Luglio leads NSCD over Rochelle Zell
Junior's 2nd half brace delivers 2-0 regional crown win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
WINNETKA — Sometimes players are so connected they act as a conduit to each other. They know the movements and natural reactions.
Even though the game is often fast, random and chaotic, these moments bring a shape and definition. At the best moments, everything just synchronizes.
Vincent Luglio has that kind of special rapport with midfielder Adam Terhaerdt. From the moment Luglio turned up at North Shore Country Day, he had the natural instincts and mentality of an elite scorer.
He led the Raiders in scoring as a freshman two years ago. He combines excellent size, quickness and playmaking prowess, but he acknowledges he needs help to acoomplish goals.
“Adam does a really good job with that,” Luglio said. “Cole Sabia, our center attacking midfielder, also does a really good job with that.
“They are both really good at feeding me the ball.”
Luglio recorded his 18th and 19th goals off beautiful scoring sequences initiated by Terhaerdt that powered the Raiders’ 2-0 victory over Rochelle Zell in the championship of North Shore Country Day's Class A regional Thursday at Skokie Playfields.
For his accomplishments, Luglio earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
Terhaerdt was the facilitator. His touch and vision in concert with his ability to find Luglio is the centerpiece of the Raiders’ attack.
“Vincent sees me out wide, and I see him back in,” Terhaerdt said. “He is an excellent finisher.”
Midfielder Tyler Doornweerd played the original ball just over the top that Terhaerdt controlled and made an instinctive and brilliant header on the first touch that Luglio finished inside the box.
“Tyler got just enough of the ball to me so that I could head it in,” Terhaerdt said. “Vincent actually smashed it in the back of the net. I feel like we possessed the game. We controlled the game.
“We really put our best effort out there.”
Luglio scored in the 51st and 76th minutes, respectively, as the Raiders (15-5-1) won for the ninth time in their last 10 games. The victory also marked an important distinction for the program.
In winning the fourth regional title in program history, North Shore captured its first ever back-to-back regional titles.
North Shore Country Day plays the winner of the Parker Regional between the Colonels and Latin — Independent School League conference rivals with the Raiders.
Rochelle Zell (12-6-3) fell for the second consecutive year in the regional title against the Raiders.
The Tigers made a deep and compelling impression of their own. In his final game, senior keeper Jonah Hummel was spectacular in recording seven saves.
He kept his club close with three remarkable point-blank stops of rocket balls by the Raiders.
“Personally last year I was aware of every single senior that was going to be leaving our team, and I knew what [new] seniors were going to have to step up,” Hummel said.
“I know a lot of people put in a lot of effort over the summer to improve. For me that was going to goalie camps. For everybody else that was to do the most they could to work on weaknesses, strengths, everything.
“A lot of people have worked on leadership. Everyone just did all they could to pretty much go 100 percent for this year, because we knew this was going to be our last year playing soccer.”
Ari Rosen, a natural and gifted three-sport athlete, generated a high-quality opportunity at the end of the first half by driving deep down the left edge and firing a ball that required Raiders’ keeper Nick Potter to make a sharp save in the 40th minute.
“I am not a natural soccer player,” Rosen said. “I play basketball and baseball. I just try to hustle. My sophomore year I didn’t play that much, but I just went there and gave coach about 20 minutes of running around like a crazy person.
“Now that I am bigger and stronger, I am able to make stuff happen more. We just got unlucky. If I have a better touch today, I’d have been able to score two goals and it’s a much different game.”
Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez saw a team navigate the sometimes volatile swings natural to any soccer season. As a summation of the season, the performance marked a high point.
“We definitely had a roller coaster of a season, but it ended positively, even though we didn’t win this game,” Martinez said. “We definitely excelled in different areas of the game against different opponents. When we want to play together as a team, stay positive and play to our strengths, we do amazingly well.
“When we deviate from that, it’s the latter. This game, we played well. They’re a very strong team. They’re the no. 1 seed. We left it all on the field. You wish some things had gone differently, somebody did this or somebody did that, but it doesn’t always work that way.”
Rosen and senior forward Eli Gurin formed an athletic and dynamic attacking tandem at the top. North Shore Country Day coach Kyle Jones took special mention.
“I saw them play yesterday, and I saw they had two good strikers,” Jones said. “We knew they were going to play direct, and we had to limit their chances and winning the balls in the air.
“We executed our game plan very well, and we are pleased.”
The Tigers blended the savvy experience of players like Gurin and defender Adam Budin with the emerging younger talent like sophomore midfielders Yabi Silvers and Shamir Mlotek. Junior forward Noah Brody also excelled in his capacity as a playmaker.
Freshman defender Harrison Harkavy and Rosen’s younger brother, sophomore Zach, also provided a jolt.
“We definitely had some options out there today,” Martinez said.
The only downside was the number of fouls deep in the final third that allowed North Shore Country Day repeated attempts at the Tigers’ goal.
Hummel twice denied Luglio on free kicks in the moments leading up to the first goal.
“There was a period there where every touch was a foul,” Martinez said. “You could argue that but nothing is going to change. The officials are not going to call the game differently.
“When we are giving up multiple free kicks in the defensive third, we are allowing them to have shots on goal. We are allowing them to work their way up instead of building from the back. We need to work on that. We have to move our feet on defense. We have to contain, and we have to pressure. We can’t stab, and we have to go for the ball.”
For his part, Jones pushed his team to create ever more opportunities and build off the pressure and time of possession for actual results.
“We talked about it at halftime that we had some good opportunities, but we needed a couple of more,” Jones said. “We had possession but possession means nothing right now.
“We are getting into good areas with our services. We really emphasized in the second half getting balls into the box and playing guys in and creating chances and put balls into the back of the net. We challenged them. When you have big games, you need players to step up.
“We were pleased with Vincent and the guys giving him the ball.”
Though Rochelle Zell ended its season, the future is a bright one shaped by those who came before them.
“Our team is very senior heavy,” Ari Rosen said. “I took my junior year off, but everybody else has been playing for four years.
“We are building the program up, and we have a ton of underclassmen who have really grown into excellent players. You see like Yabi, Jesse [Levitas] and Gabe [Wein], these players have developed into good players.
“It stings to go out like this. Our first practice, we couldn’t possess the ball. Now they are playing meaningful minutes in a regional championship game.”
Starting lineups
Rochelle Zell
GK: Jonah Hummel
D: Adam Budin
D: Evan Dayan
D: Gabe Gruenberg
D: Yabi Silvers
MF: Noah Brody
MF: Isaac Levitan
MF: Sammy Kroll
MF: Harrison Harkavy
F: Ari Rosen
F: Eli Gurin
North Shore Country Day
GK: Nick Potter
D: Alex Winslow
D: Finn Doornweerd
D: Riley Jones
D: Tae Won Lillig
MF: Tyler Doornweerd
MF: Adam Terhaerdt
MF: Axel Garcia
MF: Mason Roberts-Jones
MF: Cole Sabia
F: Vincent Luglio
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Vincent Luglio, jr., F, North Shore Country Day
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
NSCD—Vincent Luglio (Adam Terhaerdt), 51st minute
NSCD—Luglio (Terhaerdt), 76th minute
Junior's 2nd half brace delivers 2-0 regional crown win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
WINNETKA — Sometimes players are so connected they act as a conduit to each other. They know the movements and natural reactions.
Even though the game is often fast, random and chaotic, these moments bring a shape and definition. At the best moments, everything just synchronizes.
Vincent Luglio has that kind of special rapport with midfielder Adam Terhaerdt. From the moment Luglio turned up at North Shore Country Day, he had the natural instincts and mentality of an elite scorer.
He led the Raiders in scoring as a freshman two years ago. He combines excellent size, quickness and playmaking prowess, but he acknowledges he needs help to acoomplish goals.
“Adam does a really good job with that,” Luglio said. “Cole Sabia, our center attacking midfielder, also does a really good job with that.
“They are both really good at feeding me the ball.”
Luglio recorded his 18th and 19th goals off beautiful scoring sequences initiated by Terhaerdt that powered the Raiders’ 2-0 victory over Rochelle Zell in the championship of North Shore Country Day's Class A regional Thursday at Skokie Playfields.
For his accomplishments, Luglio earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
Terhaerdt was the facilitator. His touch and vision in concert with his ability to find Luglio is the centerpiece of the Raiders’ attack.
“Vincent sees me out wide, and I see him back in,” Terhaerdt said. “He is an excellent finisher.”
Midfielder Tyler Doornweerd played the original ball just over the top that Terhaerdt controlled and made an instinctive and brilliant header on the first touch that Luglio finished inside the box.
“Tyler got just enough of the ball to me so that I could head it in,” Terhaerdt said. “Vincent actually smashed it in the back of the net. I feel like we possessed the game. We controlled the game.
“We really put our best effort out there.”
Luglio scored in the 51st and 76th minutes, respectively, as the Raiders (15-5-1) won for the ninth time in their last 10 games. The victory also marked an important distinction for the program.
In winning the fourth regional title in program history, North Shore captured its first ever back-to-back regional titles.
North Shore Country Day plays the winner of the Parker Regional between the Colonels and Latin — Independent School League conference rivals with the Raiders.
Rochelle Zell (12-6-3) fell for the second consecutive year in the regional title against the Raiders.
The Tigers made a deep and compelling impression of their own. In his final game, senior keeper Jonah Hummel was spectacular in recording seven saves.
He kept his club close with three remarkable point-blank stops of rocket balls by the Raiders.
“Personally last year I was aware of every single senior that was going to be leaving our team, and I knew what [new] seniors were going to have to step up,” Hummel said.
“I know a lot of people put in a lot of effort over the summer to improve. For me that was going to goalie camps. For everybody else that was to do the most they could to work on weaknesses, strengths, everything.
“A lot of people have worked on leadership. Everyone just did all they could to pretty much go 100 percent for this year, because we knew this was going to be our last year playing soccer.”
Ari Rosen, a natural and gifted three-sport athlete, generated a high-quality opportunity at the end of the first half by driving deep down the left edge and firing a ball that required Raiders’ keeper Nick Potter to make a sharp save in the 40th minute.
“I am not a natural soccer player,” Rosen said. “I play basketball and baseball. I just try to hustle. My sophomore year I didn’t play that much, but I just went there and gave coach about 20 minutes of running around like a crazy person.
“Now that I am bigger and stronger, I am able to make stuff happen more. We just got unlucky. If I have a better touch today, I’d have been able to score two goals and it’s a much different game.”
Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez saw a team navigate the sometimes volatile swings natural to any soccer season. As a summation of the season, the performance marked a high point.
“We definitely had a roller coaster of a season, but it ended positively, even though we didn’t win this game,” Martinez said. “We definitely excelled in different areas of the game against different opponents. When we want to play together as a team, stay positive and play to our strengths, we do amazingly well.
“When we deviate from that, it’s the latter. This game, we played well. They’re a very strong team. They’re the no. 1 seed. We left it all on the field. You wish some things had gone differently, somebody did this or somebody did that, but it doesn’t always work that way.”
Rosen and senior forward Eli Gurin formed an athletic and dynamic attacking tandem at the top. North Shore Country Day coach Kyle Jones took special mention.
“I saw them play yesterday, and I saw they had two good strikers,” Jones said. “We knew they were going to play direct, and we had to limit their chances and winning the balls in the air.
“We executed our game plan very well, and we are pleased.”
The Tigers blended the savvy experience of players like Gurin and defender Adam Budin with the emerging younger talent like sophomore midfielders Yabi Silvers and Shamir Mlotek. Junior forward Noah Brody also excelled in his capacity as a playmaker.
Freshman defender Harrison Harkavy and Rosen’s younger brother, sophomore Zach, also provided a jolt.
“We definitely had some options out there today,” Martinez said.
The only downside was the number of fouls deep in the final third that allowed North Shore Country Day repeated attempts at the Tigers’ goal.
Hummel twice denied Luglio on free kicks in the moments leading up to the first goal.
“There was a period there where every touch was a foul,” Martinez said. “You could argue that but nothing is going to change. The officials are not going to call the game differently.
“When we are giving up multiple free kicks in the defensive third, we are allowing them to have shots on goal. We are allowing them to work their way up instead of building from the back. We need to work on that. We have to move our feet on defense. We have to contain, and we have to pressure. We can’t stab, and we have to go for the ball.”
For his part, Jones pushed his team to create ever more opportunities and build off the pressure and time of possession for actual results.
“We talked about it at halftime that we had some good opportunities, but we needed a couple of more,” Jones said. “We had possession but possession means nothing right now.
“We are getting into good areas with our services. We really emphasized in the second half getting balls into the box and playing guys in and creating chances and put balls into the back of the net. We challenged them. When you have big games, you need players to step up.
“We were pleased with Vincent and the guys giving him the ball.”
Though Rochelle Zell ended its season, the future is a bright one shaped by those who came before them.
“Our team is very senior heavy,” Ari Rosen said. “I took my junior year off, but everybody else has been playing for four years.
“We are building the program up, and we have a ton of underclassmen who have really grown into excellent players. You see like Yabi, Jesse [Levitas] and Gabe [Wein], these players have developed into good players.
“It stings to go out like this. Our first practice, we couldn’t possess the ball. Now they are playing meaningful minutes in a regional championship game.”
Starting lineups
Rochelle Zell
GK: Jonah Hummel
D: Adam Budin
D: Evan Dayan
D: Gabe Gruenberg
D: Yabi Silvers
MF: Noah Brody
MF: Isaac Levitan
MF: Sammy Kroll
MF: Harrison Harkavy
F: Ari Rosen
F: Eli Gurin
North Shore Country Day
GK: Nick Potter
D: Alex Winslow
D: Finn Doornweerd
D: Riley Jones
D: Tae Won Lillig
MF: Tyler Doornweerd
MF: Adam Terhaerdt
MF: Axel Garcia
MF: Mason Roberts-Jones
MF: Cole Sabia
F: Vincent Luglio
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Vincent Luglio, jr., F, North Shore Country Day
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
NSCD—Vincent Luglio (Adam Terhaerdt), 51st minute
NSCD—Luglio (Terhaerdt), 76th minute