Young gets landmark win over Lane,
takes control of CPL Premier Division
Dolphins hand Lane 1st conference loss in more than 10 years
By Michael Wojtychiw
CHICAGO -- In the Chicago Public League's Premier Division, there always seemed to be one school that's stood above the rest.
Lane, ranked 14th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, is the six-time defending city tournament champion and hasn't lost to a Chicago Public League team since 2014, when Young took it down in the city title game in penalty kicks.
But if you're looking for a regular-season conference loss? You'd have to go even further into the past.
No. 24 Young has closed the gap recently. The Dolphins won the Premier Division regular-season last spring with a 6-0-1 record in conference play. That edged Lane’s 5-0-2 mark.
The gap may have disappeared Wednesday when the Dolphins took down Lane 3-0 at the Michelle Obama Complex to hand the visitors their first conference loss since at least 2010.
"Our group believes," Young manager Ross LaBeaux said. "Our group understands the position we're in and understands that if we focus, concentrate and buy in together, we're a good team. We fought today and are on the right side of a win.
"We were ready on second balls, holding possession, defending, all aspects of the game I felt we were better today."
"This just shows that we're coming out hard this season," Young's Lauren Roche said. "Hopefully we can end up winning city and get a lot more wins."
Lane (5-2-0, 3-1-0) came out putting pressure on the Young defense and earned a couple free kicks in the early going and also had a shot hit off the crossbar.
Unfortunately for the visitors, none of those early opportunities and scoring chances led to goals.
"I felt like the girls were pressing and displaying an attacking mentality that I thought was persistent," Lane manager Michelle Vale said. "I thought there were a couple different chances that could have worked out differently and turned into a goal, so that was good.
"I thought our defense, for the most part, did a good job of keeping their players in front of them."
After the flurry of Lane opportunities, it seemed as if the tide turned toward the Dolphins (4-2-3, 3-0-1).
And much of that advantage came with the help of set pieces. Roche, a sophomore midfielder, stepped up for a free kick from about 30 yards and ripped it past Lane keeper Siena Belko to give the Dolphins the early 1-0 lead.
"Ross told me to just shoot it, so I put it on goal," Roche said. "I wasn't really aiming it anywhere, I just wanted to get it there and got lucky I guess."
Roche, who has settled into her position as more of a center back, has gained confidence as the season has gone along and has started taking some of the set piece opportunities for Young.
"Lauren sees the game really well," the Young manager said. "She's got a bite to her that you need in someone who plays the center back position.
“She strikes a clean ball. If you have someone like that ... whether it's breaking pressure from the other team or getting good service on set pieces or scoring on them, she's been great for us."
Set pieces became the name of the game for the Dolphins against Lane.
"When we're practicing, we're working on tactical things that could be the difference in winning soccer games," LaBeaux said. "And we know that set pieces are a big part of it. If you fall asleep on them for one second, they can punish you.
"Today, we were really good on three set pieces. When we got our chances, we capitalized."
Young's next goal came off of a weird play where it earned an indirect kick after a Lane defender passed the ball back to Belko, who illegally touched the ball with her hands.
Roche knocked in her second goal of the day off the indirect free kick by Alexis Sassower for a 2-0 lead.
Senior Karen Vega rounded out the scoring when she knocked in a ball that hit the crossbar off another free kick for her third goal of the year.
The win marked the end of the Dolphins' toughest conference stretch, where they played the conference’s three toughest teams, Jones, Payton and Lane, in consecutive matches. Young defeated Jones and tied Payton.
Games like those and matches they played against suburban squads like Lyons, Loyola, Hinsdale Central and Evanston have really taught Young a lot about themselves.
"Everyone on this team has such a great feel for the game," Roche said. "Something we've been working on a lot is playing really hard, and it just clicked today.
"We know that we can beat any team in the state if we play our game."
For Lane and Vale, the loss to Young isn't one they are going to dwell on.
"We told the girls that we just need to regroup and come back stronger tomorrow," she said. "This is a conference game and no school is going to let us win. Everything that we have accomplished over the years, that we've accomplished this season, we've worked hard to accomplish.
"Young came prepared with those set pieces, and we weren't able to defend them. That's something that's a learning opportunity for us that we need to think about and work on."
The squad will now get ready to participate in one of the area's toughest tournaments: the Lou Malnati's Deep Dish Classic. Lane will play in a pool with Stevenson, Carmel and New Trier.
"One of the things we're going to do is continue to work on the fundamentals, the basic things that have gotten us this far and given us as much success as we have had," Vale said. "If we continue to play the basic game of soccer that we've always played, I think that will continue to bring us success.
"I think if we make adjustments based on one team or one game, I don't think that's necessary at this point. If anything, I think this game showed me the things we need to be working on that others have shown us as well."
Starting lineups
Lane
GK: Siena Belko
D: Olivia Schmit
D: Sawyer Mills
D: Jocelyn Ramirez
D: Maya Warkentin
MF: Kristiyana Sevova
MF: Maya Martinez-Bates
MF: Dale Sink
F: Scout Murray
F: Mary Rau
F: Gabriela Pop
Young
GK: Zoe Adelstein
D: Celeste Garton
D: Ainsley Christensen
D: Lauren Roche
D: Katie Sweitzer
MF: Sydney Koleno
MF: Alexis Sassower
MF: Moira Koleno
F: Maisy Connolly
F: Ella Koleno
F: Daphne Murray
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Lauren Roche, so., MF, Young
Scoring summary
First half
Young - Lauren Roche (FK)
Second half
Young - Roche (Alexis Sassower)
Young - Karen Vega (Roche)
(Times were not available due to a scoreboard malfunction)
takes control of CPL Premier Division
Dolphins hand Lane 1st conference loss in more than 10 years
By Michael Wojtychiw
CHICAGO -- In the Chicago Public League's Premier Division, there always seemed to be one school that's stood above the rest.
Lane, ranked 14th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, is the six-time defending city tournament champion and hasn't lost to a Chicago Public League team since 2014, when Young took it down in the city title game in penalty kicks.
But if you're looking for a regular-season conference loss? You'd have to go even further into the past.
No. 24 Young has closed the gap recently. The Dolphins won the Premier Division regular-season last spring with a 6-0-1 record in conference play. That edged Lane’s 5-0-2 mark.
The gap may have disappeared Wednesday when the Dolphins took down Lane 3-0 at the Michelle Obama Complex to hand the visitors their first conference loss since at least 2010.
"Our group believes," Young manager Ross LaBeaux said. "Our group understands the position we're in and understands that if we focus, concentrate and buy in together, we're a good team. We fought today and are on the right side of a win.
"We were ready on second balls, holding possession, defending, all aspects of the game I felt we were better today."
"This just shows that we're coming out hard this season," Young's Lauren Roche said. "Hopefully we can end up winning city and get a lot more wins."
Lane (5-2-0, 3-1-0) came out putting pressure on the Young defense and earned a couple free kicks in the early going and also had a shot hit off the crossbar.
Unfortunately for the visitors, none of those early opportunities and scoring chances led to goals.
"I felt like the girls were pressing and displaying an attacking mentality that I thought was persistent," Lane manager Michelle Vale said. "I thought there were a couple different chances that could have worked out differently and turned into a goal, so that was good.
"I thought our defense, for the most part, did a good job of keeping their players in front of them."
After the flurry of Lane opportunities, it seemed as if the tide turned toward the Dolphins (4-2-3, 3-0-1).
And much of that advantage came with the help of set pieces. Roche, a sophomore midfielder, stepped up for a free kick from about 30 yards and ripped it past Lane keeper Siena Belko to give the Dolphins the early 1-0 lead.
"Ross told me to just shoot it, so I put it on goal," Roche said. "I wasn't really aiming it anywhere, I just wanted to get it there and got lucky I guess."
Roche, who has settled into her position as more of a center back, has gained confidence as the season has gone along and has started taking some of the set piece opportunities for Young.
"Lauren sees the game really well," the Young manager said. "She's got a bite to her that you need in someone who plays the center back position.
“She strikes a clean ball. If you have someone like that ... whether it's breaking pressure from the other team or getting good service on set pieces or scoring on them, she's been great for us."
Set pieces became the name of the game for the Dolphins against Lane.
"When we're practicing, we're working on tactical things that could be the difference in winning soccer games," LaBeaux said. "And we know that set pieces are a big part of it. If you fall asleep on them for one second, they can punish you.
"Today, we were really good on three set pieces. When we got our chances, we capitalized."
Young's next goal came off of a weird play where it earned an indirect kick after a Lane defender passed the ball back to Belko, who illegally touched the ball with her hands.
Roche knocked in her second goal of the day off the indirect free kick by Alexis Sassower for a 2-0 lead.
Senior Karen Vega rounded out the scoring when she knocked in a ball that hit the crossbar off another free kick for her third goal of the year.
The win marked the end of the Dolphins' toughest conference stretch, where they played the conference’s three toughest teams, Jones, Payton and Lane, in consecutive matches. Young defeated Jones and tied Payton.
Games like those and matches they played against suburban squads like Lyons, Loyola, Hinsdale Central and Evanston have really taught Young a lot about themselves.
"Everyone on this team has such a great feel for the game," Roche said. "Something we've been working on a lot is playing really hard, and it just clicked today.
"We know that we can beat any team in the state if we play our game."
For Lane and Vale, the loss to Young isn't one they are going to dwell on.
"We told the girls that we just need to regroup and come back stronger tomorrow," she said. "This is a conference game and no school is going to let us win. Everything that we have accomplished over the years, that we've accomplished this season, we've worked hard to accomplish.
"Young came prepared with those set pieces, and we weren't able to defend them. That's something that's a learning opportunity for us that we need to think about and work on."
The squad will now get ready to participate in one of the area's toughest tournaments: the Lou Malnati's Deep Dish Classic. Lane will play in a pool with Stevenson, Carmel and New Trier.
"One of the things we're going to do is continue to work on the fundamentals, the basic things that have gotten us this far and given us as much success as we have had," Vale said. "If we continue to play the basic game of soccer that we've always played, I think that will continue to bring us success.
"I think if we make adjustments based on one team or one game, I don't think that's necessary at this point. If anything, I think this game showed me the things we need to be working on that others have shown us as well."
Starting lineups
Lane
GK: Siena Belko
D: Olivia Schmit
D: Sawyer Mills
D: Jocelyn Ramirez
D: Maya Warkentin
MF: Kristiyana Sevova
MF: Maya Martinez-Bates
MF: Dale Sink
F: Scout Murray
F: Mary Rau
F: Gabriela Pop
Young
GK: Zoe Adelstein
D: Celeste Garton
D: Ainsley Christensen
D: Lauren Roche
D: Katie Sweitzer
MF: Sydney Koleno
MF: Alexis Sassower
MF: Moira Koleno
F: Maisy Connolly
F: Ella Koleno
F: Daphne Murray
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Lauren Roche, so., MF, Young
Scoring summary
First half
Young - Lauren Roche (FK)
Second half
Young - Roche (Alexis Sassower)
Young - Karen Vega (Roche)
(Times were not available due to a scoreboard malfunction)