Moran settles down,
then guides Young past Senn
Senior scores twice in Dolphins’ 1st win of season
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Colin Moran already visualized how he felt after scoring.
Three times in the opening moments against Senn, the Young forward found himself in tailor-made, ready-to-score mode that required the proper, almost understated, touch at the right time.
The first shot bounded hard off the bar, the second shot glanced off the far post and the third one flew over the net.
“I had to settle into the game a little bit,” Moran said. “The first couple of shots I scuffed them a little bit, or I kicked it right at the goalie.
“I had to calm down, and find the spot where I had to put the ball.”
His anxiousness was understandable given the team dynamics. The Dolphins were two weeks into the new season, and still in search of their first win.
“We needed a win today,” Moran said. “We started out with a certain energy. We came out almost too hyped.”
Moran found the necessary release point midway through the first half that opened up his game and allowed the Dolphins to breathe easier with a 3-0 victory in Chicago Public League Premier Division North play on the Near West Side on Wednesday night.
He scored his second and third goals of the season for the Dolphins (1-4-0, 1-1-0).
Despite the slow start, Young enjoyed positive moments throughout the opening stretch of the year, a competitive game against no. 6 Loyola and an early lead against city power Solorio.
“Even when we were 0-4-0, we had a sense of optimism,” Moran said. “We put up a fight against Loyola and Solorio, two of the best teams in the state, and we found out we could compete with them.”
Senn is another city program finding its way after the graduation of star midfielder Alessandro Diaz, who is now playing at North Park.
“We lost not only his leadership, but he was our distributor in the center, and he embodied how we liked to play,” Senn coach Steven Brewer said.
“We missed him a lot, and we are still searching for that piece.”
The Public League has been dealt particularly brutal cards the last two years. In the fall of 2019, a labor dispute led to a nearly three-week strike that caused all city programs to forfeit the state tournament.
The Bulldogs were the top-seed of their Class A sectional that year.
The pandemic altered last season. Even in the shortened spring campaign, the Bulldogs flourished and finished second in the Premier North.
“Losing that really good core of seniors was a big blow for us,” Brewer said.
“This team has a lot of inexperience. We are starting three sophomores. I think we are going to get to where we need to be during this season, but it’s going to be a process.”
The hunger for positive actions was palpable on both sides. Senn (1-5-0, 0-2-0) looked to get its midfield involved. Realizing the superior athleticism of Young, the Bulldogs were willing to concede possession to trigger its counterattack.
Young monopolized possession throughout the first half. Midfielder Nikhil Bapat is the catalyst for the Dolphins, a whirling dervish who plays with a steady calm and unforced style.
His creativity with the ball allowed the Dolphins’ attacking pieces to push forward. In the 22nd minute, Bapat played a ball to the left wing that midfielder Gabe Lopez advanced with a terrific through-ball down the left flank.
Moran controlled the ball, and patiently awaited to survey the actions of Bulldogs’ keeper Daniel Tinoco.
He came off his line and leaned to his right, providing the space for Moran to finish in the lower right corner.
Tinoco had five saves in the first half. The Dolphins generated fairly consistent pressure with a succession of free kicks and corner kicks.
Nestled between the Edgewater and Andersonville communities on the northwest side, Senn is truly an international school.
The Bulldogs have players from Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico and Ecuador. Midfielder Adekunle Adebayo showed some encouraging play in the middle.
Senn’s most productive player, midfielder Gomez Torres Jhon Sebastian, suffered a lower leg injury and was limited during the second half.
“We were competing at the start,” Brewer said. “We got lucky a few times. Getting things going attacking-wise is what we need to figure out.
“We need to work on possessing the ball more and countering athletic soccer. Every game we are learning along the way. We are improving.”
Young dictated the wider tempo and rhythm, to the point Senn was largely in a reactive style conditional on responding to what the Dolphins were doing.
Forward James Albaraccin was another active and fluid player who created a number of open-field runs the Dolphins played through.
“We let the game come to us after that first goal,” Young defender Garen Petrulis said. “At the start we were hyped up.
“We just kept pressing, and that helped open us up because they were on their back foot for most of the first half.”
Moran’s goal established a 1-0 halftime lead
Petrulis initiated both of the Dolphins’ goals in the second half that put the game away.
After playing at center back through the first four games, he shifted to right back. That allowed his speed and creativity with the ball to jump start the attack.
In the 58th minute, he concluded a deep run down the right flank with a cross that forward Brandon Baarsma buried for the second score.
He topped off the game with another run down the right edge that ended with another sharp cross to a streaking Moran for the one-touch put away in the 73rd minute.
“I like making those runs down the lanes and crossing it in,” Petrulis said.
Moran earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match prize.
“I think I found my game at the end,” he said.
Young coach Ross LaBauex had a chance to relax and enjoy the moment.
“We kept it simple,” he said. “When we do that and we listen, we do all right. When we decide to make it up as we’d go, that’s when problems occur.”
Bapat brought that calming presence in the middle. It radiated and took hold of the other players.
Young did not wholly eliminate its troublesome habits. LaBauex thought their play in the second half was sloppy.
The win unleashed a lot of pent-up emotion.
“We have to play on our terms,” LaBauex said. “When we do things that aren’t characteristic of ourselves, that is when we struggle.
“We just needed that calm presence out there, and help us recognize the moment and get back to the things we did well in the first half.”
Starting lineup
Senn
GK: Daniel Tinoco
D: Biruk Assefa
D: Dennis Finnegan
D: Jesus Romero
D: Callum Dickson
MF: John Watson
MF: Adekunle Adebayo
MF: Kibito Ariyoshi
MF: Gomez Torres Jhon Sebastian
F: Niyidukunda Placide
F: Endrick Sotelo
Young
GK: Jackson Sprenger
D: Sascha Frias-Kaehler
D: Diego Delgado
D: Nate Chmielowicz
D: Garen Petrulis
MF: Reese Kruschke
MF: Nikhil Bapat
MF: Gabe Lopez
F: Colin Moran
F: James Albaraccin
F: Brandon Baarsma
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Colin Moran, sr., F, Young
Scoring summary
First half
Young—Colin Moran (Gabe Lopez), seventh minute
Second half
Young—Brandon Baarsma (Garen Petrulis), 58th minute
Young—Moran (Petrulis), 73rd minute
then guides Young past Senn
Senior scores twice in Dolphins’ 1st win of season
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Colin Moran already visualized how he felt after scoring.
Three times in the opening moments against Senn, the Young forward found himself in tailor-made, ready-to-score mode that required the proper, almost understated, touch at the right time.
The first shot bounded hard off the bar, the second shot glanced off the far post and the third one flew over the net.
“I had to settle into the game a little bit,” Moran said. “The first couple of shots I scuffed them a little bit, or I kicked it right at the goalie.
“I had to calm down, and find the spot where I had to put the ball.”
His anxiousness was understandable given the team dynamics. The Dolphins were two weeks into the new season, and still in search of their first win.
“We needed a win today,” Moran said. “We started out with a certain energy. We came out almost too hyped.”
Moran found the necessary release point midway through the first half that opened up his game and allowed the Dolphins to breathe easier with a 3-0 victory in Chicago Public League Premier Division North play on the Near West Side on Wednesday night.
He scored his second and third goals of the season for the Dolphins (1-4-0, 1-1-0).
Despite the slow start, Young enjoyed positive moments throughout the opening stretch of the year, a competitive game against no. 6 Loyola and an early lead against city power Solorio.
“Even when we were 0-4-0, we had a sense of optimism,” Moran said. “We put up a fight against Loyola and Solorio, two of the best teams in the state, and we found out we could compete with them.”
Senn is another city program finding its way after the graduation of star midfielder Alessandro Diaz, who is now playing at North Park.
“We lost not only his leadership, but he was our distributor in the center, and he embodied how we liked to play,” Senn coach Steven Brewer said.
“We missed him a lot, and we are still searching for that piece.”
The Public League has been dealt particularly brutal cards the last two years. In the fall of 2019, a labor dispute led to a nearly three-week strike that caused all city programs to forfeit the state tournament.
The Bulldogs were the top-seed of their Class A sectional that year.
The pandemic altered last season. Even in the shortened spring campaign, the Bulldogs flourished and finished second in the Premier North.
“Losing that really good core of seniors was a big blow for us,” Brewer said.
“This team has a lot of inexperience. We are starting three sophomores. I think we are going to get to where we need to be during this season, but it’s going to be a process.”
The hunger for positive actions was palpable on both sides. Senn (1-5-0, 0-2-0) looked to get its midfield involved. Realizing the superior athleticism of Young, the Bulldogs were willing to concede possession to trigger its counterattack.
Young monopolized possession throughout the first half. Midfielder Nikhil Bapat is the catalyst for the Dolphins, a whirling dervish who plays with a steady calm and unforced style.
His creativity with the ball allowed the Dolphins’ attacking pieces to push forward. In the 22nd minute, Bapat played a ball to the left wing that midfielder Gabe Lopez advanced with a terrific through-ball down the left flank.
Moran controlled the ball, and patiently awaited to survey the actions of Bulldogs’ keeper Daniel Tinoco.
He came off his line and leaned to his right, providing the space for Moran to finish in the lower right corner.
Tinoco had five saves in the first half. The Dolphins generated fairly consistent pressure with a succession of free kicks and corner kicks.
Nestled between the Edgewater and Andersonville communities on the northwest side, Senn is truly an international school.
The Bulldogs have players from Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico and Ecuador. Midfielder Adekunle Adebayo showed some encouraging play in the middle.
Senn’s most productive player, midfielder Gomez Torres Jhon Sebastian, suffered a lower leg injury and was limited during the second half.
“We were competing at the start,” Brewer said. “We got lucky a few times. Getting things going attacking-wise is what we need to figure out.
“We need to work on possessing the ball more and countering athletic soccer. Every game we are learning along the way. We are improving.”
Young dictated the wider tempo and rhythm, to the point Senn was largely in a reactive style conditional on responding to what the Dolphins were doing.
Forward James Albaraccin was another active and fluid player who created a number of open-field runs the Dolphins played through.
“We let the game come to us after that first goal,” Young defender Garen Petrulis said. “At the start we were hyped up.
“We just kept pressing, and that helped open us up because they were on their back foot for most of the first half.”
Moran’s goal established a 1-0 halftime lead
Petrulis initiated both of the Dolphins’ goals in the second half that put the game away.
After playing at center back through the first four games, he shifted to right back. That allowed his speed and creativity with the ball to jump start the attack.
In the 58th minute, he concluded a deep run down the right flank with a cross that forward Brandon Baarsma buried for the second score.
He topped off the game with another run down the right edge that ended with another sharp cross to a streaking Moran for the one-touch put away in the 73rd minute.
“I like making those runs down the lanes and crossing it in,” Petrulis said.
Moran earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match prize.
“I think I found my game at the end,” he said.
Young coach Ross LaBauex had a chance to relax and enjoy the moment.
“We kept it simple,” he said. “When we do that and we listen, we do all right. When we decide to make it up as we’d go, that’s when problems occur.”
Bapat brought that calming presence in the middle. It radiated and took hold of the other players.
Young did not wholly eliminate its troublesome habits. LaBauex thought their play in the second half was sloppy.
The win unleashed a lot of pent-up emotion.
“We have to play on our terms,” LaBauex said. “When we do things that aren’t characteristic of ourselves, that is when we struggle.
“We just needed that calm presence out there, and help us recognize the moment and get back to the things we did well in the first half.”
Starting lineup
Senn
GK: Daniel Tinoco
D: Biruk Assefa
D: Dennis Finnegan
D: Jesus Romero
D: Callum Dickson
MF: John Watson
MF: Adekunle Adebayo
MF: Kibito Ariyoshi
MF: Gomez Torres Jhon Sebastian
F: Niyidukunda Placide
F: Endrick Sotelo
Young
GK: Jackson Sprenger
D: Sascha Frias-Kaehler
D: Diego Delgado
D: Nate Chmielowicz
D: Garen Petrulis
MF: Reese Kruschke
MF: Nikhil Bapat
MF: Gabe Lopez
F: Colin Moran
F: James Albaraccin
F: Brandon Baarsma
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Colin Moran, sr., F, Young
Scoring summary
First half
Young—Colin Moran (Gabe Lopez), seventh minute
Second half
Young—Brandon Baarsma (Garen Petrulis), 58th minute
Young—Moran (Petrulis), 73rd minute