Rochelle Zell falls
to Resurrection’s fast start
Tigers hold Bandits scoreless in final 55 minutes in 4-1 loss
By Curt Herron
WHEELING - The new season didn't start the way that the players of Rochelle Zell would have liked. They faced a 3-0 deficit 15 minutes into their home match against Resurrection on Monday at Heritage Park.
But with 13 freshmen and sophomores making up just under 60 percent of their 22-player roster, the Tigers figure to have some lessons to learn along the way this year.
The good news for coach David Martinez's squad is that they responded to the early deficit with a goal. And after allowing another score a bit later, they held the Bandits scoreless for the last 55 minutes in a 4-1 nonconference defeat.
To better prepare the Tigers for competition in the Chicago Prep Conference and the IHSA Class A playoffs, Martinez scheduled two Class 3A teams and two Class AA teams. Resurrection is one of the latter from the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference.
Coach Hector Carabez's squad has some talented athletes. The Bandits' three goal-scorers were top players for the basketball team which won 22 games and was a sectional semifinalist in Class 3A.
Resurrection also has more depth this season than its had in recent years. The roster includes 12 freshmen and sophomores including a solid freshman keeper.
"Those girls are talented," Martinez said. "And not only can they move quickly, they can also kick a ball. Early on, in the first 15 minutes, they were getting through the defense rather quickly. And if it wasn't for our keeper, Talia (Scholder), there would have been six goals in the first 15 minutes. So, she kept us in.
“But we made adjustments at halftime, and we kept it 0-0 for the second half, which was great. There's definitely a lot that we need to work on: in terms of positioning; on how to mark; and building up strong. Getting these big schools, relative to us, and getting to them early in the season is only going to make us better for our conference games.
"Our girls are hungry, and they want to be better soccer players and to be good teammates. We have a big group that came out. I would say that it's over a fourth of the girls in the school in the girls soccer program.
“We're definitely aiming to be a top-two team in the conference. We ended last year as a top-three team. What it's going to come down to is that when we play our conference games, are we being competitive for all of those games? Are we beating the teams that we should beat? That will put us in the right side of the table. And when we play those top conference teams, can we produce? And it's games like this that are going to help us get there."
For their first starting lineup of the season, the Tigers went with sophomore Becca Berkeley and freshman Elana Cohen at forward and senior Janie Levitan, junior Zoey Weiss and sophomores Ahava Cohen and Abby Singer in the midfield. Starters on defense were seniors Aya Moller, Haley Rudnick and Naomi Sendlin and sophomore Meira Lieberman with the junior Scholder in goal.
Resurrection went on the attack from the opening whistle. Calee Biedron was denied on a short try and then again following a free kick from Kendall Rieman. The visitors connected for the first time in the fourth minute when Bridget Kovac put one in from close range.
After Biedron sent in a liner that was deflected, Rieman scored the second goal in the seventh minute on a 10-yard liner from the side.
Shortly after Rochelle Zell’s Scholder came out of the net to shut down a shot try by Clare Boyle, Resurrection made it 3-0 in the 14th minute when Kovac connected again, this time from about 10 yards.
Resurrection head man Carabez served as an assistant soccer coach at Glenbrook South for nearly 30 years and also coached several other sports at the school. He also worked on the statistics crew and as an announcer for the IHSA at both the girls and boys soccer finals.
The veteran coach hopes that his team can make history this season. The oldest all-girls school on Chicago's north side, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has won regional titles in all of the sports it plays except for soccer.
"We didn't have enough players last year; we only had 15," Carabez said. "But this year with the freshman group going up and everybody improving, we really have a good team. We have 22 girls now, plus we have a freshman group which is really good.
"It started in the summer by just getting together and having workouts and then in the fall having more little scrimmage games. The enthusiasm from the girls has really picked up. They believe in themselves, and I like that.
"We're kind of lucky that three of the girls who were special out there, and some of the fastest ones, were also all-conference basketball players. And the big thing for this school is that we finally have a good, bona fide goalkeeper (Moira Walsh). She's really enthusiastic and wants to learn, so I'm really happy about that."
Rochelle Zell finally connected in the 20th minute when Zoey Weiss put one in from close range. But the Bandits responded with their fourth goal in the 24th minute when Biedron made a short attempt from the side to end the scoring.
The host Tigers had two other chances to score in the opening half, but Berkeley couldn't connect with anyone on an indirect free kick and then Elana Cohen lined an attempt over the goal.
"I think that the beginning was frustrating, because we let in a few goals," said Levitan, who is one of six seniors on the team. "But our goalie had a lot of amazing saves and then we started to get a lot of opportunities offensively. And in the second half there was no scoring, so it was a really even game then. I'm proud of everyone. We started the season on a competitive note, which will only help us.
"A lot of the players on our team don't have much experience at the sport, but they still come and are committed. They're learning that confidence and ability to kick the ball, and it takes time since soccer is a hard sport.
“Everyone is patient and as you saw in this game, nobody gave up. We didn't let them score in the second half, so that says a lot about everyone on the field. It was a hard first game, but it's only to make us better."
As the teams switched sides in the second half, a bitter north wind also set in which turned a pleasant late-winter afternoon into cold conditions. But even though the sudden burst of weather seemed to reduce the likelihood of top-notch play in the final half, both squads toughed it out and continued to try to find the net, though neither one could.
With Biedron continuing to apply the pressure for the Resurrection, Scholder kept coming up with big stops including two on good chances from Eleni Kalemis and Rieman.
Meanwhile, Rochelle Zell’s Elana Cohen sent in two good attempts but they were turned away by Walsh, and the freshman deflected away a late shot by Berkeley as the two sides failed to put together a scoring combination in the final half.
"I think the biggest part that we did well in the second half was that we just didn't give up," Ahava Cohen said. "In the first half we got down by a couple of goals, but in the second half, not a single goal went in.
“If we had just given up, who knows what the score would have been. Everybody just kept pushing harder and harder. We just tried to forget the score and just kept playing and kept trying to get a goal in and have fun.
"All around, the positive community that we have in the field really contributes to how we play. When people are cheering each other on, it really helps. That's what's great about our team, we're really communicative on the field.
“I feel like every loss that we have is encouragement for the next game. So now we know what we struggled with and in the next game we'll go 10-times harder."
Starting lineups
Resurrection
G Moira Walsh
D Kerigan Green
D Molly Snider
D Kendall Rieman
D Lauren Kroeger
M Alena Anderson
M Clare McCarthy
M Fiona Hennessey
M Audrey Rajski
F Calee Biedron
F Bridget Kovac
Rochelle Zell
G Talia Scholder
D Naomi Sendlin
D Haley Rudnick
D Meira Lieberman
D Aya Moller
M Ahava Cohen
M Abby Singer
M Zoey Weiss
M Janie Levitan
F Becca Berkeley
F Elana Cohen
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Bridget Kovac, sr., F, Resurrection
Scoring summary
First half
R: Kovac, 4th minute
R: Rieman, 7th minute
R: Kovac, 14th minute
RZ Weiss, 20th minute
RCP Biedron, 24th minute
Second half
No scoring
to Resurrection’s fast start
Tigers hold Bandits scoreless in final 55 minutes in 4-1 loss
By Curt Herron
WHEELING - The new season didn't start the way that the players of Rochelle Zell would have liked. They faced a 3-0 deficit 15 minutes into their home match against Resurrection on Monday at Heritage Park.
But with 13 freshmen and sophomores making up just under 60 percent of their 22-player roster, the Tigers figure to have some lessons to learn along the way this year.
The good news for coach David Martinez's squad is that they responded to the early deficit with a goal. And after allowing another score a bit later, they held the Bandits scoreless for the last 55 minutes in a 4-1 nonconference defeat.
To better prepare the Tigers for competition in the Chicago Prep Conference and the IHSA Class A playoffs, Martinez scheduled two Class 3A teams and two Class AA teams. Resurrection is one of the latter from the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference.
Coach Hector Carabez's squad has some talented athletes. The Bandits' three goal-scorers were top players for the basketball team which won 22 games and was a sectional semifinalist in Class 3A.
Resurrection also has more depth this season than its had in recent years. The roster includes 12 freshmen and sophomores including a solid freshman keeper.
"Those girls are talented," Martinez said. "And not only can they move quickly, they can also kick a ball. Early on, in the first 15 minutes, they were getting through the defense rather quickly. And if it wasn't for our keeper, Talia (Scholder), there would have been six goals in the first 15 minutes. So, she kept us in.
“But we made adjustments at halftime, and we kept it 0-0 for the second half, which was great. There's definitely a lot that we need to work on: in terms of positioning; on how to mark; and building up strong. Getting these big schools, relative to us, and getting to them early in the season is only going to make us better for our conference games.
"Our girls are hungry, and they want to be better soccer players and to be good teammates. We have a big group that came out. I would say that it's over a fourth of the girls in the school in the girls soccer program.
“We're definitely aiming to be a top-two team in the conference. We ended last year as a top-three team. What it's going to come down to is that when we play our conference games, are we being competitive for all of those games? Are we beating the teams that we should beat? That will put us in the right side of the table. And when we play those top conference teams, can we produce? And it's games like this that are going to help us get there."
For their first starting lineup of the season, the Tigers went with sophomore Becca Berkeley and freshman Elana Cohen at forward and senior Janie Levitan, junior Zoey Weiss and sophomores Ahava Cohen and Abby Singer in the midfield. Starters on defense were seniors Aya Moller, Haley Rudnick and Naomi Sendlin and sophomore Meira Lieberman with the junior Scholder in goal.
Resurrection went on the attack from the opening whistle. Calee Biedron was denied on a short try and then again following a free kick from Kendall Rieman. The visitors connected for the first time in the fourth minute when Bridget Kovac put one in from close range.
After Biedron sent in a liner that was deflected, Rieman scored the second goal in the seventh minute on a 10-yard liner from the side.
Shortly after Rochelle Zell’s Scholder came out of the net to shut down a shot try by Clare Boyle, Resurrection made it 3-0 in the 14th minute when Kovac connected again, this time from about 10 yards.
Resurrection head man Carabez served as an assistant soccer coach at Glenbrook South for nearly 30 years and also coached several other sports at the school. He also worked on the statistics crew and as an announcer for the IHSA at both the girls and boys soccer finals.
The veteran coach hopes that his team can make history this season. The oldest all-girls school on Chicago's north side, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has won regional titles in all of the sports it plays except for soccer.
"We didn't have enough players last year; we only had 15," Carabez said. "But this year with the freshman group going up and everybody improving, we really have a good team. We have 22 girls now, plus we have a freshman group which is really good.
"It started in the summer by just getting together and having workouts and then in the fall having more little scrimmage games. The enthusiasm from the girls has really picked up. They believe in themselves, and I like that.
"We're kind of lucky that three of the girls who were special out there, and some of the fastest ones, were also all-conference basketball players. And the big thing for this school is that we finally have a good, bona fide goalkeeper (Moira Walsh). She's really enthusiastic and wants to learn, so I'm really happy about that."
Rochelle Zell finally connected in the 20th minute when Zoey Weiss put one in from close range. But the Bandits responded with their fourth goal in the 24th minute when Biedron made a short attempt from the side to end the scoring.
The host Tigers had two other chances to score in the opening half, but Berkeley couldn't connect with anyone on an indirect free kick and then Elana Cohen lined an attempt over the goal.
"I think that the beginning was frustrating, because we let in a few goals," said Levitan, who is one of six seniors on the team. "But our goalie had a lot of amazing saves and then we started to get a lot of opportunities offensively. And in the second half there was no scoring, so it was a really even game then. I'm proud of everyone. We started the season on a competitive note, which will only help us.
"A lot of the players on our team don't have much experience at the sport, but they still come and are committed. They're learning that confidence and ability to kick the ball, and it takes time since soccer is a hard sport.
“Everyone is patient and as you saw in this game, nobody gave up. We didn't let them score in the second half, so that says a lot about everyone on the field. It was a hard first game, but it's only to make us better."
As the teams switched sides in the second half, a bitter north wind also set in which turned a pleasant late-winter afternoon into cold conditions. But even though the sudden burst of weather seemed to reduce the likelihood of top-notch play in the final half, both squads toughed it out and continued to try to find the net, though neither one could.
With Biedron continuing to apply the pressure for the Resurrection, Scholder kept coming up with big stops including two on good chances from Eleni Kalemis and Rieman.
Meanwhile, Rochelle Zell’s Elana Cohen sent in two good attempts but they were turned away by Walsh, and the freshman deflected away a late shot by Berkeley as the two sides failed to put together a scoring combination in the final half.
"I think the biggest part that we did well in the second half was that we just didn't give up," Ahava Cohen said. "In the first half we got down by a couple of goals, but in the second half, not a single goal went in.
“If we had just given up, who knows what the score would have been. Everybody just kept pushing harder and harder. We just tried to forget the score and just kept playing and kept trying to get a goal in and have fun.
"All around, the positive community that we have in the field really contributes to how we play. When people are cheering each other on, it really helps. That's what's great about our team, we're really communicative on the field.
“I feel like every loss that we have is encouragement for the next game. So now we know what we struggled with and in the next game we'll go 10-times harder."
Starting lineups
Resurrection
G Moira Walsh
D Kerigan Green
D Molly Snider
D Kendall Rieman
D Lauren Kroeger
M Alena Anderson
M Clare McCarthy
M Fiona Hennessey
M Audrey Rajski
F Calee Biedron
F Bridget Kovac
Rochelle Zell
G Talia Scholder
D Naomi Sendlin
D Haley Rudnick
D Meira Lieberman
D Aya Moller
M Ahava Cohen
M Abby Singer
M Zoey Weiss
M Janie Levitan
F Becca Berkeley
F Elana Cohen
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Bridget Kovac, sr., F, Resurrection
Scoring summary
First half
R: Kovac, 4th minute
R: Rieman, 7th minute
R: Kovac, 14th minute
RZ Weiss, 20th minute
RCP Biedron, 24th minute
Second half
No scoring