beyond the reach of the Eagles’ standout keeper Devin Barry for a stunning goal in the second minute. It was her first goal of the year.
“As a defender I don’t really score that much,” Halilic said. “So it just felt really good to score in that situation. Our motto is always the first five minutes. I thought we played to that, which was important, especially playing our rival, a very good team like Jones.”
Grace Dunaway, Lane’s two-time Chicagoland Soccer All-State choice, is a fast-switch player who has an uncommon feel for generating space in the middle or top of the attack. She made several jarring pincer movements toward the Eagles’ goal, keeping Jones off balance throughout the first half.
“I think we were a little intimidated at the start,” Bylsma said. “This was our first time we have played here since the city championship a couple of years ago. I think the wind was a factor. We struggled to move the ball out of the back very well. On the first goal, the ball just kind of floated.”
Halilic engineered the Indians’ second goal, a beautiful set piece off a corner. Senior midfielder Estefany Posas created the initial pressure that created the restart. Working from the right corner, Halilic served a short ball that defender Alana Coffman executed a deft fake on, and senior forward Kayla Dutton drilled a howitzer from about 21 yards inside the near post for the 2-0 Lane lead in the 32nd minute.
“It was a beautiful goal,” Bylsma said. “It was a scripted play. They did it well, and the girl finished.”
Niforos plays with control, passion and excellent instincts around the ball. She has a way of being in the center of activity. At the start of the second half, Niforos played a beautiful through-ball on the left flank that Dunaway caught in space and raced toward the Eagles’ goal.
Dunaway’s shot bounde off the post and ricocheted back to Niforos, who calmly stepped up and drilled a left-footed blast from about 19 yards.
Jones (3-2-0, 1-1-0) went through all stages, reeling and shocked and then suddenly dialed-in and intense. A game that was played mostly at one end suddenly turned into a typical Jones and Lane affair, or more accurately, a game of more recent vintage.
In the 48th minute, Kaplan intercepted a pass from about 30 yards out and made a quick 1-2 step and blasted home a line drive ball that clipped the upper reach of Lane keeper Brianna Love.
The goal was the first surrendered by the Indians after three shutouts and nearly 50 minutes of a fourth game without a goal. Lane went nearly 300 minutes without being scored upon.
“I feel we definitely got comfortable,” Halilic said. “When they scored, we felt like, Dang, this is the first goal of the year we got scored on. But I think what really set it off for us was their second goal. That is when we knew we had to step it up.”
One interesting note of the game was the opposing roles of identical twins Lisa and Laura Rios. Both are sophomore midfielders, except wearing different colors: Laura with the Eagles, Lisa with the Indians. Each started the game.
In the 69th minute, Laura Rios played a ball on the left wing that Serena Lindsey controlled for a shot from about 18 yards. Like the first Lane goal, Lindsey’s shot floated past the reach of Love and pulled the Eagles within 3-2. Moments later, Kaplan saw a golden chance. With Jones pressuring the ball deep into the Indians’ end, Love aggressively ran out of her line to take a ball. Her clearance dangled in the wind.
Kaplan got the ball about 24 yards out with the goal tantalizingly open.
“I’d like to take that back a million times,” Kaplan said. Her shot skipped wide-left and out of bounds.
“I did not have a big window to get it off,” she said. “I took whatever touch I could, because I knew I only had one shot, and I did not have a lot of time. Everyone is closing in, also I just got it off, and I think the wind also might have gotten it.”
Lane learned something valuable.
“I think it is important to never stop,” Niforos said. “Once you do get comfortable, like we did, you never know what is going to happen. We knew they were a second half team, and we had to keep playing and to trying score, because we knew they were capable of coming back.”
Niforos made several heads-up plays in the closing minutes to maintain possession and secure the victory. Those intangibles added up.
Bylsma is not one for moral victories. The sting of defeat was offset by how the final 32 minutes of the game played out.
“When we play with heart and fire, like we did at the end, then we are a very difficult team,” he said. “We are not good enough to show up and come out flat and play. I am very excited about this team. If I have a choice between winning this game and the city playoff game, I will take the city tournament game.
“Lane is a great team, and it is difficult losing. I am really proud of the girls.”
Starting ineups
Jones
GK: Devin Barry
D: Audrey Bruce
D: Olivia Rodriguez
D: Catherine Lorden
D: Izzy Kamba
MF: Natalie Loos
MF: Laura Rios
MF: Parker Ellis
F: Avery Kaplan
F: Martina Bianchi
F: Sophie Jennerjahn
Lane
GK: Brianna Love
D: Alana Coffman
D: Zehra Halilic
D: Samantha Soric
MF: Johanna Bozic
MF: Carlye Makuch
MF: Camaron Niforos
MF: Melissa Garcia
MF: Lisa Rios
F: Grace Dunaway
F: Kayla Dutton
Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: Zehra Halilic, jr., D, Lane
Camaron Niforos, jr., MF, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Zehra Halilic (unassisted), 2nd minute
Lane—Kayla Dutton (Halilic), 32nd minute
Second half
Lane—Camaron Niforos (unassisted), 46th minute
Jones—Avery Kaplan (unassisted), 48th minute
Jones—Serena Lindsey (Laura Rios), 69th minute
Juniors Zehra Halilic and Camaron Niforos key victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Soccer is a lot like jazz, a riff on spontaneity and rhythm shaped by a desire to cut against the grain.
“We have a lot of young talent on our team,” Lane midfielder Camaron Niforos said. “That makes us different from a lot of teams. Our coach [Michelle Vale] always tells us not to connect the dots.
“Get as many people involved as possible and make it unpredictable.”
Lane has been untouchable through the first two weeks of the season, demonstrating confidence and style, camaraderie and verve.
“It is a lot easier to play when you have a lot of people who have played together for a long time,” Niforos said.
In its Chicago Public League Premier Division showdown with rival Jones, Lane proved free, associative and hard to contain; and that turned the Eagles’ world into an early nightmare. Lane asserted its style, and the game had a fierce logic and shape.
Just as Lane appeared ready to dominate the narrative, Jones fought back and decided to make its own stand.
“I think what we are going to take away from this game is that we are here to play,” Jones forward Avery Kaplan said. “When I was here as a freshman, I remember thinking in playing Lane to always be prepared to be blown out.
“Now we are here to play. They saw it. We saw it. Everybody in the stands saw it. We are coming for blood, and it does not matter who we are going through. If it is Lane, so be it. We are not scared of them.”
Lane survived through the impressive play of Niforos and junior defender Zehra Halilic.
Halilic scored a goal and added an assist and Niforos scored what turned out to be the difference-maker as Lane, ranked no. 14 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, survived Jones’ furious rally with the 3-2 victory Monday at Lane Stadium on the North Side.
The Indians appeared on the verge of a rout until Jones struck back with a fury.
Lane (4-0-0, 3-0-0) ran out to a 3-0 lead in the first 45 minutes. By the intense conclusion featuring Kaplan just missing on one shot and the Eagles generating several dangerous set pieces on corner kicks, Lane had just enough to escape with the victory.
“This group is continuing to learn how to believe in themselves,” Jones coach Derek Bylsma said. “We went from being a big underdog, and now we are starting to be more respected, and our players are starting to believe more in themselves. This is a really good team. This is the best team I have had since I have been here.”
The two teams have a great recent history. Two years ago, on the same field, Jones stunned Lane with two early goals only for the Indians to fight back for the 2-2 tie. In the city championship, Lane jumped out to a 2-0 lead only for the Eagles to force a second half tie until Lane pulled away with three unanswered goals.
Niforos, a midfielder, represents the next wave of the Indians’ depth and talent. For the second-consecutive year, she earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match in the Jones game. She has a knack for elevating her play in the biggest games.
“I definitely go in with a specific mentality,” Niforos said. “I go in really confident that we could win, but also have that never-give-up kind of attitude. We know going into these games Young and Jones are more aggressive and play a full-force style, and Payton is more technical and possessive and plays like we do, so it is a matter of flipping the switch on and off and adjusting your game.”
Niforos shared the MVP honors with Halilic. The two ignited the Indians’ fast start. Lane had the advantage of the swirling wind off the opening whistle. Niforos controlled the ball on the left wing and played a pass that deflected to the far right flank with Halilic, a defender, trailing the play.
Halilic unwinded and lofted a loopy shot that curved beyond the reach of the Eagles’ standout keeper Devin Barry for a stunning goal in the second minute. It was her first goal of the year.
“As a defender I don’t really score that much,” Halilic said. “So it just felt really good to score in that situation. Our motto is always the first five minutes. I thought we played to that, which was important, especially playing our rival, a very good team like Jones.”
Grace Dunaway, Lane’s two-time Chicagoland Soccer All-State choice, is a fast-switch player who has an uncommon feel for generating space in the middle or top of the attack. She made several jarring pincer movements toward the Eagles’ goal, keeping Jones off balance throughout the first half.
“I think we were a little intimidated at the start,” Bylsma said. “This was our first time we have played here since the city championship a couple of years ago. I think the wind was a factor. We struggled to move the ball out of the back very well. On the first goal, the ball just kind of floated.”
Halilic engineered the Indians’ second goal, a beautiful set piece off a corner. Senior midfielder Estefany Posas created the initial pressure that created the restart. Working from the right corner, Halilic served a short ball that defender Alana Coffman executed a deft fake on, and senior forward Kayla Dutton drilled a howitzer from about 21 yards inside the near post for the 2-0 Lane lead in the 32nd minute.
“It was a beautiful goal,” Bylsma said. “It was a scripted play. They did it well, and the girl finished.”
Niforos plays with control, passion and excellent instincts around the ball. She has a way of being in the center of activity. At the start of the second half, Niforos played a beautiful through-ball on the left flank that Dunaway caught in space and raced toward the Eagles’ goal.
Dunaway’s shot bounde off the post and ricocheted back to Niforos, who calmly stepped up and drilled a left-footed blast from about 19 yards.
Jones (3-2-0, 1-1-0) went through all stages, reeling and shocked and then suddenly dialed-in and intense. A game that was played mostly at one end suddenly turned into a typical Jones and Lane affair, or more accurately, a game of more recent vintage.
In the 48th minute, Kaplan intercepted a pass from about 30 yards out and made a quick 1-2 step and blasted home a line drive ball that clipped the upper reach of Lane keeper Brianna Love.
The goal was the first surrendered by the Indians after three shutouts and nearly 50 minutes of a fourth game without a goal. Lane went nearly 300 minutes without being scored upon.
“I feel we definitely got comfortable,” Halilic said. “When they scored, we felt like, Dang, this is the first goal of the year we got scored on. But I think what really set it off for us was their second goal. That is when we knew we had to step it up.”
One interesting note of the game was the opposing roles of identical twins Lisa and Laura Rios. Both are sophomore midfielders, except wearing different colors: Laura with the Eagles, Lisa with the Indians. Each started the game.
In the 69th minute, Laura Rios played a ball on the left wing that Serena Lindsey controlled for a shot from about 18 yards. Like the first Lane goal, Lindsey’s shot floated past the reach of Love and pulled the Eagles within 3-2. Moments later, Kaplan saw a golden chance. With Jones pressuring the ball deep into the Indians’ end, Love aggressively ran out of her line to take a ball. Her clearance dangled in the wind.
Kaplan got the ball about 24 yards out with the goal tantalizingly open.
“I’d like to take that back a million times,” Kaplan said. Her shot skipped wide-left and out of bounds.
“I did not have a big window to get it off,” she said. “I took whatever touch I could, because I knew I only had one shot, and I did not have a lot of time. Everyone is closing in, also I just got it off, and I think the wind also might have gotten it.”
Lane learned something valuable.
“I think it is important to never stop,” Niforos said. “Once you do get comfortable, like we did, you never know what is going to happen. We knew they were a second half team, and we had to keep playing and to trying score, because we knew they were capable of coming back.”
Niforos made several heads-up plays in the closing minutes to maintain possession and secure the victory. Those intangibles added up.
Bylsma is not one for moral victories. The sting of defeat was offset by how the final 32 minutes of the game played out.
“When we play with heart and fire, like we did at the end, then we are a very difficult team,” he said. “We are not good enough to show up and come out flat and play. I am very excited about this team. If I have a choice between winning this game and the city playoff game, I will take the city tournament game.
“Lane is a great team, and it is difficult losing. I am really proud of the girls.”
Starting ineups
Jones
GK: Devin Barry
D: Audrey Bruce
D: Olivia Rodriguez
D: Catherine Lorden
D: Izzy Kamba
MF: Natalie Loos
MF: Laura Rios
MF: Parker Ellis
F: Avery Kaplan
F: Martina Bianchi
F: Sophie Jennerjahn
Lane
GK: Brianna Love
D: Alana Coffman
D: Zehra Halilic
D: Samantha Soric
MF: Johanna Bozic
MF: Carlye Makuch
MF: Camaron Niforos
MF: Melissa Garcia
MF: Lisa Rios
F: Grace Dunaway
F: Kayla Dutton
Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: Zehra Halilic, jr., D, Lane
Camaron Niforos, jr., MF, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Zehra Halilic (unassisted), 2nd minute
Lane—Kayla Dutton (Halilic), 32nd minute
Second half
Lane—Camaron Niforos (unassisted), 46th minute
Jones—Avery Kaplan (unassisted), 48th minute
Jones—Serena Lindsey (Laura Rios), 69th minute