Rochelle Zell rally falls
short against Northtown
Tigers make statement in 2-1 loss to conference champs
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Time pushes constantly forward during the season. At the same time, a month is the equivalent of a year, or an entire movement.
The players at Zell certainly had that feeling. On August 29, the team played host to Northtown, a Chicago charter school, and experienced a kind of meltdown.
Northtown came to Deerfield and left with the commanding 6-1 victory. A Zell season that began with so much promise with a victory over much larger Chicago Catholic League program DePaul left the team reeling.
“We gave up to a certain point towards the end of the second half during the game,” Rochelle Zell midfielder Isaac Levitan said. “The score did not reflect how we played. It was 3-1, and we sort of gave up at the end.”
Eli Gurin, a senior forward, put that game in even blunter language.
“We were really upset at the game and some of us lost faith in the team,” he said.
Fast forward four weeks, and the picture was different, more complex and open-minded.
“Today we played more of a complete game that really showed our character,” Levitan said.
That counted for something, evidence of progress, a sense of a team coming together and standing up for their abilities. It did not push the team over the top, but the effort showed, and the result on its own was impressive.
Levitan’s late goal provided a burst of inspiration that the Tigers look to use nad ramp up in the next stage as Rochelle Zell dropped the 2-1 game against the Pumas Thursday at Northeastern University in Albany Park.
Northtown (10-2-0, 9-1-0) finished undisputed champions of Chicago Prep Conference, its first title since 2010. That was the year current coach Emmanuel Del Toro was a player on the team.
The conference replicates the basketball season, playing home and home series. The danger for the Pumas was thinking the game was going to be like the last game, a breeze, and get caught looking.
“We have been working every year to get better,” Del Toro said. “That was the mentality coming in, either play to their level or play the soccer we have been playing the last two weeks.
“It was halfway there. I think we could play better ball. Hopefully we are going to get there.”
Zell (9-4-2, 6-2-2) showed toughness and resilience, especially in light of the outside factors. The Tigers were playing their second-straight day in the city, following a 3-1 victory over Hope Academy on the West Side.
The team was also out of time, as it were.
“Our juniors were on a trip to New York from Sunday to Tuesday, and they came back Wednesday, so we did not practice as a team for three days, leading up to yesterday’s game with Hope Academy,” Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez said.
“We had very limited practice time. We actually played very well.”
The players sensed the lack of rhythm and the strain to capture the normal fluidity and cohesion of their normal work and training patterns.
“I think it has resulted in us coming out a bit rusty in the first of our recent games,” Levitan said. “I know for me personally my touch has been a bit off at the start of these games.
“That just made us want to try harder defensively. If things are not working with your passing and your touch, you have to put an emphasis on defense. That was really important for this game.”
Levitan and Ari Rosen, another midfielder, did an excellent job of controlling the middle of the attack. The field at Northeastern is treacherous and not easy to play on. It’s misshapen and pock-marked, meaning the natural flow is hard to come by.
Rochelle Zell generated one of the best scoring chances in the first half on an indirect kick just outside the top of the box. Gurin made a quick touch that forward Noah Brady blasted just wide of the near post. Given a second attempt after a Northtown defender was ruled of having moved prematurely, the second shot by Brody skimmed over the top of the bar.
Yabi Silvers, a quick and dynamic forward, gave the team some sharp movement at the top of the attack. For a good portion of the first half, Rochelle Zell influenced the shape and pace of the game.
“We started off marking one of their top players, No. 8 [midfielder Enzo Dagatti], who is very good,” Martinez said. “In the first game he was the playmaker. Today we did a much better job on him, not letting him get free.”
The Pumas made some adjustments in response to the defensive tactics. That kind of jousting and back and forth produced some interesting moments of contrast and counter actions.
“I saw them trying to find a different way to possess the ball and move forward,” Martinez said. “We did have some chances on goal, but it really frustrated their ability to get up. We started needing to push up, so we moved one of our players off the man marking into the regular formation and that led to their first goal.”
Rochelle Zell keeper Jonah Hummel acquitted himself very well, closing spaces well and shutting off angles of attack that Northtown tried to exploit.
The high pressure Rochelle Zell applied created seams. In the 36th minute, Northtown pounced. Senior midfielder Angel Rodriguez broke through the interior and got deep into the box. He finished a quick touch inside the near post for the first goal.
“We kept a strong mentality,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t play individually. We play as a team. We have a lot of good players.
“We use every little piece that everybody has.”
If Rochelle Zell used the last game as line of progress, the Pumas also had a specific memory to draw on, according to Rodriguez.
“The first game we beat them 6-1, but we were actually down 1-0 in the first 10 minutes,” he said. “We talked to each other and said we have to get more serious and get into the game and step it up.
“After 10 minutes, we scored one-on-one, and from there we just started scoring.”
For his accomplishments, Angel Rodriguez earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
Rochelle Zell created some solid pressure in the second half. The Tigers generated three corner kicks and repeated forays into the Pumas’ final third.
Gurin, Brody and Silvers proved especially effective at getting out wide and pushing the attack. Unfortunately, the final touch was also painfully elusive.
Rochelle Zell had the energy and the intensity of purpose. The fluency was not quite there. Dagatti, who been bottled up most of the game, finally got free in the 68th minute for Northtown.
A wiry and lithe player with good command and possessive skills, he is a superb shot-maker. Operating from the right wing about 24 yards out, he drove a left-footed free kick beautifully inside the far post for the two-goal advantage.
“We did a good job on him with everything but the free kick,” Martinez said.
As a testament to their own drive and desire to wipe away the stings of the first game, Rochelle Zell did not concede and check out for the next game.
The Tigers fought back with some punishing forward movements and excellent ball movement. The work paid off in the 78th minute off a corner kick.
Gurin played the first ball, and it was redirected into the box as Levitan made an elegant quick touch inside the near post.
Newly charged, the Tigers had a couple of other decent looks in the closing moments. Northtown did just enough to hold them off.
Playing the league’s best team, on the road, with weary legs, Zell made a stand.
“By coming to their field and knowing we can really compete with them and seeing the game was a lot closer today,” Gurin said, “we know we can carry this momentum into the [conference] tournament and hopefully win our first conference tournament.”
Starting lineups
Rochelle Zell
GK: Jonah Hummel
D: Adam Budin
D: Daniel Taitz
D: Jesse Levitas
MF: Ari Rosen
MF: Isaac Levitan
MF: Harrison Harkavy
MF: Evan Dayan
F: Eli Gurin
F: Noah Brody
F: Yabi Silvers
Northtown
GK: Dennis Trudeau
D: William Gonzales
D: Gael Gonzales
D: Christian Ramirez
MF: Andy Aguilar
MF: Enzo Dagatti
MF: Christian Ramirez
MF: Salem Alem
MF: Angel Rodriguez
F: Neftaly Munoz
F: Josue Morales
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Angel Rodriguez, sr., MF, Northtown
Scoring summary
First half
Northtown—Angel Rodriguez (unassisted), 36th minute
Second half
Northtown—Enzo Dagatti (free kick), 68th minute
Rochelle Zell—Isaac Levitan (Eli Gurin), 78th minute
short against Northtown
Tigers make statement in 2-1 loss to conference champs
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Time pushes constantly forward during the season. At the same time, a month is the equivalent of a year, or an entire movement.
The players at Zell certainly had that feeling. On August 29, the team played host to Northtown, a Chicago charter school, and experienced a kind of meltdown.
Northtown came to Deerfield and left with the commanding 6-1 victory. A Zell season that began with so much promise with a victory over much larger Chicago Catholic League program DePaul left the team reeling.
“We gave up to a certain point towards the end of the second half during the game,” Rochelle Zell midfielder Isaac Levitan said. “The score did not reflect how we played. It was 3-1, and we sort of gave up at the end.”
Eli Gurin, a senior forward, put that game in even blunter language.
“We were really upset at the game and some of us lost faith in the team,” he said.
Fast forward four weeks, and the picture was different, more complex and open-minded.
“Today we played more of a complete game that really showed our character,” Levitan said.
That counted for something, evidence of progress, a sense of a team coming together and standing up for their abilities. It did not push the team over the top, but the effort showed, and the result on its own was impressive.
Levitan’s late goal provided a burst of inspiration that the Tigers look to use nad ramp up in the next stage as Rochelle Zell dropped the 2-1 game against the Pumas Thursday at Northeastern University in Albany Park.
Northtown (10-2-0, 9-1-0) finished undisputed champions of Chicago Prep Conference, its first title since 2010. That was the year current coach Emmanuel Del Toro was a player on the team.
The conference replicates the basketball season, playing home and home series. The danger for the Pumas was thinking the game was going to be like the last game, a breeze, and get caught looking.
“We have been working every year to get better,” Del Toro said. “That was the mentality coming in, either play to their level or play the soccer we have been playing the last two weeks.
“It was halfway there. I think we could play better ball. Hopefully we are going to get there.”
Zell (9-4-2, 6-2-2) showed toughness and resilience, especially in light of the outside factors. The Tigers were playing their second-straight day in the city, following a 3-1 victory over Hope Academy on the West Side.
The team was also out of time, as it were.
“Our juniors were on a trip to New York from Sunday to Tuesday, and they came back Wednesday, so we did not practice as a team for three days, leading up to yesterday’s game with Hope Academy,” Rochelle Zell coach David Martinez said.
“We had very limited practice time. We actually played very well.”
The players sensed the lack of rhythm and the strain to capture the normal fluidity and cohesion of their normal work and training patterns.
“I think it has resulted in us coming out a bit rusty in the first of our recent games,” Levitan said. “I know for me personally my touch has been a bit off at the start of these games.
“That just made us want to try harder defensively. If things are not working with your passing and your touch, you have to put an emphasis on defense. That was really important for this game.”
Levitan and Ari Rosen, another midfielder, did an excellent job of controlling the middle of the attack. The field at Northeastern is treacherous and not easy to play on. It’s misshapen and pock-marked, meaning the natural flow is hard to come by.
Rochelle Zell generated one of the best scoring chances in the first half on an indirect kick just outside the top of the box. Gurin made a quick touch that forward Noah Brady blasted just wide of the near post. Given a second attempt after a Northtown defender was ruled of having moved prematurely, the second shot by Brody skimmed over the top of the bar.
Yabi Silvers, a quick and dynamic forward, gave the team some sharp movement at the top of the attack. For a good portion of the first half, Rochelle Zell influenced the shape and pace of the game.
“We started off marking one of their top players, No. 8 [midfielder Enzo Dagatti], who is very good,” Martinez said. “In the first game he was the playmaker. Today we did a much better job on him, not letting him get free.”
The Pumas made some adjustments in response to the defensive tactics. That kind of jousting and back and forth produced some interesting moments of contrast and counter actions.
“I saw them trying to find a different way to possess the ball and move forward,” Martinez said. “We did have some chances on goal, but it really frustrated their ability to get up. We started needing to push up, so we moved one of our players off the man marking into the regular formation and that led to their first goal.”
Rochelle Zell keeper Jonah Hummel acquitted himself very well, closing spaces well and shutting off angles of attack that Northtown tried to exploit.
The high pressure Rochelle Zell applied created seams. In the 36th minute, Northtown pounced. Senior midfielder Angel Rodriguez broke through the interior and got deep into the box. He finished a quick touch inside the near post for the first goal.
“We kept a strong mentality,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t play individually. We play as a team. We have a lot of good players.
“We use every little piece that everybody has.”
If Rochelle Zell used the last game as line of progress, the Pumas also had a specific memory to draw on, according to Rodriguez.
“The first game we beat them 6-1, but we were actually down 1-0 in the first 10 minutes,” he said. “We talked to each other and said we have to get more serious and get into the game and step it up.
“After 10 minutes, we scored one-on-one, and from there we just started scoring.”
For his accomplishments, Angel Rodriguez earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
Rochelle Zell created some solid pressure in the second half. The Tigers generated three corner kicks and repeated forays into the Pumas’ final third.
Gurin, Brody and Silvers proved especially effective at getting out wide and pushing the attack. Unfortunately, the final touch was also painfully elusive.
Rochelle Zell had the energy and the intensity of purpose. The fluency was not quite there. Dagatti, who been bottled up most of the game, finally got free in the 68th minute for Northtown.
A wiry and lithe player with good command and possessive skills, he is a superb shot-maker. Operating from the right wing about 24 yards out, he drove a left-footed free kick beautifully inside the far post for the two-goal advantage.
“We did a good job on him with everything but the free kick,” Martinez said.
As a testament to their own drive and desire to wipe away the stings of the first game, Rochelle Zell did not concede and check out for the next game.
The Tigers fought back with some punishing forward movements and excellent ball movement. The work paid off in the 78th minute off a corner kick.
Gurin played the first ball, and it was redirected into the box as Levitan made an elegant quick touch inside the near post.
Newly charged, the Tigers had a couple of other decent looks in the closing moments. Northtown did just enough to hold them off.
Playing the league’s best team, on the road, with weary legs, Zell made a stand.
“By coming to their field and knowing we can really compete with them and seeing the game was a lot closer today,” Gurin said, “we know we can carry this momentum into the [conference] tournament and hopefully win our first conference tournament.”
Starting lineups
Rochelle Zell
GK: Jonah Hummel
D: Adam Budin
D: Daniel Taitz
D: Jesse Levitas
MF: Ari Rosen
MF: Isaac Levitan
MF: Harrison Harkavy
MF: Evan Dayan
F: Eli Gurin
F: Noah Brody
F: Yabi Silvers
Northtown
GK: Dennis Trudeau
D: William Gonzales
D: Gael Gonzales
D: Christian Ramirez
MF: Andy Aguilar
MF: Enzo Dagatti
MF: Christian Ramirez
MF: Salem Alem
MF: Angel Rodriguez
F: Neftaly Munoz
F: Josue Morales
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Angel Rodriguez, sr., MF, Northtown
Scoring summary
First half
Northtown—Angel Rodriguez (unassisted), 36th minute
Second half
Northtown—Enzo Dagatti (free kick), 68th minute
Rochelle Zell—Isaac Levitan (Eli Gurin), 78th minute