Rochelle Zell takes sentimental
journey, falls to Niles North
Tigers lose 5-0 to coach's alma mater in playoff prep
By Rusty Silber
NILES -- Rochelle Zell is back from a long break and is ready to put together a successful stretch run. The Tigers were off from April 8-24 for spring break and Passover.
The time away constituted a total break from soccer.
"We didn't practice or touch a soccer ball during our time off," Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez said. "We took a half week for injuries and COVID. Now, we're looking to regain our composure and skills before next week's Chicago Prep Conference Tournament.”
The Tigers returned to action Monday and took a 3-2 result from Chicago Prep Conference foe Northtown.
Rochelle Zell’s final tournament tune-up brought it to a place close to its coach’s heart. They traveled to Niles North on Wednesday for a match with its leader’s alma mater.
Martinez is a 2008 graduate of the school and was an assistant on the boys varsity team from 2011 to 2014. During that time, the Vikings won their first two Central Suburban League North Division championships.
Wednesday's trip didn't get a storybook happy ending. The Class A Tigers fell 5-0 on its Class 3A host's Senior Night.
"The score is what it is when you play big schools and sometimes that happens," Martinez said. "More importantly, we played the best possession that we've played all season long, which is shocking in a 5-0 game. That normally doesn't happen, but today that happened.
“It was just defensive breakdowns in the middle third, allowing Niles North getting a through-ball in; it just turned into a breakaway. I really didn't see true shots from a distance."
The loss left the Tigers at 9-3-1 overall. They finished second in the Chicago Prep Conference at 5-1-1. Hope (6-0-1) won the league, and Cristo Rey (4-0-3) finished third.
"We have to bring this into our conference tournament next week," Martinez said. "If we can possess the ball the way we did, we will have great success in the conference tournament.
“Now we know defensively if we stay with our marks and all get back with our players in front of the ball we’ll be okay. Other teams will not be able to stop us. Just happy we came here and played a good team that showed us what our weaknesses are."
Martinez enjoyed going back to his old school.
"They do have a new turf here," Martinez said. "A lot of memories with winning a regional championship back in 2007 and being back where it all started."
Rochelle Zell defender Naomi Sendlin got a good view of some of the positive things that the team tried to achieve.
"We did have two weeks off and a lot of us were recovering from COVID," Sendlin said. "It was kind of hard to bounce back. This was our first real competitive game since then, and we were a little bit out of sync.
“But there were some good things that were happening offensively and defensively. We were able to connect a lot of passes, and a lot of one-twos that we haven't done before."
Senior midfielder and team leader Janie Levitan agreed with the positives but saw some things lacking.
"We were playing really good possession, but the whole team needs to be alert. We need to do better on both sides of the goal," Levitan said. "It's not our communication; it's our instinct of going to the ball."
The loss was Rochelle’s first of the season against Class 3A competition. Previously the Tigers had beaten Zion-Benton 2-1 on March 17 and North Chicago 5-1 on April 6.
Niles North picked up its fifth win of the season to go against seven losses.
"This was a good win for us, and every win is considered a good win," Niles North coach Mihajlo Vlaskovic said. "We also tried to play the best soccer that we can. There are some games that with our results we don't come out as winners, but the way we perform, we definitely will take that as a win.
"We try to play beautiful soccer with attacking and passing. There are games that we can accomplish it, and there are games that we cannot.
“This game really worked out for us, and we hope we can get more opportunities like this. It does mean a lot to us.
“We've had a lot of situations throughout the season. Some of the games have been tough for us. It really meant a lot for us being our Senior Night, plus we had three of our girls out of our starting lineup. We do have 13 seniors this season and to hold up for four years is a great accomplishment."
Makayla Sutton earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match after a one-goal, two-assist performance.
"I do like to play soccer," said Sutton, whose two goals and seven assists have come from different positions in the lineup. "It's mainly in the midfield; it switches around. I do like the midfield and like to pass the ball and give chances for other people.”
Sutton scored the first Vikings goal in the 6th minute of the game on a header off a rebound.
"It was my first time to score on a header," Sutton said. "I was just following the ball in case the goalie had missed it. I was able to put the ball into the net. It felt so good and was one of my biggest accomplishments in playing soccer -- to score on a header."
Sutton assisted on the second goal in the 33rd minute as Paula Posadas put the ball into the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage.
Posadas made the score 3-0 in the 43rd minute off a service from Sutton. Then Ashley Barrera tallied a goal from Isabel Youmara in the 55th minute. Youmara ended the scoring off a pass from Julia Montes in the 63rd minute.
Starting lineups
Rochelle Zell
GK-Talla Scholder
D-Naomi Sendlin
D-Meira Lieberman
D-Haley Rudnick
D-Aya Moller
MF-Jamie Levitan
MF-Issy Wolle
MF-Moriya Mlotek
MF-Ahava Cohen
MF-Becca Berkeley
F-Alana Cohen
Niles North
GK-Victora Torrez
D-Camille Goldberg
D-Alexis Bank
D-Kyleen Khatchik
D-Grace Murphy
MF-Isabel Youmara
MF-Kailina Lainez
MF-Makayla Sutton
MF-Julia Montes
F-Paula Posades
F-Ashley Barrera
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Makayla Sutton, sr., MF, Niles North
Scoring Summary
First half
NN-Mikayla Sutton 6'
NN-Paula Posadas (Mikayla Sutton) 33'
Second half
NN-Paula Posadas (Mikayla Sutton) 43'
NN-Ashley Barrera (Isabel Youmara) 55'
NN-Isabel Youmara (Julia Montes) 63'
journey, falls to Niles North
Tigers lose 5-0 to coach's alma mater in playoff prep
By Rusty Silber
NILES -- Rochelle Zell is back from a long break and is ready to put together a successful stretch run. The Tigers were off from April 8-24 for spring break and Passover.
The time away constituted a total break from soccer.
"We didn't practice or touch a soccer ball during our time off," Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez said. "We took a half week for injuries and COVID. Now, we're looking to regain our composure and skills before next week's Chicago Prep Conference Tournament.”
The Tigers returned to action Monday and took a 3-2 result from Chicago Prep Conference foe Northtown.
Rochelle Zell’s final tournament tune-up brought it to a place close to its coach’s heart. They traveled to Niles North on Wednesday for a match with its leader’s alma mater.
Martinez is a 2008 graduate of the school and was an assistant on the boys varsity team from 2011 to 2014. During that time, the Vikings won their first two Central Suburban League North Division championships.
Wednesday's trip didn't get a storybook happy ending. The Class A Tigers fell 5-0 on its Class 3A host's Senior Night.
"The score is what it is when you play big schools and sometimes that happens," Martinez said. "More importantly, we played the best possession that we've played all season long, which is shocking in a 5-0 game. That normally doesn't happen, but today that happened.
“It was just defensive breakdowns in the middle third, allowing Niles North getting a through-ball in; it just turned into a breakaway. I really didn't see true shots from a distance."
The loss left the Tigers at 9-3-1 overall. They finished second in the Chicago Prep Conference at 5-1-1. Hope (6-0-1) won the league, and Cristo Rey (4-0-3) finished third.
"We have to bring this into our conference tournament next week," Martinez said. "If we can possess the ball the way we did, we will have great success in the conference tournament.
“Now we know defensively if we stay with our marks and all get back with our players in front of the ball we’ll be okay. Other teams will not be able to stop us. Just happy we came here and played a good team that showed us what our weaknesses are."
Martinez enjoyed going back to his old school.
"They do have a new turf here," Martinez said. "A lot of memories with winning a regional championship back in 2007 and being back where it all started."
Rochelle Zell defender Naomi Sendlin got a good view of some of the positive things that the team tried to achieve.
"We did have two weeks off and a lot of us were recovering from COVID," Sendlin said. "It was kind of hard to bounce back. This was our first real competitive game since then, and we were a little bit out of sync.
“But there were some good things that were happening offensively and defensively. We were able to connect a lot of passes, and a lot of one-twos that we haven't done before."
Senior midfielder and team leader Janie Levitan agreed with the positives but saw some things lacking.
"We were playing really good possession, but the whole team needs to be alert. We need to do better on both sides of the goal," Levitan said. "It's not our communication; it's our instinct of going to the ball."
The loss was Rochelle’s first of the season against Class 3A competition. Previously the Tigers had beaten Zion-Benton 2-1 on March 17 and North Chicago 5-1 on April 6.
Niles North picked up its fifth win of the season to go against seven losses.
"This was a good win for us, and every win is considered a good win," Niles North coach Mihajlo Vlaskovic said. "We also tried to play the best soccer that we can. There are some games that with our results we don't come out as winners, but the way we perform, we definitely will take that as a win.
"We try to play beautiful soccer with attacking and passing. There are games that we can accomplish it, and there are games that we cannot.
“This game really worked out for us, and we hope we can get more opportunities like this. It does mean a lot to us.
“We've had a lot of situations throughout the season. Some of the games have been tough for us. It really meant a lot for us being our Senior Night, plus we had three of our girls out of our starting lineup. We do have 13 seniors this season and to hold up for four years is a great accomplishment."
Makayla Sutton earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match after a one-goal, two-assist performance.
"I do like to play soccer," said Sutton, whose two goals and seven assists have come from different positions in the lineup. "It's mainly in the midfield; it switches around. I do like the midfield and like to pass the ball and give chances for other people.”
Sutton scored the first Vikings goal in the 6th minute of the game on a header off a rebound.
"It was my first time to score on a header," Sutton said. "I was just following the ball in case the goalie had missed it. I was able to put the ball into the net. It felt so good and was one of my biggest accomplishments in playing soccer -- to score on a header."
Sutton assisted on the second goal in the 33rd minute as Paula Posadas put the ball into the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage.
Posadas made the score 3-0 in the 43rd minute off a service from Sutton. Then Ashley Barrera tallied a goal from Isabel Youmara in the 55th minute. Youmara ended the scoring off a pass from Julia Montes in the 63rd minute.
Starting lineups
Rochelle Zell
GK-Talla Scholder
D-Naomi Sendlin
D-Meira Lieberman
D-Haley Rudnick
D-Aya Moller
MF-Jamie Levitan
MF-Issy Wolle
MF-Moriya Mlotek
MF-Ahava Cohen
MF-Becca Berkeley
F-Alana Cohen
Niles North
GK-Victora Torrez
D-Camille Goldberg
D-Alexis Bank
D-Kyleen Khatchik
D-Grace Murphy
MF-Isabel Youmara
MF-Kailina Lainez
MF-Makayla Sutton
MF-Julia Montes
F-Paula Posades
F-Ashley Barrera
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Makayla Sutton, sr., MF, Niles North
Scoring Summary
First half
NN-Mikayla Sutton 6'
NN-Paula Posadas (Mikayla Sutton) 33'
Second half
NN-Paula Posadas (Mikayla Sutton) 43'
NN-Ashley Barrera (Isabel Youmara) 55'
NN-Isabel Youmara (Julia Montes) 63'