Deerfield signals its intent against Lakes
Hungry Warriors' focus evident in 6-0 nonconference win
By Bobby Narang
DEERFIELD -- Twenty seconds.
That’s all the time it took for Deerfield to show its intention that Monday’s game against Lakes was not going to be a repeat of last season’s contest.
A year ago, Deerfield and Lakes battled to a 0-0 draw at Adams Field. After opening the season 4-0-1 and enduring a rare cancellation due to snow obscuring the lines on the field Saturday, the Warriors came out aggressively and attacked from the opening whistle.
The Warriors built off their strong start and scored four first half goals in a 6-0 home victory over Lakes at Adams Field.
Deerfield senior defender Katie Morgan said the Warriors have big goals for the season, thus their focus on avoiding a letdown game.
“It starts with the warmups, but this season we have a different mentality as a whole,” Morgan said. “We’re here to win, not to tie. The expectations are high. We want to go far, definitely.”
Deerfield senior defender/goalie Emma Gassman echoed Morgan’s statement, especially after the Warriors failed to score a goal in the first 69-plus minutes of last Thursday’s 2-2 draw at Fenwick.
“I know this team well, being a senior, and all of us seniors want to go out with a bang and have big goals and expectations this season,” Gassman said. “We’re ready to work for them. We all want to win together and motivate everyone to go for the ball.
“We weren’t liking the Lakes games last year, and didn’t come out with a super start against Fenwick last week. We weren’t going to let that happen again tonight against Lakes.”
The Warriors, ranked no. 21 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, added two late goals in the nonconference fixture. The Warriors received two goals from Emily Fox to go with single tallies from Ryane Emory, Riley Schimanski, Katie Denison and Katie Morgan. In the net, Lauren Gottlieb and Gassman both played a half and combined for two saves and the shutout.
“I’m really happy with our performance,” Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. “We talked after Thursday’s game about starting strong and play the way we’re capable of playing, and I think we did.
“We had a lot of early chances and got a couple of nice goals. It was more relaxing, and we played well. I think we’re much more confident in our ability to defend as a group. I think last year we thought we could do it, but this year we know we can do it.
“We had Emma Gassman play goalie. She had never played goalie before. She did well in the second half. I’m really happy with the performance tonight and just hope to keep it going.”
Also, in another piece of good news, the Warriors welcomed the use of their expensive electronic scoreboard Monday. The scoreboard — among the best in Chicagoland — was inoperable for the first part of the season after debuting last season.
“I told them before the game, as long as we have the scoreboard, you might as well give them something to put up there,” Grady said jokingly.
Before the game, Lakes coach Kevin Kullby clearly understood the challenge of facing the undefeated and highly skilled Warriors on their home field. He hoped his team would respond to the challenge after a tough early schedule.
The Eagles (0-5-0) entered the game with only one goal this season, but the results featured losses to strong programs at Lake Zurich, Crystal Lake Central, no. 1 Libertyville and no. 7 Warren, who had a combined early season record 9-1-3 record.
Deerfield showed it belonged in that lofty group with a 13-minute-plus stretch that produced four goals.
“(Deerfield) has a lot of team speed and are playing to win,” Kullby said. “They have some nice players who communicate well, and were very effective. We’re just not up to that level yet. It showed.
“I thought in the second half, when we changed some players around, that we defended well for a good 30 minutes until giving up some goals at the end. We’re trying to find ourselves, but we had some moments. We need better awareness of where we’re at.
“We’re a work in progress. Deerfield is playing well early. We’ll keep at it, and we’ll learn from this.”
Deerfield impressed Lakes sophomore defender Tessa Smith.
“(Deerfield) is very good, and they know how to distribute the ball very well and are very good at communicating and supporting,” Smith said. “We improved in the second half. Deerfield is a very good team, and we tried our best.”
Lakes forward Mia Silber said her team can learn from playing so many talented teams early in the season.
“(Deerfield) was high-pressing us a lot. They found the corner balls and would play it back in the middle,” Silber said. “They were a very hard team to defend against. They had players moving around and were always communicating, and someone was always wanting a pass.
“It’s good to have a tough schedule early at the beginning the season. We’ve learned where we need people and what positions to play them. It will help us against what teams are coming up next. I think Deerfield is a very good team, and I had fun competing against them.”
After its big halftime lead, the Warriors endured a long, scoreless, second half stretch. That ended when Morgan scored her first varsity goal on a penalty kick.
“Since I don’t really get opportunities to score, I was really excited when their player fell in the box,” said Morgan, who tripped over the player and was awarded the PK. “I think 90 percent of PKs are mental, so I just walked in with confidence and took the shot.”
Despite her excitement, Morgan chose not to boisterously commemorate her landmark goal.
“Since we were up a lot, I didn’t want to celebrate.” she said. “I tried to have a happy medium, about it being my first goal but also that we were up five goals. I didn’t want to make anyone feel bad.”
Two minutes later, Denison closed out the scoring.
Starting lineups
Lakes
G Caitlin Pron
D Mia Pfiefer
D Tessa Smith
D Michela Hopkins
D Elise Coleman
MF Brighton Callaway
MF Sophia Goodale
MF Liz Klann
F Mia Silber
F Jodie Bristol
F Amanda Dietz
Deerfield
GK Lauren Gottlieb
D Madeline Stevens
D Katie Morgan
D Ally Linn
D Emma Gassman
MF Emily Fox
MF Erin Emory
MF Jessie Fisher
MF Holly Deutsch
F Ryane Emory
F Riley Schimanski
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Emily Fox, sr., MF, Deerfield
Scoring summary
First half
Deerfield — Emily Fox (unassisted), 12th minute
Deerfield — Ryane Emory (Holly Deutsch), 15th minute
Deerfield — Emily Fox (unassisted), 18th minute
Deerfield — Riley Schimanski (unassisted), 25th minute
Second half
Deerfield — Katie Morgan (penalty kick), 69th minute
Deerfield — Katie Denison (Simone Criz), 81st minute
Hungry Warriors' focus evident in 6-0 nonconference win
By Bobby Narang
DEERFIELD -- Twenty seconds.
That’s all the time it took for Deerfield to show its intention that Monday’s game against Lakes was not going to be a repeat of last season’s contest.
A year ago, Deerfield and Lakes battled to a 0-0 draw at Adams Field. After opening the season 4-0-1 and enduring a rare cancellation due to snow obscuring the lines on the field Saturday, the Warriors came out aggressively and attacked from the opening whistle.
The Warriors built off their strong start and scored four first half goals in a 6-0 home victory over Lakes at Adams Field.
Deerfield senior defender Katie Morgan said the Warriors have big goals for the season, thus their focus on avoiding a letdown game.
“It starts with the warmups, but this season we have a different mentality as a whole,” Morgan said. “We’re here to win, not to tie. The expectations are high. We want to go far, definitely.”
Deerfield senior defender/goalie Emma Gassman echoed Morgan’s statement, especially after the Warriors failed to score a goal in the first 69-plus minutes of last Thursday’s 2-2 draw at Fenwick.
“I know this team well, being a senior, and all of us seniors want to go out with a bang and have big goals and expectations this season,” Gassman said. “We’re ready to work for them. We all want to win together and motivate everyone to go for the ball.
“We weren’t liking the Lakes games last year, and didn’t come out with a super start against Fenwick last week. We weren’t going to let that happen again tonight against Lakes.”
The Warriors, ranked no. 21 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, added two late goals in the nonconference fixture. The Warriors received two goals from Emily Fox to go with single tallies from Ryane Emory, Riley Schimanski, Katie Denison and Katie Morgan. In the net, Lauren Gottlieb and Gassman both played a half and combined for two saves and the shutout.
“I’m really happy with our performance,” Deerfield coach Rich Grady said. “We talked after Thursday’s game about starting strong and play the way we’re capable of playing, and I think we did.
“We had a lot of early chances and got a couple of nice goals. It was more relaxing, and we played well. I think we’re much more confident in our ability to defend as a group. I think last year we thought we could do it, but this year we know we can do it.
“We had Emma Gassman play goalie. She had never played goalie before. She did well in the second half. I’m really happy with the performance tonight and just hope to keep it going.”
Also, in another piece of good news, the Warriors welcomed the use of their expensive electronic scoreboard Monday. The scoreboard — among the best in Chicagoland — was inoperable for the first part of the season after debuting last season.
“I told them before the game, as long as we have the scoreboard, you might as well give them something to put up there,” Grady said jokingly.
Before the game, Lakes coach Kevin Kullby clearly understood the challenge of facing the undefeated and highly skilled Warriors on their home field. He hoped his team would respond to the challenge after a tough early schedule.
The Eagles (0-5-0) entered the game with only one goal this season, but the results featured losses to strong programs at Lake Zurich, Crystal Lake Central, no. 1 Libertyville and no. 7 Warren, who had a combined early season record 9-1-3 record.
Deerfield showed it belonged in that lofty group with a 13-minute-plus stretch that produced four goals.
“(Deerfield) has a lot of team speed and are playing to win,” Kullby said. “They have some nice players who communicate well, and were very effective. We’re just not up to that level yet. It showed.
“I thought in the second half, when we changed some players around, that we defended well for a good 30 minutes until giving up some goals at the end. We’re trying to find ourselves, but we had some moments. We need better awareness of where we’re at.
“We’re a work in progress. Deerfield is playing well early. We’ll keep at it, and we’ll learn from this.”
Deerfield impressed Lakes sophomore defender Tessa Smith.
“(Deerfield) is very good, and they know how to distribute the ball very well and are very good at communicating and supporting,” Smith said. “We improved in the second half. Deerfield is a very good team, and we tried our best.”
Lakes forward Mia Silber said her team can learn from playing so many talented teams early in the season.
“(Deerfield) was high-pressing us a lot. They found the corner balls and would play it back in the middle,” Silber said. “They were a very hard team to defend against. They had players moving around and were always communicating, and someone was always wanting a pass.
“It’s good to have a tough schedule early at the beginning the season. We’ve learned where we need people and what positions to play them. It will help us against what teams are coming up next. I think Deerfield is a very good team, and I had fun competing against them.”
After its big halftime lead, the Warriors endured a long, scoreless, second half stretch. That ended when Morgan scored her first varsity goal on a penalty kick.
“Since I don’t really get opportunities to score, I was really excited when their player fell in the box,” said Morgan, who tripped over the player and was awarded the PK. “I think 90 percent of PKs are mental, so I just walked in with confidence and took the shot.”
Despite her excitement, Morgan chose not to boisterously commemorate her landmark goal.
“Since we were up a lot, I didn’t want to celebrate.” she said. “I tried to have a happy medium, about it being my first goal but also that we were up five goals. I didn’t want to make anyone feel bad.”
Two minutes later, Denison closed out the scoring.
Starting lineups
Lakes
G Caitlin Pron
D Mia Pfiefer
D Tessa Smith
D Michela Hopkins
D Elise Coleman
MF Brighton Callaway
MF Sophia Goodale
MF Liz Klann
F Mia Silber
F Jodie Bristol
F Amanda Dietz
Deerfield
GK Lauren Gottlieb
D Madeline Stevens
D Katie Morgan
D Ally Linn
D Emma Gassman
MF Emily Fox
MF Erin Emory
MF Jessie Fisher
MF Holly Deutsch
F Ryane Emory
F Riley Schimanski
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Emily Fox, sr., MF, Deerfield
Scoring summary
First half
Deerfield — Emily Fox (unassisted), 12th minute
Deerfield — Ryane Emory (Holly Deutsch), 15th minute
Deerfield — Emily Fox (unassisted), 18th minute
Deerfield — Riley Schimanski (unassisted), 25th minute
Second half
Deerfield — Katie Morgan (penalty kick), 69th minute
Deerfield — Katie Denison (Simone Criz), 81st minute