Deerfield ties Payton on wet Senior Night
Teams can't break the ice in nonconference friendly
By Mike Garofola
DEERFIELD -- Waste not, want not. Deerfield failed to put away its chances, so the Warriors did not get the Senior Night result they wanted against visiting Payton on Tuesday evening at Adams Field.
The Warriors (6-11-3) tried to find a goal against the visiting Grizzlies (7-9-4) in the final 10 minutes of regulation, but in the end, 80 minutes of soccer wasn't enough for either side in a 0-0 draw.
"We played so much better in the second half, and especially the last 20 minutes or so. But as we have all throughout our season, we didn't come out as strong as we finished," said a rain-drenched Jeff Lehrman, who along with his teammates, and Payton, endured strong winds, and pouring rain to put a damper on the faithful fans on hand to celebrate the Warriors' soccer seniors.
"(Payton) really had a lot of the play in the first half, and dealt with the conditions really well in order to possess and knock the ball around. We've shown that we can come back from slow starts, and tonight was one of those where we did," added Lehrman, who not only was a strong defender along the outside for manager Elliott Hurtig, but also delivered several quality balls from out of the back with an accurate left-foot to help stretch the Grizzlies in their own end for most of the second half.
"Eric Kenney, Barak Farhi, Nolan Horgan and Lehrman have all stepped up of late, and as our backline unit, they will need to continue to do so if we hope to go on a run in the playoffs," said Hurtig.
The Warriors manager brought a handful of players up from the Junior Varsity in order to go with an all-senior first 11 in the spirit of the evening. They included reserve keeper Ross Fisher, who took the normal spot of junior Ryan Grady.
"Ryan has had a great year for us thus far," Hurtig said. "He's recorded five shutouts to give him 10 in his career, and he's kept us in nearly every game, and especially against so many of the high-profile teams we've played such as Wheeling, New Trier, Glenbrook North and South, as well as Maine South."
Grady has made 146 saves this season thus far, giving him 284 over the two years he's been with the big club.
Neither the aforementioned Fisher, nor his counterpart, Payton's Taofeeq Rasaki, were called into action during the opening quarter hour. Each side struggled to get on its collective front foot because of the dreadful weather.
There were a couple half-chances during that time from the Grizzlies. They included a contribution from senior Tomer Tur-Kaspa, who would later be named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his terrific box-to-box effort.
"The effort to try and possess, and play through our midfield, especially Tomer, was very good in the first half. Then again, effort and work rate have been the staple of this team all season long," said Payton manager Paul Escobar, before he and his men began their long bus ride home to the Payton campus in the heart of Old Town at Wells Street.
"We were a few subs short today. We only had three, which not only shortened our bench, but put a lot of extra work on the guys who were with us tonight. But as I've said before, this team doesn't know what quit means, and that's something I'm very proud of."
Escobar had to be pleased with the last 15 minutes of the first period when his men had less possession, but looked more dynamic on the ball than the Warriors.
Peter Won, Jafet Reyes, Shiva Medler and Tur-Kaspa were key figures in the Grizzlies offensive uprising, much of which was inspired by several big first- and second-ball victories from Tur-Kaspa and plenty of purpose and industry from his mates going forward.
The best chance of the half by the visitors came in the 36th minute when its top defender, David Seward ventured forward. He got on the end of an enterprising run out of the back but fired a 30-yard attempt just wide of the post.
"At the half, we talked about sorting things out much better, especially when we lost the ball, in addition of doing a much better of a job of winning balls in the air or on the ground" said Hurtig.
"Our touch was off the entire first half. So we also talked about playing (to) and finding (feet). I thought once we got better at that after the break, our energy increased as did the focus of playing as well as we could on Senior Night."
The 10-minute chat at the intermission did the trick for Hurtig and his men, who were the brighter of the two clubs after the second half began.
Ryan David put a well-aimed ball into the box that made Rasaki come off his line in order to pull down. On the other end, Fisher went high into the air to pull a troublesome looking ball from Tur-Kaspa into his gloves.
This 10-minute flurry into the half helped open things up, particularly for the home side which now began to pile on the pressure as it went in search of a mark to add to the scoreline.
A well-paced ball into the area from Wes Miller, whose work rate in the middle of the park in this half was exceptional, found Jude Tathan, but the attempt went wide of the Grizzlies post.
The visitors continued to have a difficult time getting a hold of the ball, and in turn, finding a way out of their own end. And with the Warriors beginning to build their attack far more than at any other time on this night, it appeared they might have a goal in their future.
"We were so much better with our possession, and ability to find each other, but we just were not as good as we need to be in the final third," said Lehrman.
The Deerfield pressure continued from its midfielders and quick return balls from the Warriors backline resulted in the home side creating several deep throws and corners. Many of them provided nervous moments for the Payton crowd.
A classy cross off a corner from Tathan ended with Rasaki saving a Miller attempt in the 65th minute, and moments later, and pair of corners resulted in a free kick opportunity.
David's attempt was redirected on the way in, but Rasaki, who was off his line prior to the shot, still managed to stop the 25-yard blast.
With the clock approaching four zero's in this goal-less contest, a long throw by Farhi gave the Warriors one last chance with a free kick after a foul.
Miller unloaded a cracker into the box that bounced around like a pinball, only to have it pop free for the Grizzlies to parry out of danger.
A tie was not the desired result for the Warriors.
"I know what this team can do, and I've seen us play very well against strong opponents," began Hurtig.
"We recently beat Stevenson, which every season is a very difficult opponent for us, and we put together a great defensive effort in order to play Evanston to a 1-1 draw.
"And, when you defeat our longtime rival (Highland Park) twice in one season, that says a lot about our guys and is obviously a big highlight for the guys.
"During the next two days we will work on sorting out our defensive responsibilities as well as our dead ball plays, which has been our most effective way of creating chances all throughout."
The Warriors will open up play in the Class 3A state tournament with a play-in game with Grant this Saturday at home. The winner meets third-seeded Barrington next Tuesday at the Palatine.
Payton, the no. 8 seed in its Class AA sectional, plays ninth-seeded Mather next Wednesday afternoon at Elmwood Park.
Starting lineups
Payton (3-5-2 starting formation)
GK- Taofeeq Rasaki
D- Manny Rosencranz
D- David Seward
D- Ben Smith
M- Shiva Medler
M- Tomer Tur-Kaspa
M- Ethan Seward
M- Matt Jackson
M- Peter Won
F- Jafet Reyes
F- Ben Arnold
Deerfield (4-3-3)
GK- Ross Fisher
D- Jimmy Yanow
D- Matthew Fang
D- Barak Farhi
D- Evan Oldham
M- Louis Solovy
M- Wes Miller
M- Ryan David
F- Juan Pablo-Montano
F- Cory Johnson
F- Uri Uziel
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Tomer Tur-Kaspa, sr., MF, Payton
Teams can't break the ice in nonconference friendly
By Mike Garofola
DEERFIELD -- Waste not, want not. Deerfield failed to put away its chances, so the Warriors did not get the Senior Night result they wanted against visiting Payton on Tuesday evening at Adams Field.
The Warriors (6-11-3) tried to find a goal against the visiting Grizzlies (7-9-4) in the final 10 minutes of regulation, but in the end, 80 minutes of soccer wasn't enough for either side in a 0-0 draw.
"We played so much better in the second half, and especially the last 20 minutes or so. But as we have all throughout our season, we didn't come out as strong as we finished," said a rain-drenched Jeff Lehrman, who along with his teammates, and Payton, endured strong winds, and pouring rain to put a damper on the faithful fans on hand to celebrate the Warriors' soccer seniors.
"(Payton) really had a lot of the play in the first half, and dealt with the conditions really well in order to possess and knock the ball around. We've shown that we can come back from slow starts, and tonight was one of those where we did," added Lehrman, who not only was a strong defender along the outside for manager Elliott Hurtig, but also delivered several quality balls from out of the back with an accurate left-foot to help stretch the Grizzlies in their own end for most of the second half.
"Eric Kenney, Barak Farhi, Nolan Horgan and Lehrman have all stepped up of late, and as our backline unit, they will need to continue to do so if we hope to go on a run in the playoffs," said Hurtig.
The Warriors manager brought a handful of players up from the Junior Varsity in order to go with an all-senior first 11 in the spirit of the evening. They included reserve keeper Ross Fisher, who took the normal spot of junior Ryan Grady.
"Ryan has had a great year for us thus far," Hurtig said. "He's recorded five shutouts to give him 10 in his career, and he's kept us in nearly every game, and especially against so many of the high-profile teams we've played such as Wheeling, New Trier, Glenbrook North and South, as well as Maine South."
Grady has made 146 saves this season thus far, giving him 284 over the two years he's been with the big club.
Neither the aforementioned Fisher, nor his counterpart, Payton's Taofeeq Rasaki, were called into action during the opening quarter hour. Each side struggled to get on its collective front foot because of the dreadful weather.
There were a couple half-chances during that time from the Grizzlies. They included a contribution from senior Tomer Tur-Kaspa, who would later be named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his terrific box-to-box effort.
"The effort to try and possess, and play through our midfield, especially Tomer, was very good in the first half. Then again, effort and work rate have been the staple of this team all season long," said Payton manager Paul Escobar, before he and his men began their long bus ride home to the Payton campus in the heart of Old Town at Wells Street.
"We were a few subs short today. We only had three, which not only shortened our bench, but put a lot of extra work on the guys who were with us tonight. But as I've said before, this team doesn't know what quit means, and that's something I'm very proud of."
Escobar had to be pleased with the last 15 minutes of the first period when his men had less possession, but looked more dynamic on the ball than the Warriors.
Peter Won, Jafet Reyes, Shiva Medler and Tur-Kaspa were key figures in the Grizzlies offensive uprising, much of which was inspired by several big first- and second-ball victories from Tur-Kaspa and plenty of purpose and industry from his mates going forward.
The best chance of the half by the visitors came in the 36th minute when its top defender, David Seward ventured forward. He got on the end of an enterprising run out of the back but fired a 30-yard attempt just wide of the post.
"At the half, we talked about sorting things out much better, especially when we lost the ball, in addition of doing a much better of a job of winning balls in the air or on the ground" said Hurtig.
"Our touch was off the entire first half. So we also talked about playing (to) and finding (feet). I thought once we got better at that after the break, our energy increased as did the focus of playing as well as we could on Senior Night."
The 10-minute chat at the intermission did the trick for Hurtig and his men, who were the brighter of the two clubs after the second half began.
Ryan David put a well-aimed ball into the box that made Rasaki come off his line in order to pull down. On the other end, Fisher went high into the air to pull a troublesome looking ball from Tur-Kaspa into his gloves.
This 10-minute flurry into the half helped open things up, particularly for the home side which now began to pile on the pressure as it went in search of a mark to add to the scoreline.
A well-paced ball into the area from Wes Miller, whose work rate in the middle of the park in this half was exceptional, found Jude Tathan, but the attempt went wide of the Grizzlies post.
The visitors continued to have a difficult time getting a hold of the ball, and in turn, finding a way out of their own end. And with the Warriors beginning to build their attack far more than at any other time on this night, it appeared they might have a goal in their future.
"We were so much better with our possession, and ability to find each other, but we just were not as good as we need to be in the final third," said Lehrman.
The Deerfield pressure continued from its midfielders and quick return balls from the Warriors backline resulted in the home side creating several deep throws and corners. Many of them provided nervous moments for the Payton crowd.
A classy cross off a corner from Tathan ended with Rasaki saving a Miller attempt in the 65th minute, and moments later, and pair of corners resulted in a free kick opportunity.
David's attempt was redirected on the way in, but Rasaki, who was off his line prior to the shot, still managed to stop the 25-yard blast.
With the clock approaching four zero's in this goal-less contest, a long throw by Farhi gave the Warriors one last chance with a free kick after a foul.
Miller unloaded a cracker into the box that bounced around like a pinball, only to have it pop free for the Grizzlies to parry out of danger.
A tie was not the desired result for the Warriors.
"I know what this team can do, and I've seen us play very well against strong opponents," began Hurtig.
"We recently beat Stevenson, which every season is a very difficult opponent for us, and we put together a great defensive effort in order to play Evanston to a 1-1 draw.
"And, when you defeat our longtime rival (Highland Park) twice in one season, that says a lot about our guys and is obviously a big highlight for the guys.
"During the next two days we will work on sorting out our defensive responsibilities as well as our dead ball plays, which has been our most effective way of creating chances all throughout."
The Warriors will open up play in the Class 3A state tournament with a play-in game with Grant this Saturday at home. The winner meets third-seeded Barrington next Tuesday at the Palatine.
Payton, the no. 8 seed in its Class AA sectional, plays ninth-seeded Mather next Wednesday afternoon at Elmwood Park.
Starting lineups
Payton (3-5-2 starting formation)
GK- Taofeeq Rasaki
D- Manny Rosencranz
D- David Seward
D- Ben Smith
M- Shiva Medler
M- Tomer Tur-Kaspa
M- Ethan Seward
M- Matt Jackson
M- Peter Won
F- Jafet Reyes
F- Ben Arnold
Deerfield (4-3-3)
GK- Ross Fisher
D- Jimmy Yanow
D- Matthew Fang
D- Barak Farhi
D- Evan Oldham
M- Louis Solovy
M- Wes Miller
M- Ryan David
F- Juan Pablo-Montano
F- Cory Johnson
F- Uri Uziel
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Tomer Tur-Kaspa, sr., MF, Payton