Latin rally vs. St. Ignatius nets Chicago Cup
Pontikes caps comeback with 2nd half game-winner for 2-1 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Eleanor Pontikes has played on every significant stage. As a freshman she had nine goals and five assists on Latin’s Class A state runner-up team.
The IHSA's success formula kicked the Romans up a class, but they showed they were capable of playing with most programs. In her sophomore year, Pontikes was a crucial part of a Class AA supersectional qualifier.
The best teams tend to magnify the quality and class of Latin. St. Ignatius certainly did. The Wolfpack threatened to run Latin off the field early in the game. But the Romans kept their cool and poise. With the game in the balance, Pontikes made her mark en route to tournament MVP honors.
In the championship of the Chicago Cup, Pontikes created sufficient space for a perfectly timed run and blasted a howitzer from 19 yards in the 58th minute that catapulted the Romans, ranked 24th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, to a comeback 2-1 victory over the Wolfpack at CIBC Fire Pitch on Saturday night.
A senior midfielder, Pontikes gave the Romans the title of the eight-team tournament. She earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors for a solid night’s work.
Sophomore defender Maya Edwards was the catalyst on the game-winning shot. Controlling the ball on the left wing, she made a quick inside move to liberate herself from a Wolfpack defender and made the terrific cross to the streaking Pontikes on the right edge.
“I had these voices in my head, and I just thought hit the ball low and lean over it,” said Pontikes, who recorded her fifth goal of the year. “We have had a lot of experience playing in these kind of games. Everything is just so fun playing for this team. We are in it for the long haul. We all have the same goal in mind. We want to go to state.
“It feels like it is something special.”
The victory was especially impressive given how the Romans (14-1-0) adjusted their lineup on the go. Senior midfielder Charlotte Cronister was out. Senior forward Jade Edwards, Latin’s leading scorer, made the switch to goalkeeper to counter the absence of normal starter Maggie Marrinson.
“I think Ignatius brought out the best in us,” Latin coach Tom Bower said. “The start was not exactly a shock, but the game was a little fast for us. I was hoping that we could weather that initial time, 10 or 20 minutes, because I knew the game would settle down. That is exactly what happened. There was a little more time and space.
“We didn’t make any big mistakes at the beginning.”
The Chicago Cup is the brainchild of fourth-year St. Ignatius coach Sean Palacios. He hopes to use the event to bring together the top public and private schools in the city.
“This is the second year,” Palacios said. “We won it the first year when it was four teams. We expanded it this year to eight teams. It’s a cool field, a great event for all the schools involved. Next year we are going to go to 12 teams, with Lane and Parker and hopefully a few other schools getting in.”
Latin and St. Ignatius are two of the best programs in Class AA. Both earned two-seeds in their respective sectionals — Latin at Fenwick; St. Ignatius at Hinsdale South.
Palacios has transformed the culture at St. Ignatius. The Wolfpack program is clearly one on the rise, a formidable team that plays with precision, skill and intensity.
“When I took over the program, I knew it was going to be a young program to start,” Palacios said. “Now we are at a point where most of our leaders are juniors or seniors. They have played two or three years under me, and they understand what it takes to become a successful varsity soccer team.
“We also have 23 kids who have put in an insane amount of work in the offseason.”
Freshman midfielder and Chicago Cup all-tournament team member Ella Richards has proven herself a remarkable young talent. It’s to a point that it would hardly be out of the question for opposing coaches to ask to see her birth certificate. She hardly looks the part, but she combines a physical and bracing style with an electric ability to get shots off. She established a dominant opening movement by the Wolfpack that put the Romans under tremendous duress.
Richards hit the bar in the fifth minute and forced Jade Edwards, an all-tournament selection, to make a spectacular stop in the ninth minute. The third action was the breakthrough. In the 15th minute, junior midfielder Shay Reifert slotted a ball to Richards. She made a quick sidestepping move and blasted home a left-footed ball from the right edge for the 1-0 St. Ignatius lead.
It was her 23rd goal.
“I like to move the ball when I have to, and I like the chance to take people on one-on-one and be creative in the final third,” Richards said. “I also like to assist a lot. I’m a natural passer.
“We are starting to understand we have to be together. The better we play together the better the end result will be. Sean always tells us to not do it for us but to do it for the seniors. That is something we all try to do.”
The key to the match was Latin fending off the early knockout blow. St. Ignatius (13-3-2) clearly had the better run of play through the first half. Latin waited for its moment to counter and create some equal footing. After a couple of forays, Latin engineered a strong push.
In the 28th minute, freshman midfielder Maila Brandt got just enough of her foot on a ball to create a ricochet that senior midfielder Lily Keiderling made a superb diving lunge at from about 12 yards for the equalizer.
“I turned and slid it in underneath the goalie,” said Keiderling, an all-tournament selection, of her 10th goal of the year. Most important, Latin took away the Wolfpack’s momentum.
“I think coming into this we knew they were going to be a really good competition and probably one of the best games we have yet to play,” Keiderling said. “We needed to adjust to their speed. As soon as we did, our confidence got a boost. It brought everyone’s energy up, and we started playing like we really wanted it.”
Latin made just one more play. St. Ignatius had several tantalizing possibilities. An illegal touch inside the box gave the Wolfpack a penalty kick in the 61st minute. The shot unluckily hit off the post. Jade Edwards also made two great stops on Richards, the final denial coming in the 79th minute.
“That is the best thing about our team is that we always keep fighting and working for each other,” Richards said.
Jade Edwards is a Division I basketball recruit who has committed to play at American University. As a freshman she was a backup goalie to Catie Cronister on the state second-place team. Her athletic stops and booming punts played a critical role in the game.
“She stepped in there, and she did a great job,” Palacios said. “Their big time players, 10 [Keiderling], 7 [Pontikes], and the keeper did what upperclassmen do, got the team to rally around them and take over that culture.
“They are a great team. They play very well together. They work extremely hard, and the problems they created for us developed from the pace and the pressure that they brought once they got the ball up the field.
“I thought, to be honest, that was one of the better games we played from start to finish. The vulnerability, the mistakes, a team like that will capitalize, because they work so hard with their front four attacking.”
Latin prevailed, Bower said, because they matched the intensity of the St. Ignatius squad, propelled in part by all-tourney selection Hailey Laurenson.
“They are a really good team, and they play really well,” Bower said. “When you play good teams, your level of play rises. They were a worthy opponent.”
The Chicago Cup championship followed the Romans’ Air Force Bracket win over Marist in the PepsiCo Showdown last Sunday.
“These kids are really a team-first group,” Bower said. “That is not always the way it is when you coach a team. Sometimes there are individual ambitions, little jealousies, that pop up. This team has genuine enjoyment out of the group accomplishments.”
In the third place game played simultaneously at the CIBC Fire pitch, junior midfielder Grace Hynes scored the game-winner in Mother McAuley's 1-0 win over Young.
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK: Emma Thompson
D: Rachel Ryan
D: Sam Ritter
D: Abby Gupta
D: Allie Laurenson
M: Shay Reifert
M: Grace Campbell
M: Maura Murphy
M: Ella Richards
M: Adrian Williams
F: Hailey Laurenson
Latin
GK: Jade Edwards
D: Kay Burg
D: Halle Grotewold
D: Emma Weiss
D: Keely Lovette
D: Stefanie Pollock
M: Maya Edwards
M: Maila Brandt
M: Lily Keiderling
M: Lily Weaver
F: Eleanor Pontikes
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Eleanor Pontikes, sr., F, Latin
Scoring summary
First half
St. Ignatius—Ella Richards (Shay Reifert), 15th minute
Latin—Lily Keiderling (Maila Brandt), 28th minute
Second half
Latin—Eleanor Pontikes (Maya Edwards), 57th minute
Pontikes caps comeback with 2nd half game-winner for 2-1 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Eleanor Pontikes has played on every significant stage. As a freshman she had nine goals and five assists on Latin’s Class A state runner-up team.
The IHSA's success formula kicked the Romans up a class, but they showed they were capable of playing with most programs. In her sophomore year, Pontikes was a crucial part of a Class AA supersectional qualifier.
The best teams tend to magnify the quality and class of Latin. St. Ignatius certainly did. The Wolfpack threatened to run Latin off the field early in the game. But the Romans kept their cool and poise. With the game in the balance, Pontikes made her mark en route to tournament MVP honors.
In the championship of the Chicago Cup, Pontikes created sufficient space for a perfectly timed run and blasted a howitzer from 19 yards in the 58th minute that catapulted the Romans, ranked 24th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, to a comeback 2-1 victory over the Wolfpack at CIBC Fire Pitch on Saturday night.
A senior midfielder, Pontikes gave the Romans the title of the eight-team tournament. She earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors for a solid night’s work.
Sophomore defender Maya Edwards was the catalyst on the game-winning shot. Controlling the ball on the left wing, she made a quick inside move to liberate herself from a Wolfpack defender and made the terrific cross to the streaking Pontikes on the right edge.
“I had these voices in my head, and I just thought hit the ball low and lean over it,” said Pontikes, who recorded her fifth goal of the year. “We have had a lot of experience playing in these kind of games. Everything is just so fun playing for this team. We are in it for the long haul. We all have the same goal in mind. We want to go to state.
“It feels like it is something special.”
The victory was especially impressive given how the Romans (14-1-0) adjusted their lineup on the go. Senior midfielder Charlotte Cronister was out. Senior forward Jade Edwards, Latin’s leading scorer, made the switch to goalkeeper to counter the absence of normal starter Maggie Marrinson.
“I think Ignatius brought out the best in us,” Latin coach Tom Bower said. “The start was not exactly a shock, but the game was a little fast for us. I was hoping that we could weather that initial time, 10 or 20 minutes, because I knew the game would settle down. That is exactly what happened. There was a little more time and space.
“We didn’t make any big mistakes at the beginning.”
The Chicago Cup is the brainchild of fourth-year St. Ignatius coach Sean Palacios. He hopes to use the event to bring together the top public and private schools in the city.
“This is the second year,” Palacios said. “We won it the first year when it was four teams. We expanded it this year to eight teams. It’s a cool field, a great event for all the schools involved. Next year we are going to go to 12 teams, with Lane and Parker and hopefully a few other schools getting in.”
Latin and St. Ignatius are two of the best programs in Class AA. Both earned two-seeds in their respective sectionals — Latin at Fenwick; St. Ignatius at Hinsdale South.
Palacios has transformed the culture at St. Ignatius. The Wolfpack program is clearly one on the rise, a formidable team that plays with precision, skill and intensity.
“When I took over the program, I knew it was going to be a young program to start,” Palacios said. “Now we are at a point where most of our leaders are juniors or seniors. They have played two or three years under me, and they understand what it takes to become a successful varsity soccer team.
“We also have 23 kids who have put in an insane amount of work in the offseason.”
Freshman midfielder and Chicago Cup all-tournament team member Ella Richards has proven herself a remarkable young talent. It’s to a point that it would hardly be out of the question for opposing coaches to ask to see her birth certificate. She hardly looks the part, but she combines a physical and bracing style with an electric ability to get shots off. She established a dominant opening movement by the Wolfpack that put the Romans under tremendous duress.
Richards hit the bar in the fifth minute and forced Jade Edwards, an all-tournament selection, to make a spectacular stop in the ninth minute. The third action was the breakthrough. In the 15th minute, junior midfielder Shay Reifert slotted a ball to Richards. She made a quick sidestepping move and blasted home a left-footed ball from the right edge for the 1-0 St. Ignatius lead.
It was her 23rd goal.
“I like to move the ball when I have to, and I like the chance to take people on one-on-one and be creative in the final third,” Richards said. “I also like to assist a lot. I’m a natural passer.
“We are starting to understand we have to be together. The better we play together the better the end result will be. Sean always tells us to not do it for us but to do it for the seniors. That is something we all try to do.”
The key to the match was Latin fending off the early knockout blow. St. Ignatius (13-3-2) clearly had the better run of play through the first half. Latin waited for its moment to counter and create some equal footing. After a couple of forays, Latin engineered a strong push.
In the 28th minute, freshman midfielder Maila Brandt got just enough of her foot on a ball to create a ricochet that senior midfielder Lily Keiderling made a superb diving lunge at from about 12 yards for the equalizer.
“I turned and slid it in underneath the goalie,” said Keiderling, an all-tournament selection, of her 10th goal of the year. Most important, Latin took away the Wolfpack’s momentum.
“I think coming into this we knew they were going to be a really good competition and probably one of the best games we have yet to play,” Keiderling said. “We needed to adjust to their speed. As soon as we did, our confidence got a boost. It brought everyone’s energy up, and we started playing like we really wanted it.”
Latin made just one more play. St. Ignatius had several tantalizing possibilities. An illegal touch inside the box gave the Wolfpack a penalty kick in the 61st minute. The shot unluckily hit off the post. Jade Edwards also made two great stops on Richards, the final denial coming in the 79th minute.
“That is the best thing about our team is that we always keep fighting and working for each other,” Richards said.
Jade Edwards is a Division I basketball recruit who has committed to play at American University. As a freshman she was a backup goalie to Catie Cronister on the state second-place team. Her athletic stops and booming punts played a critical role in the game.
“She stepped in there, and she did a great job,” Palacios said. “Their big time players, 10 [Keiderling], 7 [Pontikes], and the keeper did what upperclassmen do, got the team to rally around them and take over that culture.
“They are a great team. They play very well together. They work extremely hard, and the problems they created for us developed from the pace and the pressure that they brought once they got the ball up the field.
“I thought, to be honest, that was one of the better games we played from start to finish. The vulnerability, the mistakes, a team like that will capitalize, because they work so hard with their front four attacking.”
Latin prevailed, Bower said, because they matched the intensity of the St. Ignatius squad, propelled in part by all-tourney selection Hailey Laurenson.
“They are a really good team, and they play really well,” Bower said. “When you play good teams, your level of play rises. They were a worthy opponent.”
The Chicago Cup championship followed the Romans’ Air Force Bracket win over Marist in the PepsiCo Showdown last Sunday.
“These kids are really a team-first group,” Bower said. “That is not always the way it is when you coach a team. Sometimes there are individual ambitions, little jealousies, that pop up. This team has genuine enjoyment out of the group accomplishments.”
In the third place game played simultaneously at the CIBC Fire pitch, junior midfielder Grace Hynes scored the game-winner in Mother McAuley's 1-0 win over Young.
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK: Emma Thompson
D: Rachel Ryan
D: Sam Ritter
D: Abby Gupta
D: Allie Laurenson
M: Shay Reifert
M: Grace Campbell
M: Maura Murphy
M: Ella Richards
M: Adrian Williams
F: Hailey Laurenson
Latin
GK: Jade Edwards
D: Kay Burg
D: Halle Grotewold
D: Emma Weiss
D: Keely Lovette
D: Stefanie Pollock
M: Maya Edwards
M: Maila Brandt
M: Lily Keiderling
M: Lily Weaver
F: Eleanor Pontikes
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Eleanor Pontikes, sr., F, Latin
Scoring summary
First half
St. Ignatius—Ella Richards (Shay Reifert), 15th minute
Latin—Lily Keiderling (Maila Brandt), 28th minute
Second half
Latin—Eleanor Pontikes (Maya Edwards), 57th minute