Rochelle Zell falls to Hope in CPC tourney
Winners withstand strong Zell opening, then strike for 3-0 win
By A.J. Schmitz
CHICAGO - Rochelle Zell’s 3-0 loss to Hope on Thursday in the Chicago Prep Conference Tournament championship game didn't diminish the Tigers season.
Because of COVID-19 mitigations that shortened the season, the CPC Tournament was held as a substitute to the traditional IHSA playoffs for teams within the conference.
While disappointing for the unbeaten regular season conference champs, the result did not seem to weigh too heavily on Zell’s squad. The Tigers (9-2-0, 6-0-0) had the best season in school history and first undefeated run through the league.
“Last year we lost six starters, six of our best players, and no one was thinking we were going to be good,” said midfielder Zach Rosen. “But our seniors stepped up, leading us all the way. Last year if we had a bad game, people would get down on each other. This year? Completely positive. We all loved each other and knew our roles.”
“We beat every conference team, and it hit me that we were actually good. We can actually do stuff here.”
Stuff, as in win the league title and rack up goals.
Zell beat Hope (6-3-2, 3-3-0) twice during the regular season. Their first win against the Eagles was on March 16, in which the Tigers pulled off a 6-4 victory. The second, on March 24, saw a more reserved score line of 1-0.
On Thursday, the Eagles became the only team to shut out Rochelle Zell this season. The CPC Tournament win was a consolation to the Eagles for their previous meetings with Zell, according to head coach Jorge Linares.
“It’s an amazing experience. [...] We played with our heart and everybody was confident,” he said. “They worked hard in the last two weeks, so we see the results. We played like a family.”
The first half of Thursday’s game started on a promising note for Zell as they took advantage of Hope’s three-man defense. Miles Coleman, Xavier Catalan and Xavier Magaña were the guys charged with holding down the fort for the Eagles, and in the first 30 minutes of the game it started to seem like they were in need of serious help.
Zell exploited every gap in Hope’s backline. Attack after attack, Rosen and his teammates up-front - midfielder Jesse Shapira and forward Noah Brody - quickly moved the ball up the pitch by sending and receiving through-balls that caught the opposition backpedaling.
Brody, though a forward, played an impressive game as a playmaker. His ball movement and quickness opened up the field for good looks, many of which were taken by Shapira. It is this all-around ability, as a goal-scoring forward and assister, that earned Brody the CPC Player of the Year honor.
“I’m not sure anyone from our school has ever won Player of the Year,” Brody said. “This is something I never would have really imagined, so credit goes to my teammates. Without my teammates, none of this would have happened. They’re the ones who serve me the balls when I score.”
“Without his skill, his leadership, and his positivity, this team isn’t what it is,” said Zell head coach David Martinez, reflecting on what the senior’s departure means for the team.
“He’s one of the top players that’s leaving the program. I’m just proud of the guy.”
On more than one occasion it looked like Shapira would score in the first half. Frustratingly for Zell, each attempt on goal was marvelously stopped by Hope’s goalkeeper, Juan Fuentes, who made numerous close-quarter saves that kept his team in the game. His stops included three shots that Shapira struck dangerously from within the box.
Fuentes’ effort seemed to inspire his team to take more chances after their slow start.
The first chance Hope converted came in the 35th minute when midfielder Adrian Bahena scored within a congested box. His shot was the result of a rebound after a save that Zell goalkeeper Micah Stern made at point-blank range. Stern had his fair share of saves throughout the game, including a Diego Garcia offering he punched away in the 37th minute that was headed for the top right corner.
Bahena scored again in the 44th minute after he received a pass from midfielder Aaron Tellez, who found him open in close in the box.
Hope’s third and final goal came in the 78th minute, off a speedy run by midfielder Garcia, who knocked it into the bottom right corner.
After the loss, Martinez justifiably had nothing but praise for his team.
“I’m proud of the boys,” he said. “When things are positive and these boys are working 100 percent, 80 minutes of every game, it shows on the field. And while it didn’t show in this last game, we were able to beat this team twice in the regular season, and that’s the reason why we won the conference championship.”
Brody credited Zell’s stunning season to the dedication each player had toward improvement.
“The work ethic of this team made it really easy to be a senior leader this year. I would tell someone what to do, tell them to work harder, and they would put their head down and run harder than I’ve ever seen them run. [...] The mentality of the team was, we wanted to prove our entire school wrong and our conference wrong.”
If having five all-conference players counts as proving everyone wrong, then the Tigers did that. Brody, Shapira, and Rosen all received the honor. They were joined by midfielders Shomri Mlotek and Jeremy Budin.
Tri-captain and defenseman Gabe Gruenberg was a senior leader on the field for the Tiges. He loudly commanded his teammates from the backfield, reminding them to keep in formation and to bring the ball back when necessary.
Gruenberg is a player who knows the game well and can communicate in a way that is accessible to anyone.
“A lot of us are multi-sport athletes, but we all have that one sport we play extremely competitively,” Gruenberg said. “We take that work ethic from our other sports and bring it here. The whole season we’ve used language from basketball and other sports and people understood it. It didn’t matter what, it got through.”
Blending together their experience in other sports, Zell’s team is stacked with a diverse blend of athletic abilities. Even though some Tigers barely touched a soccer ball before high school, their general athleticism and ability to think analogously between different sports worked in their favor.
But the real reason for success, Martinez argues, runs deeper than that.
“Our players, they work to get better as much as they can," the coach said. "They learn the systems. They’re there to support each other, and that is the strength of not only our team, but our school. When you find a group of players that are willing to sacrifice anything for their family, their team, it changes everything and it leads to conference championships.”
Starting lineups
Hope Academy
GK: Juan Fuentes
D: Miles Coleman
D: Xavier Catalan
D: Xavier Magana
M: Luis Gutierrez
M: Adrian Bahena
M: Christian Taylor
M: Diego Garcia
M: Aaron Tellez
F: Jovany Rosas
F: Miguel Ramirez
Rochelle Zell
GK: Micah Stern
D: Shomri Mlotek
D: Daniel Taitz
D: Gabe Gruenberg
D: Jeremy Budin
M: Jesse Shapira
M: Jesse Levitas
M: Harrison Harkavy
M: Zach Rosen
M: Matan Lieberman
F: Noah Brody
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Adrian Bahena, jr., MF, Hope
Scoring Summary
First half
Bahena (UA) 35th minute
Second half
Bahena (Tellez) 44th minute
Garcia (Catalan) 78th minute
Winners withstand strong Zell opening, then strike for 3-0 win
By A.J. Schmitz
CHICAGO - Rochelle Zell’s 3-0 loss to Hope on Thursday in the Chicago Prep Conference Tournament championship game didn't diminish the Tigers season.
Because of COVID-19 mitigations that shortened the season, the CPC Tournament was held as a substitute to the traditional IHSA playoffs for teams within the conference.
While disappointing for the unbeaten regular season conference champs, the result did not seem to weigh too heavily on Zell’s squad. The Tigers (9-2-0, 6-0-0) had the best season in school history and first undefeated run through the league.
“Last year we lost six starters, six of our best players, and no one was thinking we were going to be good,” said midfielder Zach Rosen. “But our seniors stepped up, leading us all the way. Last year if we had a bad game, people would get down on each other. This year? Completely positive. We all loved each other and knew our roles.”
“We beat every conference team, and it hit me that we were actually good. We can actually do stuff here.”
Stuff, as in win the league title and rack up goals.
Zell beat Hope (6-3-2, 3-3-0) twice during the regular season. Their first win against the Eagles was on March 16, in which the Tigers pulled off a 6-4 victory. The second, on March 24, saw a more reserved score line of 1-0.
On Thursday, the Eagles became the only team to shut out Rochelle Zell this season. The CPC Tournament win was a consolation to the Eagles for their previous meetings with Zell, according to head coach Jorge Linares.
“It’s an amazing experience. [...] We played with our heart and everybody was confident,” he said. “They worked hard in the last two weeks, so we see the results. We played like a family.”
The first half of Thursday’s game started on a promising note for Zell as they took advantage of Hope’s three-man defense. Miles Coleman, Xavier Catalan and Xavier Magaña were the guys charged with holding down the fort for the Eagles, and in the first 30 minutes of the game it started to seem like they were in need of serious help.
Zell exploited every gap in Hope’s backline. Attack after attack, Rosen and his teammates up-front - midfielder Jesse Shapira and forward Noah Brody - quickly moved the ball up the pitch by sending and receiving through-balls that caught the opposition backpedaling.
Brody, though a forward, played an impressive game as a playmaker. His ball movement and quickness opened up the field for good looks, many of which were taken by Shapira. It is this all-around ability, as a goal-scoring forward and assister, that earned Brody the CPC Player of the Year honor.
“I’m not sure anyone from our school has ever won Player of the Year,” Brody said. “This is something I never would have really imagined, so credit goes to my teammates. Without my teammates, none of this would have happened. They’re the ones who serve me the balls when I score.”
“Without his skill, his leadership, and his positivity, this team isn’t what it is,” said Zell head coach David Martinez, reflecting on what the senior’s departure means for the team.
“He’s one of the top players that’s leaving the program. I’m just proud of the guy.”
On more than one occasion it looked like Shapira would score in the first half. Frustratingly for Zell, each attempt on goal was marvelously stopped by Hope’s goalkeeper, Juan Fuentes, who made numerous close-quarter saves that kept his team in the game. His stops included three shots that Shapira struck dangerously from within the box.
Fuentes’ effort seemed to inspire his team to take more chances after their slow start.
The first chance Hope converted came in the 35th minute when midfielder Adrian Bahena scored within a congested box. His shot was the result of a rebound after a save that Zell goalkeeper Micah Stern made at point-blank range. Stern had his fair share of saves throughout the game, including a Diego Garcia offering he punched away in the 37th minute that was headed for the top right corner.
Bahena scored again in the 44th minute after he received a pass from midfielder Aaron Tellez, who found him open in close in the box.
Hope’s third and final goal came in the 78th minute, off a speedy run by midfielder Garcia, who knocked it into the bottom right corner.
After the loss, Martinez justifiably had nothing but praise for his team.
“I’m proud of the boys,” he said. “When things are positive and these boys are working 100 percent, 80 minutes of every game, it shows on the field. And while it didn’t show in this last game, we were able to beat this team twice in the regular season, and that’s the reason why we won the conference championship.”
Brody credited Zell’s stunning season to the dedication each player had toward improvement.
“The work ethic of this team made it really easy to be a senior leader this year. I would tell someone what to do, tell them to work harder, and they would put their head down and run harder than I’ve ever seen them run. [...] The mentality of the team was, we wanted to prove our entire school wrong and our conference wrong.”
If having five all-conference players counts as proving everyone wrong, then the Tigers did that. Brody, Shapira, and Rosen all received the honor. They were joined by midfielders Shomri Mlotek and Jeremy Budin.
Tri-captain and defenseman Gabe Gruenberg was a senior leader on the field for the Tiges. He loudly commanded his teammates from the backfield, reminding them to keep in formation and to bring the ball back when necessary.
Gruenberg is a player who knows the game well and can communicate in a way that is accessible to anyone.
“A lot of us are multi-sport athletes, but we all have that one sport we play extremely competitively,” Gruenberg said. “We take that work ethic from our other sports and bring it here. The whole season we’ve used language from basketball and other sports and people understood it. It didn’t matter what, it got through.”
Blending together their experience in other sports, Zell’s team is stacked with a diverse blend of athletic abilities. Even though some Tigers barely touched a soccer ball before high school, their general athleticism and ability to think analogously between different sports worked in their favor.
But the real reason for success, Martinez argues, runs deeper than that.
“Our players, they work to get better as much as they can," the coach said. "They learn the systems. They’re there to support each other, and that is the strength of not only our team, but our school. When you find a group of players that are willing to sacrifice anything for their family, their team, it changes everything and it leads to conference championships.”
Starting lineups
Hope Academy
GK: Juan Fuentes
D: Miles Coleman
D: Xavier Catalan
D: Xavier Magana
M: Luis Gutierrez
M: Adrian Bahena
M: Christian Taylor
M: Diego Garcia
M: Aaron Tellez
F: Jovany Rosas
F: Miguel Ramirez
Rochelle Zell
GK: Micah Stern
D: Shomri Mlotek
D: Daniel Taitz
D: Gabe Gruenberg
D: Jeremy Budin
M: Jesse Shapira
M: Jesse Levitas
M: Harrison Harkavy
M: Zach Rosen
M: Matan Lieberman
F: Noah Brody
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Adrian Bahena, jr., MF, Hope
Scoring Summary
First half
Bahena (UA) 35th minute
Second half
Bahena (Tellez) 44th minute
Garcia (Catalan) 78th minute