Marshall plan works to perfection for Jones
Eagles sophomore leads impressive 4-0 win over Northside
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Derek Bylsma is a behavioral therapist when he is not coaching the Jones girls soccer team. He is a free and associative thinker and strategist. He has a sound and practical attitude about his gifted young sophomore forward Carmen Marshall.
The plan has always been to deploy stealth to spring her on unsuspecting teams. So far, so good. The problem is Marshall is too good to keep wrapped up.
The Marshall plan, in this case, basically obviated the thinking of her own coach.
“At the beginning of the year I was not starting her, because I wanted to be able to surprise teams a little bit and bring her in off the bench, because they would not be ready for her speed,” Bylsma said.
“She is fast, she is smart, and she does a little things very well.”
Marshall underscored her versatility and playmaking prowess by recording two assists and scoring a beautiful goal as the Eagles dominated rival Northside 4-0 in Chicago Public League Premier Division play Wednesday in Chinatown.
“She is a great player, and over the next few years she is either going to be one of our most if not out most dangerous player,” the coach said. “She played her way into the starting lineup.”
Marshall has a lyrical style and quick and sudden points of acceleration. She was operating on a high level, and she kick started the Eagles’ offense from the jump.
At the high school level, especially for young women, they tend to make the biggest jump from freshman to sophomore year. With a year of learning the speed and style of the game, Marshall has shown an abundance, of moves, poise and the ability to create off the dribble.
“I think I have become more comfortable with the team,” Marshall said. “I know how they play, so I am able to come out more and play our style, what we call the Jones game.”
In the second minute, Marshall made an impact by controlling a ball and creating space off the dribble before she left a terrific pass for sophomore forward Sophie Jennerjahn for an impressive early goal.
“One of my goals this year has been to get more aggressive in the box and look for scoring opportunities,” Marshall said. “I wanted to try and get a touch on the ball. I knew Sophie was going to be behind me, and I left it over for her.”
Most impressive was that Jones (4-2-0, 2-1-0) operated against the swirling and ferocious wind in the first half when all the scoring occurred. Marshall appeared unfazed and continued her assault against the Mustangs’ backline.
In the 17th minute Marshall continued her strong play by again creating off the dribble in space and slotting a pass that forward Martina Bianchi finished with authority.
Marshall effectively called her own number in the 22nd minute, slicing through the Mustangs’ defensive interior and blasting home a short volley for the dominant 3-0 lead.
The Eagles’ strong start and motivation was clear after Jones took Lane, ranked no. 14 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, to the brink on Monday on the North Side. The Eagles fell behind by the same 3-0 margin and then worked furiously to get back into the game and used strong play from Marshall and Avery Kaplan to nearly stun the Indians before falling 3-2.
“I think the way we played in the second half gave us a lot of confidence,” Marshall said, “because now we know we can play against a team like Lane. We know we have a good team that can go all the way and win a city title. In order to do that, we know we have to bring the energy every game.”
For her accomplishments, Marshall earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
Bylsma also made a significant tactical change by pushing Kaplan, a normal striker, out to the wing and inserting Marshall at the top of the Eagles’ attack. It was an experiment, but it made a difference and provided a jolt with two speedsters in Marshall and Jennerjahn. Bianchi and Kaplan are the stabilizers.
In the Premier, the city’s best division, part of the dynamic is the interplay of the magnet, or selective enrollment, schools. Northside and Payton are the two toughest schools to qualify for; they have an admission rate stricter than Harvard.
The best players tend to matriculate to the magnet or selective enrollment programs like Lane, Payton, Young, Jones and Northside.
“I think part of this is self-fulfilling,” Bylsma said. “Teams get better, and so you know you have a kid who is smart and scores well enough to get into one of these magnet schools, and they want to go play at a competitive school.”
Coach Robert Albritton has built a solid and capable program at Northside. He has some standout players, and his best team, in 2014, reached a Class AA supersectional. Sarah Mullen is one of the best players in the city of the last decade.
The Mustangs graduated their best player, forward Rebecca Spencer. Abbie Smith, a 2018 Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List player, is their most skilled performer. She combines size and a physical and aggressive style with the willingness to throw her body around regardless of the consequences.
Smith worked hard and diligently to get the Mustangs back into the match. She ran hard and made a couple of strong moves toward the Eagles’ backline. Jones’ standout keeper Devin Barry made a couple of strong saves.
“Honestly our team dynamic is better than what I expected it to be at this point of the season,” Smith said. “We are not one of those teams where half of us play together on the same club. We are all over the city. We have a lot of skills, and I think there is something to the fact we have not played together much in the offseason. This is our time to really come together.”
Bylsma and Albritton are close friends who grew up together and played club soccer together. It lends to the rivalry of the two schools a charged atmosphere.
“I used to have two club players, and now I have 30,” Bylsma said. “It is a lot more fun being on the other side of it now. We have a lot of respect for him and his program.”
Jones defender Catherine Lorden scored the final goal in the 35th minute on a free kick from about 30 yards that took a wicked spin and bounced in by curving inside the near post.
“Despite the result here, my team surprised me a little bit with our defensive understanding of the game,” Albritton said. “I think at this point last season we’d have given up a lot more goals. Jones is much more talented team than we are, and their formation was a real problem for us as well.”
Defense has been the identity and source of pride for Northside (3-3-1, 0-2-0).
“Now that we are running into teams like Young, Jones and eventually Lane, it is really putting us to the test,” Albritton said. “Jones has a lot of talented players. But really, I think their strength is just that they are relentless. We played against Young, and they have some great players, but they really struggled in the final third, at least against us.
“Jones in the final third today, they were monsters and we could not handle that.”
Starting lineups
Northside
GK: Isabel Hopson
D: Madeline Yu
D: Katelynn Seestadt
D: Claire Boyle
D: Erika Sanchez
MF: Gabriela Jimenez
MF: Paolo Macias
MF: Lily Garner
MF: Paolo Macias
F: Abbie Smith
F: Alicja Ramotowski
Jones
GK: Devin Barry
D: Audrey Bruce
D: Olivia Rodriguez
D: Catherine Lorden
D: Izzy Kamba
MF: Natalie Loos
MF: Laura Rios
MF: Avery Kaplan
F: Carmen Marshall
F: Martina Bianchi
F: Sophie Jennerjahn
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Carmen Marshall, so., F, Jones
Scoring summary
First half
Jones—Sophie Jennerjahn (Carmen Marshall), 2nd minute
Jones—Martina Bianchi (Marshall), 17th minute
Jones—Marshall (unassisted), 22nd minute
Jones—Catherine Lorden (unassisted), 35th minute
Second half
No scoring
Eagles sophomore leads impressive 4-0 win over Northside
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Derek Bylsma is a behavioral therapist when he is not coaching the Jones girls soccer team. He is a free and associative thinker and strategist. He has a sound and practical attitude about his gifted young sophomore forward Carmen Marshall.
The plan has always been to deploy stealth to spring her on unsuspecting teams. So far, so good. The problem is Marshall is too good to keep wrapped up.
The Marshall plan, in this case, basically obviated the thinking of her own coach.
“At the beginning of the year I was not starting her, because I wanted to be able to surprise teams a little bit and bring her in off the bench, because they would not be ready for her speed,” Bylsma said.
“She is fast, she is smart, and she does a little things very well.”
Marshall underscored her versatility and playmaking prowess by recording two assists and scoring a beautiful goal as the Eagles dominated rival Northside 4-0 in Chicago Public League Premier Division play Wednesday in Chinatown.
“She is a great player, and over the next few years she is either going to be one of our most if not out most dangerous player,” the coach said. “She played her way into the starting lineup.”
Marshall has a lyrical style and quick and sudden points of acceleration. She was operating on a high level, and she kick started the Eagles’ offense from the jump.
At the high school level, especially for young women, they tend to make the biggest jump from freshman to sophomore year. With a year of learning the speed and style of the game, Marshall has shown an abundance, of moves, poise and the ability to create off the dribble.
“I think I have become more comfortable with the team,” Marshall said. “I know how they play, so I am able to come out more and play our style, what we call the Jones game.”
In the second minute, Marshall made an impact by controlling a ball and creating space off the dribble before she left a terrific pass for sophomore forward Sophie Jennerjahn for an impressive early goal.
“One of my goals this year has been to get more aggressive in the box and look for scoring opportunities,” Marshall said. “I wanted to try and get a touch on the ball. I knew Sophie was going to be behind me, and I left it over for her.”
Most impressive was that Jones (4-2-0, 2-1-0) operated against the swirling and ferocious wind in the first half when all the scoring occurred. Marshall appeared unfazed and continued her assault against the Mustangs’ backline.
In the 17th minute Marshall continued her strong play by again creating off the dribble in space and slotting a pass that forward Martina Bianchi finished with authority.
Marshall effectively called her own number in the 22nd minute, slicing through the Mustangs’ defensive interior and blasting home a short volley for the dominant 3-0 lead.
The Eagles’ strong start and motivation was clear after Jones took Lane, ranked no. 14 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, to the brink on Monday on the North Side. The Eagles fell behind by the same 3-0 margin and then worked furiously to get back into the game and used strong play from Marshall and Avery Kaplan to nearly stun the Indians before falling 3-2.
“I think the way we played in the second half gave us a lot of confidence,” Marshall said, “because now we know we can play against a team like Lane. We know we have a good team that can go all the way and win a city title. In order to do that, we know we have to bring the energy every game.”
For her accomplishments, Marshall earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
Bylsma also made a significant tactical change by pushing Kaplan, a normal striker, out to the wing and inserting Marshall at the top of the Eagles’ attack. It was an experiment, but it made a difference and provided a jolt with two speedsters in Marshall and Jennerjahn. Bianchi and Kaplan are the stabilizers.
In the Premier, the city’s best division, part of the dynamic is the interplay of the magnet, or selective enrollment, schools. Northside and Payton are the two toughest schools to qualify for; they have an admission rate stricter than Harvard.
The best players tend to matriculate to the magnet or selective enrollment programs like Lane, Payton, Young, Jones and Northside.
“I think part of this is self-fulfilling,” Bylsma said. “Teams get better, and so you know you have a kid who is smart and scores well enough to get into one of these magnet schools, and they want to go play at a competitive school.”
Coach Robert Albritton has built a solid and capable program at Northside. He has some standout players, and his best team, in 2014, reached a Class AA supersectional. Sarah Mullen is one of the best players in the city of the last decade.
The Mustangs graduated their best player, forward Rebecca Spencer. Abbie Smith, a 2018 Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List player, is their most skilled performer. She combines size and a physical and aggressive style with the willingness to throw her body around regardless of the consequences.
Smith worked hard and diligently to get the Mustangs back into the match. She ran hard and made a couple of strong moves toward the Eagles’ backline. Jones’ standout keeper Devin Barry made a couple of strong saves.
“Honestly our team dynamic is better than what I expected it to be at this point of the season,” Smith said. “We are not one of those teams where half of us play together on the same club. We are all over the city. We have a lot of skills, and I think there is something to the fact we have not played together much in the offseason. This is our time to really come together.”
Bylsma and Albritton are close friends who grew up together and played club soccer together. It lends to the rivalry of the two schools a charged atmosphere.
“I used to have two club players, and now I have 30,” Bylsma said. “It is a lot more fun being on the other side of it now. We have a lot of respect for him and his program.”
Jones defender Catherine Lorden scored the final goal in the 35th minute on a free kick from about 30 yards that took a wicked spin and bounced in by curving inside the near post.
“Despite the result here, my team surprised me a little bit with our defensive understanding of the game,” Albritton said. “I think at this point last season we’d have given up a lot more goals. Jones is much more talented team than we are, and their formation was a real problem for us as well.”
Defense has been the identity and source of pride for Northside (3-3-1, 0-2-0).
“Now that we are running into teams like Young, Jones and eventually Lane, it is really putting us to the test,” Albritton said. “Jones has a lot of talented players. But really, I think their strength is just that they are relentless. We played against Young, and they have some great players, but they really struggled in the final third, at least against us.
“Jones in the final third today, they were monsters and we could not handle that.”
Starting lineups
Northside
GK: Isabel Hopson
D: Madeline Yu
D: Katelynn Seestadt
D: Claire Boyle
D: Erika Sanchez
MF: Gabriela Jimenez
MF: Paolo Macias
MF: Lily Garner
MF: Paolo Macias
F: Abbie Smith
F: Alicja Ramotowski
Jones
GK: Devin Barry
D: Audrey Bruce
D: Olivia Rodriguez
D: Catherine Lorden
D: Izzy Kamba
MF: Natalie Loos
MF: Laura Rios
MF: Avery Kaplan
F: Carmen Marshall
F: Martina Bianchi
F: Sophie Jennerjahn
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Carmen Marshall, so., F, Jones
Scoring summary
First half
Jones—Sophie Jennerjahn (Carmen Marshall), 2nd minute
Jones—Martina Bianchi (Marshall), 17th minute
Jones—Marshall (unassisted), 22nd minute
Jones—Catherine Lorden (unassisted), 35th minute
Second half
No scoring