North Shore Country Day warms up
with win vs. Morgan Park Academy
Raiders break out in 2nd half for 7-0 league victory
By Bobby Narang
WINNETKA — North Shore Country Day junior midfielder Suraiyya Omar watched in amazement at her unexpected goal.
Late in Monday’s home game against Morgan Park Academy, Omar quickly steadied herself to attempt a corner kick. Considering that conditions bordered on the intolerable -- extreme cold and a whipping wind with a dash of snow -- Omar was not focusing on the details of her rushed attempt.
The soft-liner curved toward the net and surprised Morgan Park Academy’s keeper by slightly rubbing off her back and slipping inside the near post for a goal. It was Omar’s first goal of the season, and served as the final score of a memorable afternoon for the Raiders.
“I don’t even know what happened. I was trying to do something different, and it went in,” Omar said. “That was my first goal. That was definitely special, especially off a corner kick. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.”
Indeed, even with the less-than-ideal conditions Monday, it was a special day for North Shore Country Day. The Raiders recorded their first win of the season, punctuated with six goals in the second half, for a 7-0 victory over Morgan Park Academy.
Omar said the team cherished the W.
“It felt amazing to get a win,” Omar said. “We’ve all worked so hard and worked together to find an awesome result. This is definitely a positive start to move forward early in our season, especially since we haven’t had too many games because of the weather conditions.
“This will help us with our confidence and allow us to grow together. We know how to work together and how positivity is important.”
Omar said this season has been struggle. A postponement and three cancellations have limited the Raiders to only three games so far, but she was happy to be healthy and back on the pitch to contribute in the Independent School League win over Warriors (1-4-0, 0-2-0).
“Last season I got injured really early, so this is a nice change to get to work with everybody,” Omar said. “A win is even better. I really liked how we’re communicating really well and working hard.”
Charlize Guillen was the star of the match and earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. She scored three goals in a wild second half that turned a 1-0 lead into a shortened game, much to the delight of the small crowd.
Lexi Jackson, Lilly Gallin (assist) and Kendall Vallas rounded out the scoring. Lindsey Glew tallied two assists. The Raiders (1-2-0, 1-1-0) opened the season with a 2-0 loss to Regina Dominican, which will join the conference next school year, on March 14. Then they waited a full month before losing 9-0 to University (Chicago) on April 14.
Monday’s flurry of goals was a welcome sight for North Shore Country Day and caused numerous wild celebrations throughout the match.
“It’s miserably cold, and it snowed, but this was a really good win,” North Shore Country Day coach Lizzy Giffen said. “We had a tough week with University (Chicago) last week. We’ve been practicing for almost seven weeks and only played three games.
“It’s nice to get little bit of momentum, so they can start to feel what the game is like. This was a good win. I’m really happy. Every single player played today. We wanted to make sure everybody got some minutes. We put together a good improvement from our last game and a nice string of passes.”
Jackson, a senior defender, hit the scoring column first, nailing in a shot from roughly 23 yards for the lone goal of the first half. The Raiders had several more opportunities but couldn’t string together passes, or rushed shots.
Jackson broke the ice with her first goal of the season.
“It was a fluke shot,” Jackson said. “I was right at the top of the box, and they said ‘Shoot,’ so I took a shot. It felt good to get a goal and definitely doesn’t happen a lot -- probably one of three goals I’ve scored in my high school soccer career.
“This win makes it worth it, playing out here in the cold. I’m excited. I think we have a really good team this year.”
Senior midfielder Anna Ristic had numerous chances to join the goal-scoring party but was unlucky on seven quality shots. She said she was thrilled to experience a victory for the first time this spring, and even liked the physical match. She suffered a hard spill to the ground late in the final minutes.
Ristic said she wasn’t bothered by the weather, even though most of the small gathering of fans elected to stand during the entire match and girls from both teams quickly left the field following the game.
“I did get some shots in there but just wasn’t able to score,” she said. “But it was fun. I like being pushed around … they were going for the ball. It was pretty cold, but this is my ideal condition, because you don’t get tired because you are so cold.
“We’ve been working on our passing, It was good to see us get four-to-five passes up the field. We also really improved with our communication today, a lot more talking than normal. I’m excited to see how we can improve from here.
“Coming in from club, it’s always scary because not everybody has club experience. I feel everyone is putting their heart and soul into this team. I think we’re becoming a real team.”
Starting lineups
Morgan Park Academy
GK Samara Harris
D Nyla Key
D Oriah Hill
D Zulema Jaime
D Madison Olimene
MF Kioni Green
MF Sheridan Harris
MF Brooklyn Godfrey
MF Zulema Jaime
F Nora Perry
F Kaylie Schmidt
North Shore Country Day
GK Peyton Hudson
D Antonia Lopes
D Alma Fitzgerald
D Lexi Jackson
MF Lilly Gallin
MF Anna Ristic
MF Lindsey Glew
MF Charlize Guillen
MF Suraiyya Omar
F Lila Golson
F Taylor Vallas
Chicagoland Player of the Match: Charlize Guillen, sr., MF, North Shore Country Day
Scoring summary
First half
NSCD: Lexi Jackson (unassisted), 10th minute
Second half
NSCD: Charlize Guillen (Suraiyya Omar), 44th minute
NSCD: Guillen (Lindsey Glew), 48th minute
NSCD: Lilly Gallin (Glew), 50th minute
NSCD: Guillen (Gallin) 55th minute
NSCD: Kendall Vallas (unassisted) 60th minute
NSCD: Suraiyya Omar (unassisted), 67th minute
with win vs. Morgan Park Academy
Raiders break out in 2nd half for 7-0 league victory
By Bobby Narang
WINNETKA — North Shore Country Day junior midfielder Suraiyya Omar watched in amazement at her unexpected goal.
Late in Monday’s home game against Morgan Park Academy, Omar quickly steadied herself to attempt a corner kick. Considering that conditions bordered on the intolerable -- extreme cold and a whipping wind with a dash of snow -- Omar was not focusing on the details of her rushed attempt.
The soft-liner curved toward the net and surprised Morgan Park Academy’s keeper by slightly rubbing off her back and slipping inside the near post for a goal. It was Omar’s first goal of the season, and served as the final score of a memorable afternoon for the Raiders.
“I don’t even know what happened. I was trying to do something different, and it went in,” Omar said. “That was my first goal. That was definitely special, especially off a corner kick. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.”
Indeed, even with the less-than-ideal conditions Monday, it was a special day for North Shore Country Day. The Raiders recorded their first win of the season, punctuated with six goals in the second half, for a 7-0 victory over Morgan Park Academy.
Omar said the team cherished the W.
“It felt amazing to get a win,” Omar said. “We’ve all worked so hard and worked together to find an awesome result. This is definitely a positive start to move forward early in our season, especially since we haven’t had too many games because of the weather conditions.
“This will help us with our confidence and allow us to grow together. We know how to work together and how positivity is important.”
Omar said this season has been struggle. A postponement and three cancellations have limited the Raiders to only three games so far, but she was happy to be healthy and back on the pitch to contribute in the Independent School League win over Warriors (1-4-0, 0-2-0).
“Last season I got injured really early, so this is a nice change to get to work with everybody,” Omar said. “A win is even better. I really liked how we’re communicating really well and working hard.”
Charlize Guillen was the star of the match and earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. She scored three goals in a wild second half that turned a 1-0 lead into a shortened game, much to the delight of the small crowd.
Lexi Jackson, Lilly Gallin (assist) and Kendall Vallas rounded out the scoring. Lindsey Glew tallied two assists. The Raiders (1-2-0, 1-1-0) opened the season with a 2-0 loss to Regina Dominican, which will join the conference next school year, on March 14. Then they waited a full month before losing 9-0 to University (Chicago) on April 14.
Monday’s flurry of goals was a welcome sight for North Shore Country Day and caused numerous wild celebrations throughout the match.
“It’s miserably cold, and it snowed, but this was a really good win,” North Shore Country Day coach Lizzy Giffen said. “We had a tough week with University (Chicago) last week. We’ve been practicing for almost seven weeks and only played three games.
“It’s nice to get little bit of momentum, so they can start to feel what the game is like. This was a good win. I’m really happy. Every single player played today. We wanted to make sure everybody got some minutes. We put together a good improvement from our last game and a nice string of passes.”
Jackson, a senior defender, hit the scoring column first, nailing in a shot from roughly 23 yards for the lone goal of the first half. The Raiders had several more opportunities but couldn’t string together passes, or rushed shots.
Jackson broke the ice with her first goal of the season.
“It was a fluke shot,” Jackson said. “I was right at the top of the box, and they said ‘Shoot,’ so I took a shot. It felt good to get a goal and definitely doesn’t happen a lot -- probably one of three goals I’ve scored in my high school soccer career.
“This win makes it worth it, playing out here in the cold. I’m excited. I think we have a really good team this year.”
Senior midfielder Anna Ristic had numerous chances to join the goal-scoring party but was unlucky on seven quality shots. She said she was thrilled to experience a victory for the first time this spring, and even liked the physical match. She suffered a hard spill to the ground late in the final minutes.
Ristic said she wasn’t bothered by the weather, even though most of the small gathering of fans elected to stand during the entire match and girls from both teams quickly left the field following the game.
“I did get some shots in there but just wasn’t able to score,” she said. “But it was fun. I like being pushed around … they were going for the ball. It was pretty cold, but this is my ideal condition, because you don’t get tired because you are so cold.
“We’ve been working on our passing, It was good to see us get four-to-five passes up the field. We also really improved with our communication today, a lot more talking than normal. I’m excited to see how we can improve from here.
“Coming in from club, it’s always scary because not everybody has club experience. I feel everyone is putting their heart and soul into this team. I think we’re becoming a real team.”
Starting lineups
Morgan Park Academy
GK Samara Harris
D Nyla Key
D Oriah Hill
D Zulema Jaime
D Madison Olimene
MF Kioni Green
MF Sheridan Harris
MF Brooklyn Godfrey
MF Zulema Jaime
F Nora Perry
F Kaylie Schmidt
North Shore Country Day
GK Peyton Hudson
D Antonia Lopes
D Alma Fitzgerald
D Lexi Jackson
MF Lilly Gallin
MF Anna Ristic
MF Lindsey Glew
MF Charlize Guillen
MF Suraiyya Omar
F Lila Golson
F Taylor Vallas
Chicagoland Player of the Match: Charlize Guillen, sr., MF, North Shore Country Day
Scoring summary
First half
NSCD: Lexi Jackson (unassisted), 10th minute
Second half
NSCD: Charlize Guillen (Suraiyya Omar), 44th minute
NSCD: Guillen (Lindsey Glew), 48th minute
NSCD: Lilly Gallin (Glew), 50th minute
NSCD: Guillen (Gallin) 55th minute
NSCD: Kendall Vallas (unassisted) 60th minute
NSCD: Suraiyya Omar (unassisted), 67th minute