Lane's Kinuko Mrozik lives up to her name
Senior scores, plays tight defense in 2-0 city semi win over Jones
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- What’s in a name? In the case of Lane standout senior defender Kinuko Mrozik, her given name is Japanese for silk.
“I am named after my great-grandmother,” she said. Personalities sometimes get lost in the collective.
How appropriate Mrozik brought a tactile sense of the sharp and vibrant, and helped her team reach ever higher standards of excellence.
Mrozik excelled in every phase by scoring the game-winning goal in the 29th minute and playing her typical suffocating defense in powering Lane, ranked 17th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, to a highly impressive 2-0 victory over Jones in the first semifinal of the Chicago Public League tournament Tuesday afternoon at Brooks High School.
The senior also earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the match distinction.
Top-seeded Lane (12-3-2) advanced to the title game against no. 2-seed Young at 7 p.m. Thursday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview. Jones matches up with Payton in the third place game there at 5 p.m.
The Indians extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1) since a 2-1 home loss against 10-ranked Glenbrook South on April 3.
Numbers matter for the Indians. Mrozik was elevated to the varsity at the end of the season her freshman year when the Indians defeated Young for the first of three-consecutive city titles.
For the eight seniors, punching their ticket to the title game means the opportunity for city perfection: four years, four titles.
“Being my senior year, it is extremely important to me,” Mrozik said. “All the seniors really want it. All the teams we play are huge rivals, and we know that, not personally, but competitively they don’t like us. We want to show them, technically, we are the best.”
The emphatic and evocative blue shaded football and soccer field turf at Brooks is styled after Boise State. It’s jarring though distinctive, like Lane’s own game. On a smoldering afternoon, depth mattered more than normal as the field temperature reached nearly 100 degrees. The officials broke the game into effective quarters, with two mandated water breaks at the 20-minute mark of each half.
Lane’s speed, versatility and range dictated tempo and pace in a rematch of last year’s title game.
“With Lane, you have to hang around and then hopefully get a goal,” Jones coach Derek Bylsma said “They are a great team. You have to just hang and hang. To beat them, you have to play great and hope they are not playing great that day and try and do everything you can do to force them into playing poorly.
“Today they really played well.”
The prodigious skill of Jones’ superb junior keeper Devin Barry kept the Eagles close. She registered nine saves, many of the spectacular, point-blank nature.
But Lane coach Michelle Vale has a wealth of options and integrated multiple and varied parts to break down the Eagles.
“I think they just outplayed us and deserved to win the game,” Bylsma said.
Lane senior Izzy Oganovich, probably the team’s most versatile two-way talent, typically plays in the back. Vale inserted her into the middle. She brought pace and energy as Lane opened the game with a rapid-fire assault. The Eagles did an admirable job absorbing the early pressure.
Mrozik finally broke the Eagles down in the 29th minute. Junior midfielder Sydney Varga controlled the ball on the left wing and played it to a trailing Mrozik. Her sharply played and perfectly placed ball from 26 yards eluded Barry for the crucial opening score.
It was her second goal of the year.
“Sydney played it back to me, and I saw that I had a wide-open shot,” Mrozik said. “My previous goal had been exactly like that. Even if it was not a good shot, I know the more shots we have, the more opportunities we have, and I should take it since I was wide open. I took the shot, and I scored.
“Every opportunity you make is a possibility to score.”
Against this high-stakes backdrop, the first goal was always going to be momentous.
“I think it picked up our intensity,” Mrozik said. “We were a little nervous coming into the game. Jones is tough competition, and we have played them before. We knew they were going to come out hard. We wanted to be the first one to score, to get our intensity, just to secure a spot on top and that pushed us to get another one.
“Everybody wanted it, and that just kind of kickstarted everything for us.”
Not just an opportunistic scorer and a quality defender, Mrozik is also a specialist with her powerful throw-ins. Her remarkable ability to generate speed, direction and distance on those throws only adds another layer to the Indians’ attack.
“I’m a gymnast and gymnastics has given me a lot of upper body strength,” she said. “When I was a kid, I played football, baseball, and that just came into soccer.”
The goal not only boosted the Indians’ confidence, the early Lane advantage threw the Eagles off their normal rhythms. Jones (12-6-3) struggled as they have in few games this year to establish any consistent attack. Sophomore midfielder Martina Bianchi had sharp free kick from about 22 yards that Lane keeper Maggie Grossman corralled at the start of the game.
Jones never mounted any serious threats.
“I thought the girls played well,” Bylsma said. “I would have liked it if we possessed the ball more. Sometimes when we get under pressure we try to get rid of it, because I think we are afraid of losing the ball in the back. We are much more of a possession team than we ever were in the past, because we have the players to do it now.”
Midfielder Rachel Sohn was out with a knee injury. Sophomore Sophia Jennerjahn, a bracing young talent and speedster, was limited to a few minutes.
“It hurt us to have Rachel Sohn out,” Bylsma said. “Sophia only played the first five minutes. That hurt us because she has a lot of pace. Lane is very fast, and you need your fastest players out there.”
The game also served as another striking notice of the rise Lane sophomore midfielder Camaron Niforos. She recorded both assists in the Indians’ 2-0 victory over Jones on April 25. The heady and dynamic talent made some jaw-dropping passes and put Barry under considerable pressure.
Niforos put the game out of reach in the 55th minute by blasting home a rebound shot from Johanna Bozic. Barry made a fantastic save of the first shot. Niforos timed her run beautifully and crashed the net for her seventh goal.
“Johanna got the ball, and she took it down the line. I was actually expecting her to cross it,” Niforos said. “I sprinted it all the way down the field. When she shot it, I thought it was going in. Then suddenly I looked down and the ball was right in front of me.”
Jones has made a remarkable progression in the last five years, moving up two divisions and now making back-to-back Final Four appearances. Lane took their threat very seriously.
“I think we came in really hard,” Niforos said. “The whole day we were talking about how excited we were to play this game. I know we beat them the last time, but anything could happen. Last year when we played Jones, we were down 2-0 and and we came back and tied them. It was the same in the city title game. We know, especially playing Jones, it is anybody’s game.”
Jones, who finished fourth in the Premier Division standings, showed heart and discipline.
“I think we kept our composure the whole game,” senior defender Gabriela Baxtrom said.”We just talked and said we have to keep doing what we have to do.
“Even before high school, a lot of our girls have played club with a lot of girls on their team. We know each other. It’s always a fun rivalry and always a good game. My sophomore year we were in 1st Division, and then we worked our way up to get to the Premier.
“Now we have a chance to play for third at Toyota Park, and that is very good for us.”
Starting lineups
Jones
GK: Devin Barry
D: Gabriela Baxtrom
D: Izzy Kamba
D: Catherine Lorden
M: Natalie Loos
M: Audrey Bruce
M: Martina Bianchi
M: Sophia Jennerjahn
M: Laura Rios
F: Avery Kaplan
F: Carmen Marshall
Lane
GK: Maggie Grossman
D: Leah Finkielsztein
D: Kinuko Mrozik
D: Samantha Sorich
D: Zehra Halilic
M: Carlye Makuch
M: Izzy Oganovich
M: Ayla Guvener
M: Alana Coffman
F: Ayser Guvener
F: Grace Dunaway
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Kinuko Mrozik, sr., D, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Kinuko Mrozik (Sydney Varga), 29th minute
Second half
Lane—Camaron Niforos (Johanna Bozic), 55th minute
Senior scores, plays tight defense in 2-0 city semi win over Jones
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- What’s in a name? In the case of Lane standout senior defender Kinuko Mrozik, her given name is Japanese for silk.
“I am named after my great-grandmother,” she said. Personalities sometimes get lost in the collective.
How appropriate Mrozik brought a tactile sense of the sharp and vibrant, and helped her team reach ever higher standards of excellence.
Mrozik excelled in every phase by scoring the game-winning goal in the 29th minute and playing her typical suffocating defense in powering Lane, ranked 17th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, to a highly impressive 2-0 victory over Jones in the first semifinal of the Chicago Public League tournament Tuesday afternoon at Brooks High School.
The senior also earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the match distinction.
Top-seeded Lane (12-3-2) advanced to the title game against no. 2-seed Young at 7 p.m. Thursday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview. Jones matches up with Payton in the third place game there at 5 p.m.
The Indians extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1) since a 2-1 home loss against 10-ranked Glenbrook South on April 3.
Numbers matter for the Indians. Mrozik was elevated to the varsity at the end of the season her freshman year when the Indians defeated Young for the first of three-consecutive city titles.
For the eight seniors, punching their ticket to the title game means the opportunity for city perfection: four years, four titles.
“Being my senior year, it is extremely important to me,” Mrozik said. “All the seniors really want it. All the teams we play are huge rivals, and we know that, not personally, but competitively they don’t like us. We want to show them, technically, we are the best.”
The emphatic and evocative blue shaded football and soccer field turf at Brooks is styled after Boise State. It’s jarring though distinctive, like Lane’s own game. On a smoldering afternoon, depth mattered more than normal as the field temperature reached nearly 100 degrees. The officials broke the game into effective quarters, with two mandated water breaks at the 20-minute mark of each half.
Lane’s speed, versatility and range dictated tempo and pace in a rematch of last year’s title game.
“With Lane, you have to hang around and then hopefully get a goal,” Jones coach Derek Bylsma said “They are a great team. You have to just hang and hang. To beat them, you have to play great and hope they are not playing great that day and try and do everything you can do to force them into playing poorly.
“Today they really played well.”
The prodigious skill of Jones’ superb junior keeper Devin Barry kept the Eagles close. She registered nine saves, many of the spectacular, point-blank nature.
But Lane coach Michelle Vale has a wealth of options and integrated multiple and varied parts to break down the Eagles.
“I think they just outplayed us and deserved to win the game,” Bylsma said.
Lane senior Izzy Oganovich, probably the team’s most versatile two-way talent, typically plays in the back. Vale inserted her into the middle. She brought pace and energy as Lane opened the game with a rapid-fire assault. The Eagles did an admirable job absorbing the early pressure.
Mrozik finally broke the Eagles down in the 29th minute. Junior midfielder Sydney Varga controlled the ball on the left wing and played it to a trailing Mrozik. Her sharply played and perfectly placed ball from 26 yards eluded Barry for the crucial opening score.
It was her second goal of the year.
“Sydney played it back to me, and I saw that I had a wide-open shot,” Mrozik said. “My previous goal had been exactly like that. Even if it was not a good shot, I know the more shots we have, the more opportunities we have, and I should take it since I was wide open. I took the shot, and I scored.
“Every opportunity you make is a possibility to score.”
Against this high-stakes backdrop, the first goal was always going to be momentous.
“I think it picked up our intensity,” Mrozik said. “We were a little nervous coming into the game. Jones is tough competition, and we have played them before. We knew they were going to come out hard. We wanted to be the first one to score, to get our intensity, just to secure a spot on top and that pushed us to get another one.
“Everybody wanted it, and that just kind of kickstarted everything for us.”
Not just an opportunistic scorer and a quality defender, Mrozik is also a specialist with her powerful throw-ins. Her remarkable ability to generate speed, direction and distance on those throws only adds another layer to the Indians’ attack.
“I’m a gymnast and gymnastics has given me a lot of upper body strength,” she said. “When I was a kid, I played football, baseball, and that just came into soccer.”
The goal not only boosted the Indians’ confidence, the early Lane advantage threw the Eagles off their normal rhythms. Jones (12-6-3) struggled as they have in few games this year to establish any consistent attack. Sophomore midfielder Martina Bianchi had sharp free kick from about 22 yards that Lane keeper Maggie Grossman corralled at the start of the game.
Jones never mounted any serious threats.
“I thought the girls played well,” Bylsma said. “I would have liked it if we possessed the ball more. Sometimes when we get under pressure we try to get rid of it, because I think we are afraid of losing the ball in the back. We are much more of a possession team than we ever were in the past, because we have the players to do it now.”
Midfielder Rachel Sohn was out with a knee injury. Sophomore Sophia Jennerjahn, a bracing young talent and speedster, was limited to a few minutes.
“It hurt us to have Rachel Sohn out,” Bylsma said. “Sophia only played the first five minutes. That hurt us because she has a lot of pace. Lane is very fast, and you need your fastest players out there.”
The game also served as another striking notice of the rise Lane sophomore midfielder Camaron Niforos. She recorded both assists in the Indians’ 2-0 victory over Jones on April 25. The heady and dynamic talent made some jaw-dropping passes and put Barry under considerable pressure.
Niforos put the game out of reach in the 55th minute by blasting home a rebound shot from Johanna Bozic. Barry made a fantastic save of the first shot. Niforos timed her run beautifully and crashed the net for her seventh goal.
“Johanna got the ball, and she took it down the line. I was actually expecting her to cross it,” Niforos said. “I sprinted it all the way down the field. When she shot it, I thought it was going in. Then suddenly I looked down and the ball was right in front of me.”
Jones has made a remarkable progression in the last five years, moving up two divisions and now making back-to-back Final Four appearances. Lane took their threat very seriously.
“I think we came in really hard,” Niforos said. “The whole day we were talking about how excited we were to play this game. I know we beat them the last time, but anything could happen. Last year when we played Jones, we were down 2-0 and and we came back and tied them. It was the same in the city title game. We know, especially playing Jones, it is anybody’s game.”
Jones, who finished fourth in the Premier Division standings, showed heart and discipline.
“I think we kept our composure the whole game,” senior defender Gabriela Baxtrom said.”We just talked and said we have to keep doing what we have to do.
“Even before high school, a lot of our girls have played club with a lot of girls on their team. We know each other. It’s always a fun rivalry and always a good game. My sophomore year we were in 1st Division, and then we worked our way up to get to the Premier.
“Now we have a chance to play for third at Toyota Park, and that is very good for us.”
Starting lineups
Jones
GK: Devin Barry
D: Gabriela Baxtrom
D: Izzy Kamba
D: Catherine Lorden
M: Natalie Loos
M: Audrey Bruce
M: Martina Bianchi
M: Sophia Jennerjahn
M: Laura Rios
F: Avery Kaplan
F: Carmen Marshall
Lane
GK: Maggie Grossman
D: Leah Finkielsztein
D: Kinuko Mrozik
D: Samantha Sorich
D: Zehra Halilic
M: Carlye Makuch
M: Izzy Oganovich
M: Ayla Guvener
M: Alana Coffman
F: Ayser Guvener
F: Grace Dunaway
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Kinuko Mrozik, sr., D, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Kinuko Mrozik (Sydney Varga), 29th minute
Second half
Lane—Camaron Niforos (Johanna Bozic), 55th minute