Carmel's Salvi sisters, Loyola frosh show off
Loyola forces 2-2 tie with late goal in nonconference season finale
By Patrick Z. McGavin
MUNDELEIN -- The season always plays out in different stages. The race to the end of the regular season is always a study in contrasting or opposing coaching theories about the best way to finish.
With the state tournament looming, some coaches prefer to glide in as fresh and healthy as possible. Others want to replicate the early tournament action and go for a late season bellwether on where their team stands.
Ray Krawzak likes the former. His program at Carmel has a strong history of playing Loyola at the end of the regular season. These two private schools have a splendid connection that brings out the best in both.
“It is good to play them late in the season, because they are always a good team,” he said.
The result was a very entertaining and wickedly smart and sharp end of the year demonstration as a strong goal by Loyola forward Kaitlyn Kurtz in the 73rd minute resulted in the 2-2 tie Saturday morning.
Two teams eager to accelerate to the crucial part of the season offered a harbinger of things to come, strong set pieces by the Corsairs and excellent play from its talent-laden young roster for the Ramblers.
“There are unique challenges with the girls’ season you don’t face with the boys,” Krawzak said, who also manages the boys’ team. “Because of weather, you get a lot of games packed in at the end of the year. You are playing three or four games every week.
“We are also dealing with injuries that are coming along right now.”
Two historically proud programs looked past the adversity and simply looked to put their stamp on the end of the regular season.
Loyola midfielder Grace Ehlert, like Kurtz a gifted young freshman, created the scoring chance by darting down the left edge into the final third and slotting a ball that Kurtz leaned in on the go and finished with great authority.
The two also collaborated on the Ramblers’ first goal of the second half as Kurtz created and Ehlert blasted home the volley.
“We just wanted to win our last game before the start of the playoffs,” Kurtz said. “I felt we were very dangerous throughout the game, especially in the second half. We knew we wanted to win, and knowing that situation we were in, our minds were set on trying to get a goal.”
Another freshman, forward Kathryn Diblik, nearly turned into the hero for the Ramblers (9-6-3). Twice in the closing moments, from a virtually identical location on the left wing, she held everybody spellbound with two rocket balls. The first pushed just wide of the mark in the 76th minute.
Diblik maintained her pressure and drove down the left end line and hammered home another short volley that hit off the near post with under 30 seconds left in the game.
Carmel’s Taylor Zelich proved a worthy keeper, a strong sign of her growth and rapid development at a new position, the hardest in the game to really excel at. She made eight saves for the Corsairs (7-8-4).
She is agile and lanky and her athleticism has begun to match her technical understanding of the position.
“Her story was that we did not have a healthy goalkeeper at the beginning of the season, and she stepped up and she has been playing soccer for only two months,” Krawzak said. “She has come a long way in that time. Today, I think, she was the most important player on the field for us.”
Carmel has been ravaged by injuries. The Corsairs were missing four regular starters. Sophomore forward Sarah Galla, one of the most promising players on the team, suffered a torn meniscus. Her twin sister Liz started on the reconfigured backline for Carmel.
“We have been doing a pretty good job of defending when we are healthy,” Krawzak said. “We are not getting the results all of the time because we have not had our starters in all the time. It is just a matter of experience. At the beginning of the year we had mostly the same team starting every game.
“Now our entire team is getting good experience.”
The game also showcased the superb play of the Salvi sisters, senior midfielder Olivia and sophomore midfielder Salvi. The name has been synonymous with the girls’ program.
Their older sister Angela Salvi, who just finished her sophomore year at New Hampshire, was the leading scorer on the Corsairs’ Class AA state championship team in 2015.
Olivia Salvi, a John Carroll University recruit, created both goals on beautifully serviced set pieces, a corner kick that senior forward Zenaya Barnes finished with a header in the 10th minute.
The sisters teamed up beautifully in the 54th minute, with Olivia delivering another beautiful ball from the left wing that Mia made a great finish on for the Corsairs’ 2-1 advantage.
Olivia Salvi has six goals and nine assists. Mia has three goals and seven assists.
“The last few games have definitely been very important for us,” Olivia Salvi said. “We have done a very good job, even with all of our injuries. This game today especially was at the level you see in the playoffs. We could have gotten the win, but we did very well keeping them from scoring any more goals.”
Loyola, ranked 25th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, is in the right frame of mind, a young team coming into its own and discovering its identity at the right time. In her first year directing the program, Shannon Hartinger has blended her precocious youth with some savvy veterans, even with two-time Chicagoland Soccer all-state forward Maggie Brett making a gradual return from ACL surgery.
Loyola defeated Fenwick 1-0 on May 9 to earn a share of the GCAC Red title with no. 13 St. Ignatius.
“I think our goal this year has been no matter who the opponent or the results, we want to continue to perform well,” Hartinger said. “I think there were times today we performed well, and there were moments we lost our focus a bit, especially on their set pieces. I don’t think we defended their set pieces very well today.
“Credit to the girls for continuing to fight and finding the way to get the tie.’
With as many as six or seven freshmen playing on the field at a time, Loyola is a team marked by the unpredictable.
“They keep it exciting,” Hartinger said.
Olivia Salvi and Kaitlyn Kurtz shared the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction.
“I think today was a perfect last game before the start of the playoffs,” Olivia Salvi said. “We did really well, getting a tie, which is a good end to the regular season. We know where we are, we are excited by the playoffs and making a good run there.
“Today was the perfect setup because of the level of play.”
Starting lineups
Loyola
GK: Katherine Jaros
D: Megan Kurtz
D: Molly Sipe
D: Madeline Prassas
D: Grace Cutler
MF: Lauren Daffada
MF: Kate Murtaugh
MF: Grace Ehlert
MF: Eleanor Jackson
F: Kaitlyn Kurtz
F: Meredith Phillips
Carmel
GK: Taylor Zelig
D: Caitlin Teehan
D: Liz Galla
D: Jill Walsh
D: Morgan Smola
MF: Mia Salvi
MF: Olivia Salvi
MF: Olivia Pullin
MF: Anna Sicco
F: Zenaya Barnes
F: Sophia Coury
Chicagoland Soccer co-MVPs of the Match: Olivia Salvi, sr., MF, Carmel
Kaitlyn Kurtz, fr., F, Loyola
Scoring summary
First half
Carmel—Zenaya Barnes (Olivia Salvi), 10th minute
Second half
Loyola—Grace Ehlert (Kaitlyn Kurtz), 47th minute
Carmel—Mia Salvi (Olivia Salvi), 54th minute
Loyola—Kurtz (Ehlert), 73rd minute
Loyola forces 2-2 tie with late goal in nonconference season finale
By Patrick Z. McGavin
MUNDELEIN -- The season always plays out in different stages. The race to the end of the regular season is always a study in contrasting or opposing coaching theories about the best way to finish.
With the state tournament looming, some coaches prefer to glide in as fresh and healthy as possible. Others want to replicate the early tournament action and go for a late season bellwether on where their team stands.
Ray Krawzak likes the former. His program at Carmel has a strong history of playing Loyola at the end of the regular season. These two private schools have a splendid connection that brings out the best in both.
“It is good to play them late in the season, because they are always a good team,” he said.
The result was a very entertaining and wickedly smart and sharp end of the year demonstration as a strong goal by Loyola forward Kaitlyn Kurtz in the 73rd minute resulted in the 2-2 tie Saturday morning.
Two teams eager to accelerate to the crucial part of the season offered a harbinger of things to come, strong set pieces by the Corsairs and excellent play from its talent-laden young roster for the Ramblers.
“There are unique challenges with the girls’ season you don’t face with the boys,” Krawzak said, who also manages the boys’ team. “Because of weather, you get a lot of games packed in at the end of the year. You are playing three or four games every week.
“We are also dealing with injuries that are coming along right now.”
Two historically proud programs looked past the adversity and simply looked to put their stamp on the end of the regular season.
Loyola midfielder Grace Ehlert, like Kurtz a gifted young freshman, created the scoring chance by darting down the left edge into the final third and slotting a ball that Kurtz leaned in on the go and finished with great authority.
The two also collaborated on the Ramblers’ first goal of the second half as Kurtz created and Ehlert blasted home the volley.
“We just wanted to win our last game before the start of the playoffs,” Kurtz said. “I felt we were very dangerous throughout the game, especially in the second half. We knew we wanted to win, and knowing that situation we were in, our minds were set on trying to get a goal.”
Another freshman, forward Kathryn Diblik, nearly turned into the hero for the Ramblers (9-6-3). Twice in the closing moments, from a virtually identical location on the left wing, she held everybody spellbound with two rocket balls. The first pushed just wide of the mark in the 76th minute.
Diblik maintained her pressure and drove down the left end line and hammered home another short volley that hit off the near post with under 30 seconds left in the game.
Carmel’s Taylor Zelich proved a worthy keeper, a strong sign of her growth and rapid development at a new position, the hardest in the game to really excel at. She made eight saves for the Corsairs (7-8-4).
She is agile and lanky and her athleticism has begun to match her technical understanding of the position.
“Her story was that we did not have a healthy goalkeeper at the beginning of the season, and she stepped up and she has been playing soccer for only two months,” Krawzak said. “She has come a long way in that time. Today, I think, she was the most important player on the field for us.”
Carmel has been ravaged by injuries. The Corsairs were missing four regular starters. Sophomore forward Sarah Galla, one of the most promising players on the team, suffered a torn meniscus. Her twin sister Liz started on the reconfigured backline for Carmel.
“We have been doing a pretty good job of defending when we are healthy,” Krawzak said. “We are not getting the results all of the time because we have not had our starters in all the time. It is just a matter of experience. At the beginning of the year we had mostly the same team starting every game.
“Now our entire team is getting good experience.”
The game also showcased the superb play of the Salvi sisters, senior midfielder Olivia and sophomore midfielder Salvi. The name has been synonymous with the girls’ program.
Their older sister Angela Salvi, who just finished her sophomore year at New Hampshire, was the leading scorer on the Corsairs’ Class AA state championship team in 2015.
Olivia Salvi, a John Carroll University recruit, created both goals on beautifully serviced set pieces, a corner kick that senior forward Zenaya Barnes finished with a header in the 10th minute.
The sisters teamed up beautifully in the 54th minute, with Olivia delivering another beautiful ball from the left wing that Mia made a great finish on for the Corsairs’ 2-1 advantage.
Olivia Salvi has six goals and nine assists. Mia has three goals and seven assists.
“The last few games have definitely been very important for us,” Olivia Salvi said. “We have done a very good job, even with all of our injuries. This game today especially was at the level you see in the playoffs. We could have gotten the win, but we did very well keeping them from scoring any more goals.”
Loyola, ranked 25th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, is in the right frame of mind, a young team coming into its own and discovering its identity at the right time. In her first year directing the program, Shannon Hartinger has blended her precocious youth with some savvy veterans, even with two-time Chicagoland Soccer all-state forward Maggie Brett making a gradual return from ACL surgery.
Loyola defeated Fenwick 1-0 on May 9 to earn a share of the GCAC Red title with no. 13 St. Ignatius.
“I think our goal this year has been no matter who the opponent or the results, we want to continue to perform well,” Hartinger said. “I think there were times today we performed well, and there were moments we lost our focus a bit, especially on their set pieces. I don’t think we defended their set pieces very well today.
“Credit to the girls for continuing to fight and finding the way to get the tie.’
With as many as six or seven freshmen playing on the field at a time, Loyola is a team marked by the unpredictable.
“They keep it exciting,” Hartinger said.
Olivia Salvi and Kaitlyn Kurtz shared the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction.
“I think today was a perfect last game before the start of the playoffs,” Olivia Salvi said. “We did really well, getting a tie, which is a good end to the regular season. We know where we are, we are excited by the playoffs and making a good run there.
“Today was the perfect setup because of the level of play.”
Starting lineups
Loyola
GK: Katherine Jaros
D: Megan Kurtz
D: Molly Sipe
D: Madeline Prassas
D: Grace Cutler
MF: Lauren Daffada
MF: Kate Murtaugh
MF: Grace Ehlert
MF: Eleanor Jackson
F: Kaitlyn Kurtz
F: Meredith Phillips
Carmel
GK: Taylor Zelig
D: Caitlin Teehan
D: Liz Galla
D: Jill Walsh
D: Morgan Smola
MF: Mia Salvi
MF: Olivia Salvi
MF: Olivia Pullin
MF: Anna Sicco
F: Zenaya Barnes
F: Sophia Coury
Chicagoland Soccer co-MVPs of the Match: Olivia Salvi, sr., MF, Carmel
Kaitlyn Kurtz, fr., F, Loyola
Scoring summary
First half
Carmel—Zenaya Barnes (Olivia Salvi), 10th minute
Second half
Loyola—Grace Ehlert (Kaitlyn Kurtz), 47th minute
Carmel—Mia Salvi (Olivia Salvi), 54th minute
Loyola—Kurtz (Ehlert), 73rd minute