Tardy Rochelle Zell can't catch Northtown
Bus issue affects warm-up, Tigers run out of time in 3-2 loss
By Bobby Narang
SKOKIE — Rochelle Zell was already in trouble before the start of its game Monday.
The Tigers arrived seven minutes after the scheduled 5 p.m. start time because of problems with their bus. Six players arrived on time for a proper warmup, but the rest of the team wasn’t so lucky.
The visitors were given 12 minutes to stretch and prepare for the Chicago Prep Conference game.
While they waited, the host Pumas had time on their hands. They spent nearly 30 minutes joking around, hanging out on the field and kicking shots into the net.
One minute into the match, Northtown showed its eagerness and produced a 1-0 lead. The Tigers were slow out the gate.
The Pumas pounced with three first-half goals and held off Rochelle Zell for a 3-2 victory at Skokie Sports Park. Several Tigers (5-7-0, 3-5-0) felt the late arrival factored into the defeat.
The Pumas (2-6-0, 2-6-0) solid start helped avenge a 5-4 defeat to the Tigers on Aug. 31.
As Northtown celebrated the victory by playing music through a bluetooth speaker, the Tigers slowly walked away frustrated after nearly pulling off a memorable comeback.
The extremely thick grass on the field was an unexpected variable for Rochelle Zell. It slowed the roll of the ball and seemed to force several players to adjust their games on the fly.
“We started off slow, and our bus came late which led to a really quick warmup,” Rochelle Zell senior midfielder Harrison Harkavy said. “In the second half, we played better. I think it was one of the first games where we had a better second half than the first half.
“I saw improvement throughout the game. It’s unfortunate that the bus was late, and we couldn’t have a warmup. We had to adjust better. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen again.
“We’ve had a lot of games in the last week, but I think we will be better come playoff time.”
Senior defender Jeremy Budin said the Tigers had a few mental lapses in the first half that quickly spiraled into a 3-0 deficit after 27 minutes.
Reserve forward Dino Seferovic scored the first two goals for Northtown.
“The second half we played some solid defense and turned the defense into offense and did some counterattacks,” Budin said. “We just needed to come out stronger sooner. We came here late and didn’t quite have a chance to warmup and do some other stuff we like to do before games, which is a shame. But bus situations happen.
“We have to talk more on defense, and they were able to get behind us on those early goals. I like what we did in the second half. We have to learn to stay back and contain, and then to step hard. We did a bit too much stabbing at the ball in the first (half).
“That’s why they were able to play through so easily for those first two goals. We have to put more of an emphasis on containing.”
The Tigers lacked energy until Jesse Shapira’s goal in the 69th minute.
After missing a chance for a goal on three early second half shots, Shapira woke up the crowd of roughly 25 fans and three dogs by lofting in a shot from 16 yards to slice the deficit to 3-1.
Junior midfielder Ben Rosenfeld set up the goal with a long pass to Shapira. By that point, Northtown seemed to be on autopilot protecting the lead it held for more than a half.
But Shapira’s 10th goal of the season energized his teammates and the Tigers faithful.
“You can blame the grass,” Shapira said jokingly of his team’s slow start. “But we really wanted it in the end. You can’t make excuses. It’s really us. It was just … too late.
“They were really high up on my goal, and Ben saw me and played a perfect ball. The grass is high, so it slowed the ball down for me. I had a good angle, because their goalie came out.”
A player with extraordinary speed and cutting ability, Shapira admitted the conditions factored into his lack of shots.
“The grass was hard, because I couldn’t dribble, but part of me still feels if we had more time or turned it on sooner from the start, we could’ve beat this team,” Shapira said.
Senior forward Jordan Melman his team was battling fatigue. Northtown was the Tigers sixth opponent in the past eight days. Rochelle Zell had a 26-hour turnaround after topping conference Ida Crown 4-1 on Sunday.
“The key going forward is we have to stay positive,” Melman said. “We have to keep working and fighting. We can’t think about the past or future. We have to focus on every minute of every game.
“It’s been a long season, but we have to focus on the teams ahead. Our record doesn’t matter. We have to move forward and improve. We have to play Tigers soccer.”
Rochelle Zell was a different team following Shapira’s goal. Spurred on by its crowd, the Tigers started pushing the attack in the final 11 minutes. Oren Nochimowski cut the margin to 3-2 on a tap-in right in front of the goal line in the 75th minute.
Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez said he was encouraged by his team’s strong will in the second half to mount a comeback.
“You have to credit Northtown for realizing we were on our heels and coming out scoring in the first minute,” he said. “We can’t make excuses for coming too late. We have to figure out a way to fight through adversity.
“We have one last conference game and then we have the conference tournament at Pilsen Park. We’re off from Friday until Thursday, and then have to compete in a conference quarterfinal.
“We have to find it within ourselves to play to our potential. It took a goal to get us moving. Once that goal happened, everyone felt a relief and started pushing each other. That has to come sooner. They’re a good group.”
Starting lineups
Rochelle Zell
GK: Jacob Weiss
D: Jeremy Budin
D: Ari Jankelowitz
D: Coby Halpern
D: Gabe Hirsch
MF: Julian Tocher
MF: Oren Nochimowski
MF: Harrison Harkavy
MF: Ben Rosenfeld
F: Simon Levitan
F: Jesse Shapira
Northtown
Roster unavailable
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Dino Seferovic, sr., F, Northtown
Scoring summary
First half
Northtown: Seferovic (unassisted), 1’
Northtown: Seferovic (Espadin), 17’
Northtown: 27’
Second half
Rochelle Zell: Shapira (Rosenfeld), 69'
Rochelle Zell: Nochimowski (unassisted), 75'
Bus issue affects warm-up, Tigers run out of time in 3-2 loss
By Bobby Narang
SKOKIE — Rochelle Zell was already in trouble before the start of its game Monday.
The Tigers arrived seven minutes after the scheduled 5 p.m. start time because of problems with their bus. Six players arrived on time for a proper warmup, but the rest of the team wasn’t so lucky.
The visitors were given 12 minutes to stretch and prepare for the Chicago Prep Conference game.
While they waited, the host Pumas had time on their hands. They spent nearly 30 minutes joking around, hanging out on the field and kicking shots into the net.
One minute into the match, Northtown showed its eagerness and produced a 1-0 lead. The Tigers were slow out the gate.
The Pumas pounced with three first-half goals and held off Rochelle Zell for a 3-2 victory at Skokie Sports Park. Several Tigers (5-7-0, 3-5-0) felt the late arrival factored into the defeat.
The Pumas (2-6-0, 2-6-0) solid start helped avenge a 5-4 defeat to the Tigers on Aug. 31.
As Northtown celebrated the victory by playing music through a bluetooth speaker, the Tigers slowly walked away frustrated after nearly pulling off a memorable comeback.
The extremely thick grass on the field was an unexpected variable for Rochelle Zell. It slowed the roll of the ball and seemed to force several players to adjust their games on the fly.
“We started off slow, and our bus came late which led to a really quick warmup,” Rochelle Zell senior midfielder Harrison Harkavy said. “In the second half, we played better. I think it was one of the first games where we had a better second half than the first half.
“I saw improvement throughout the game. It’s unfortunate that the bus was late, and we couldn’t have a warmup. We had to adjust better. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen again.
“We’ve had a lot of games in the last week, but I think we will be better come playoff time.”
Senior defender Jeremy Budin said the Tigers had a few mental lapses in the first half that quickly spiraled into a 3-0 deficit after 27 minutes.
Reserve forward Dino Seferovic scored the first two goals for Northtown.
“The second half we played some solid defense and turned the defense into offense and did some counterattacks,” Budin said. “We just needed to come out stronger sooner. We came here late and didn’t quite have a chance to warmup and do some other stuff we like to do before games, which is a shame. But bus situations happen.
“We have to talk more on defense, and they were able to get behind us on those early goals. I like what we did in the second half. We have to learn to stay back and contain, and then to step hard. We did a bit too much stabbing at the ball in the first (half).
“That’s why they were able to play through so easily for those first two goals. We have to put more of an emphasis on containing.”
The Tigers lacked energy until Jesse Shapira’s goal in the 69th minute.
After missing a chance for a goal on three early second half shots, Shapira woke up the crowd of roughly 25 fans and three dogs by lofting in a shot from 16 yards to slice the deficit to 3-1.
Junior midfielder Ben Rosenfeld set up the goal with a long pass to Shapira. By that point, Northtown seemed to be on autopilot protecting the lead it held for more than a half.
But Shapira’s 10th goal of the season energized his teammates and the Tigers faithful.
“You can blame the grass,” Shapira said jokingly of his team’s slow start. “But we really wanted it in the end. You can’t make excuses. It’s really us. It was just … too late.
“They were really high up on my goal, and Ben saw me and played a perfect ball. The grass is high, so it slowed the ball down for me. I had a good angle, because their goalie came out.”
A player with extraordinary speed and cutting ability, Shapira admitted the conditions factored into his lack of shots.
“The grass was hard, because I couldn’t dribble, but part of me still feels if we had more time or turned it on sooner from the start, we could’ve beat this team,” Shapira said.
Senior forward Jordan Melman his team was battling fatigue. Northtown was the Tigers sixth opponent in the past eight days. Rochelle Zell had a 26-hour turnaround after topping conference Ida Crown 4-1 on Sunday.
“The key going forward is we have to stay positive,” Melman said. “We have to keep working and fighting. We can’t think about the past or future. We have to focus on every minute of every game.
“It’s been a long season, but we have to focus on the teams ahead. Our record doesn’t matter. We have to move forward and improve. We have to play Tigers soccer.”
Rochelle Zell was a different team following Shapira’s goal. Spurred on by its crowd, the Tigers started pushing the attack in the final 11 minutes. Oren Nochimowski cut the margin to 3-2 on a tap-in right in front of the goal line in the 75th minute.
Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez said he was encouraged by his team’s strong will in the second half to mount a comeback.
“You have to credit Northtown for realizing we were on our heels and coming out scoring in the first minute,” he said. “We can’t make excuses for coming too late. We have to figure out a way to fight through adversity.
“We have one last conference game and then we have the conference tournament at Pilsen Park. We’re off from Friday until Thursday, and then have to compete in a conference quarterfinal.
“We have to find it within ourselves to play to our potential. It took a goal to get us moving. Once that goal happened, everyone felt a relief and started pushing each other. That has to come sooner. They’re a good group.”
Starting lineups
Rochelle Zell
GK: Jacob Weiss
D: Jeremy Budin
D: Ari Jankelowitz
D: Coby Halpern
D: Gabe Hirsch
MF: Julian Tocher
MF: Oren Nochimowski
MF: Harrison Harkavy
MF: Ben Rosenfeld
F: Simon Levitan
F: Jesse Shapira
Northtown
Roster unavailable
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Dino Seferovic, sr., F, Northtown
Scoring summary
First half
Northtown: Seferovic (unassisted), 1’
Northtown: Seferovic (Espadin), 17’
Northtown: 27’
Second half
Rochelle Zell: Shapira (Rosenfeld), 69'
Rochelle Zell: Nochimowski (unassisted), 75'