Moore steps into hero role,
Payton upsets Young
Field player moves to keeper, stops PK, keys 2-1 OT win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Two years ago, Olivia Moore was a bright new talent who brought verve, vision and balance to the middle of the Payton attack.
In a 2019 Premier Division game against rival Northside, Moore earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor with the goal and assist.
During the same game, forward Nadine Denehan was pressed into service as an emergency starter at keeper.
In practice on Monday, starting keeper Chloe Guzik called coach Paul Escobar with some unfortunate news. She was at the hospital, and her finger was broken.
“Esco brought the two captains over, and we had a little chat about who’d take over at keeper, and it ended up falling on me,” Moore said.
Escobar also considered Denehan because of her history.
“We were definitely thinking of having Nadine as a keeper, but we realized we needed her up-top, because she definitely makes our opponents scared,” Moore said. “She is very good with her back to the goal.”
Moore, a two-time Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List field player, made an extraordinary first impression in goal.no
She stopped a late penalty kick and helped shut down top-seed Young in the run of play with eight saves in the Grizzlies’ 2-1 overtime victory in the second Chicago Public League Tournament semifinal Tuesday at Lane.
The Grizzlies (12-4-0) advance to play five-time defending city champion and 21st-ranked Lane Thursday in their first city title game appearance since winning the tournament in 2010.
Young faces no. 24 Jones in the third place game.
Bridget Wyman scored the game-winner in the 88th minute.
“It was a corner, and it got deflected by the defense and tapped out, and my teammate Allie Miller took a shot and it came to my feet, and I did a turn and poke. It slid right in,” Wyman said.
The 20th-ranked Dolphins (12-4-1) saw their seven-game winning streak snapped. The regular-season Premier Division champions defeated Payton 2-1 on May 10.
The critical sequence Tuesday occurred in the 75th minute.
Sassower, one of the brilliant lights of the Dolphins’ superb junior class, converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute after a Payton defender committed an illegal touch inside the box.
Sassower executed a stutter-step effect, slowing as she was about to kick, and then blistering the left corner with a rocket shot.
Five minutes later, Sassower was tackled inside the box and awarded a second attempt. A Young lead seemed imminent.
“I had a feeling she was going to put it in the same spot since it worked out so well for her,” Moore said. “I think the stutter step was definitely a good move.
“It junked me out the first time.”
Moore countered with a brilliant move in leaping to her right side. Sassower tried to utilize the same technique. Moore was there and denied the ball.
“I just followed the ball, and I was lucky enough to get there,” Moore said.
The moment energized the underdog Grizzlies. It also helped Moore earn the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
“She is not even our keeper, and that was amazing by her,” freshman forward Felicity Cole said. “It kept us going knowing that we could get another goal.”
Cole scored her team-best 15th goal in the 47th minute that staked the Grizzlies to a 1-0 advantage.
Working off a cross by defender Elaina Tandy, Cole executed her own deft header that skipped past the stunned Dolphins’ backline.
“I think we were really excited and that motivated us to keep going and score the other goals,” Cole said. “When you get out first, that means you knowyou can be successful and score again.”
Young dominated the first half without having a tangible result to show for it. The Dolphins were also unlucky with shots by elite junior Ella Koleno and Sassower hitting off the post during an active start.
Forward Maisy Connolly was also active and very effective in generating chances at the goal. With Young playing with the strong wind in the first half, Payton conceded possession and dropped numbers into the final third.
“We just didn’t play well enough,” Young coach Ross LaBauex said. “We didn’t play like we are capable of playing.
“Walter Payton had a plan, and they came out and executed it very well.”
A certain doom hung over the Dolphins. Just like Jones in its 3-0 loss against Lane in the first semifinal, Young did not score during the first half with the wind.
That failure came back to haunt them.
“There are always things you think about,” LaBauex said. “I think, in the moment, we were not clinical, and we did not move the ball.
“They were organized, and they exploited our weaknesses.”
Two years ago, LaBauex used the disappointment of his team’s loss against Lane in the city tournament final as a springboard to its best state tournament finish in more than a decade.
That Young team went to a sectional final, where they lost a disputed game against eventual state finalist Lyons.
LaBauex acknowledged the supreme disappointment of his players. He also suggested a new light forward.
“Just like two years ago, we have bigger fish to fry,” he said. “As much as it sucks, if you learn from these mistakes, you keep it moving.”
Payton entered the city tournament on a three-game losing streak after being on the wrong side in games against ranked teams Young, Jones and Lane.
They lost by a combined 7-0 to Jones and Lane.
“When we played those games, especially Jones and Lane, we did not come out the way we wanted at all,” Moore said.
“We found out you can lose games or win games in the first five minutes, or the last five minutes, so that was definitely motivation for us, losing all those games in a row.”
Tandy was especially impressive in slowing down Ella Koleno, the Dolphins’ leading scorer. Twice Koleno got free in space only to be tracked from behind by Tandy.
The sequences marked a recurrent theme of Young generating positive actions only to find Payton counter with a move, or a pivot, or just a wave of bodies, that stymied the Dolphins.
“We had a game plan of staying back a little bit, and trying to play out of the back,” Escobar said. “Then we wanted to get it forward and get it into their defensive third.
“We figured if we could get past the first 10 minutes without anything negative happening the girls could settle down and let the nerves dissipate, and we’d be in for a good game.”
Now Payton is a team looking to shock the world Thursday night against heavily favored Lane.
“We can do the same thing,” Moore said. “Our last game against Lane here was not a good showing for us.
“We did it against Whitney, and we can do it against Lane. You can bet we are going to come out ready.”
Starting lineups
Payton
GK: Olivia Moore
D: Maddie Spark
D: Elaina Tandy
D: Bridget Wyman
MF: Cate Cupps
MF: Lola Feuer
MF: Norah Duritsa
MF: Isabella Chitarro
MF: Tess Scrivner
F: Felicity Cole
F: Nadine Denahan
Young
GK: Zoe Adelstein
D: Chloe Garton
D: Inez Herrada-Maher
D: Celeste Garton
D: Elena Nevins
MF: Annelise Kelner
MF: Alexis Sassower
MF: Sydney Koleno
F: Maisy Connolly
F: Ella Koleno
F: Katie Sweitzer
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Olivia Moore, sr., GK, Payton
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring.
Second half
Payton—Felicity Cole (Elaina Tandy), 47th minute
Young—Alexis Sassower (penalty kick), 70th minute
Overtime
Payton—Bridget Wyman (Allie Miller), 88th minute
Payton upsets Young
Field player moves to keeper, stops PK, keys 2-1 OT win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Two years ago, Olivia Moore was a bright new talent who brought verve, vision and balance to the middle of the Payton attack.
In a 2019 Premier Division game against rival Northside, Moore earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor with the goal and assist.
During the same game, forward Nadine Denehan was pressed into service as an emergency starter at keeper.
In practice on Monday, starting keeper Chloe Guzik called coach Paul Escobar with some unfortunate news. She was at the hospital, and her finger was broken.
“Esco brought the two captains over, and we had a little chat about who’d take over at keeper, and it ended up falling on me,” Moore said.
Escobar also considered Denehan because of her history.
“We were definitely thinking of having Nadine as a keeper, but we realized we needed her up-top, because she definitely makes our opponents scared,” Moore said. “She is very good with her back to the goal.”
Moore, a two-time Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List field player, made an extraordinary first impression in goal.no
She stopped a late penalty kick and helped shut down top-seed Young in the run of play with eight saves in the Grizzlies’ 2-1 overtime victory in the second Chicago Public League Tournament semifinal Tuesday at Lane.
The Grizzlies (12-4-0) advance to play five-time defending city champion and 21st-ranked Lane Thursday in their first city title game appearance since winning the tournament in 2010.
Young faces no. 24 Jones in the third place game.
Bridget Wyman scored the game-winner in the 88th minute.
“It was a corner, and it got deflected by the defense and tapped out, and my teammate Allie Miller took a shot and it came to my feet, and I did a turn and poke. It slid right in,” Wyman said.
The 20th-ranked Dolphins (12-4-1) saw their seven-game winning streak snapped. The regular-season Premier Division champions defeated Payton 2-1 on May 10.
The critical sequence Tuesday occurred in the 75th minute.
Sassower, one of the brilliant lights of the Dolphins’ superb junior class, converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute after a Payton defender committed an illegal touch inside the box.
Sassower executed a stutter-step effect, slowing as she was about to kick, and then blistering the left corner with a rocket shot.
Five minutes later, Sassower was tackled inside the box and awarded a second attempt. A Young lead seemed imminent.
“I had a feeling she was going to put it in the same spot since it worked out so well for her,” Moore said. “I think the stutter step was definitely a good move.
“It junked me out the first time.”
Moore countered with a brilliant move in leaping to her right side. Sassower tried to utilize the same technique. Moore was there and denied the ball.
“I just followed the ball, and I was lucky enough to get there,” Moore said.
The moment energized the underdog Grizzlies. It also helped Moore earn the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
“She is not even our keeper, and that was amazing by her,” freshman forward Felicity Cole said. “It kept us going knowing that we could get another goal.”
Cole scored her team-best 15th goal in the 47th minute that staked the Grizzlies to a 1-0 advantage.
Working off a cross by defender Elaina Tandy, Cole executed her own deft header that skipped past the stunned Dolphins’ backline.
“I think we were really excited and that motivated us to keep going and score the other goals,” Cole said. “When you get out first, that means you knowyou can be successful and score again.”
Young dominated the first half without having a tangible result to show for it. The Dolphins were also unlucky with shots by elite junior Ella Koleno and Sassower hitting off the post during an active start.
Forward Maisy Connolly was also active and very effective in generating chances at the goal. With Young playing with the strong wind in the first half, Payton conceded possession and dropped numbers into the final third.
“We just didn’t play well enough,” Young coach Ross LaBauex said. “We didn’t play like we are capable of playing.
“Walter Payton had a plan, and they came out and executed it very well.”
A certain doom hung over the Dolphins. Just like Jones in its 3-0 loss against Lane in the first semifinal, Young did not score during the first half with the wind.
That failure came back to haunt them.
“There are always things you think about,” LaBauex said. “I think, in the moment, we were not clinical, and we did not move the ball.
“They were organized, and they exploited our weaknesses.”
Two years ago, LaBauex used the disappointment of his team’s loss against Lane in the city tournament final as a springboard to its best state tournament finish in more than a decade.
That Young team went to a sectional final, where they lost a disputed game against eventual state finalist Lyons.
LaBauex acknowledged the supreme disappointment of his players. He also suggested a new light forward.
“Just like two years ago, we have bigger fish to fry,” he said. “As much as it sucks, if you learn from these mistakes, you keep it moving.”
Payton entered the city tournament on a three-game losing streak after being on the wrong side in games against ranked teams Young, Jones and Lane.
They lost by a combined 7-0 to Jones and Lane.
“When we played those games, especially Jones and Lane, we did not come out the way we wanted at all,” Moore said.
“We found out you can lose games or win games in the first five minutes, or the last five minutes, so that was definitely motivation for us, losing all those games in a row.”
Tandy was especially impressive in slowing down Ella Koleno, the Dolphins’ leading scorer. Twice Koleno got free in space only to be tracked from behind by Tandy.
The sequences marked a recurrent theme of Young generating positive actions only to find Payton counter with a move, or a pivot, or just a wave of bodies, that stymied the Dolphins.
“We had a game plan of staying back a little bit, and trying to play out of the back,” Escobar said. “Then we wanted to get it forward and get it into their defensive third.
“We figured if we could get past the first 10 minutes without anything negative happening the girls could settle down and let the nerves dissipate, and we’d be in for a good game.”
Now Payton is a team looking to shock the world Thursday night against heavily favored Lane.
“We can do the same thing,” Moore said. “Our last game against Lane here was not a good showing for us.
“We did it against Whitney, and we can do it against Lane. You can bet we are going to come out ready.”
Starting lineups
Payton
GK: Olivia Moore
D: Maddie Spark
D: Elaina Tandy
D: Bridget Wyman
MF: Cate Cupps
MF: Lola Feuer
MF: Norah Duritsa
MF: Isabella Chitarro
MF: Tess Scrivner
F: Felicity Cole
F: Nadine Denahan
Young
GK: Zoe Adelstein
D: Chloe Garton
D: Inez Herrada-Maher
D: Celeste Garton
D: Elena Nevins
MF: Annelise Kelner
MF: Alexis Sassower
MF: Sydney Koleno
F: Maisy Connolly
F: Ella Koleno
F: Katie Sweitzer
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Olivia Moore, sr., GK, Payton
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring.
Second half
Payton—Felicity Cole (Elaina Tandy), 47th minute
Young—Alexis Sassower (penalty kick), 70th minute
Overtime
Payton—Bridget Wyman (Allie Miller), 88th minute