Lane’s depth too much for Solorio
No. 11 Indians power past Sun Warriors in city semifinal
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The natural impulse of a freshman like Scout Murray joining city juggernaut Lane is to wait her turn and learn incrementally the system and be ready for her chance.
That is fundamentally true, but also a bit misleading, or only part of the story. Being selected to play varsity as a first-year player means not just going along for the ride.
She has to rise up to the challenge.
“It was scary at first, but once I got into it, then it's really exciting. And now I am just honored to be able to play with this team,” Murray said. “I know everyone is so good, so I am just trying to play up to their level.
“I want to improve every game.”
Murray personifies the depth and skill level of the Indians. Starters and reserves are malleable. Coach Michelle Vale has options, and she shrewdly deploys them.
Murray scored a goal and egistered an assist as the Indians, ranked 11th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, continued their chase for the unprecedented in beating Solorio 7-0 in the first semifinal of the Chicago Public League city championship Tuesday at Lane.
The Indians (17-3-1) won their ninth-straight game and advanced to the title match against no. 25 Young on Thursday at UIC. It marks the sixth time in the last seven years these two programs have played in the city title game.
Lane has already achieved what no other city Public League program -- boys or girls -- had previously accomplished by winning four-consecutive titles. The Indians edged Young 1-0 at Toyota Park last year.
On Tuesday, five different players scored as the Indians broke the game open in the second half. The score itself is deceptive. Solorio (15-6-0) is an exciting program on the rise, joining its celebrated boys’ team. Against tall odds, they were trying to achieve something remarkable in itself, winning the boys and girls’ city championship in the same athletic year. The Solorio boys defeated Washington last fall.
Greta Kringle is one of the bright young coaches in the city, and she brought a technical and sharp attacking style to the program. In her third year leading the Sun Warriors, Kringle delivered a breakthrough campaign. Solorio beat Jones 3-2 in Premier Divison play and shocked Payton 2-1 in group play to earn a place in the semifinals.
It marked quite a contrast from March 18. Making their Premier debut at Lane that day, the Sun Warriors lost 8-0. Kringle feared it would be a harbinger of things to come. Just the opposite.
“We were in the bottom of the 1st Division for a couple of years, and then slowly we moved our way up,” she said. “We did much better in the Premier than we thought we were going to. After playing Lane in our first conference game, we wondered if this is what was going to happen to us.”
Solorio has two breakout young stars of its own in sophomore forwards Esmeralda Diaz and Giovanna Martinez. The two combined for more than 50 goals and set the tone for a program on the rise.
Fluid and quick, Martinez scored a team-high 27 goals. Crafty and quick with the ball, Diaz was just behind her with 24 goals.
Diaz showed Lane the Sun Warriors were not the same team they played two months ago.
Lane jumped out to a 1-0 on effectively an own goal credited to Grace Dunaway. She broke down the left edge and crossed the ball that deflected off a Solorio player for the goal.
That unfortunate start would have probably been a deal-ender for the Sun Warriors at the start of the year. Now the team shook it off and played some impressive soccer throughout the first half. In the 14th minute, Diaz blasted a ball from the right wing that required a superb diving stop by Brianna Love.
At the start of the second half, Love also made a great lunging stop off a hard ball from Martinez.
“We had a few good shots, and then Lane came back, and we got kind of tired,” Diaz said. “We have a lot of improvement since the beginning of the year. Today the game just got away.”
The 1-0 margin held until Lane junior midfielder Isabel Sobolewski, another talented situational player off the bench, got free and drilled home a ball from the top of the box in the 37th minute.
Solorio caught the Indians’ attention and forced them to reckon with a team hungry to prove something. Put another way, Lane had to step up.
“I think the way they played showed that no team in the city is going to give us anything,” defender Samantha Sorich said. “We talked at halftime about how we had to pick up the intensity. It took us a couple of minutes; but once it clicked it clicked pretty fast, and we were back to our normal play.
“The past couple of games have not been very competitive for us, and we knew today we had to step it up, and I thought we did a good job doing that.”
Sorich scored two goals, both off of set pieces. She finished her own rebound that originated off a Dunaway corner, and she also drilled a beautiful and unreachable free kick from about 24 yards.
Lane’s depth is simply overpowering. During its nine-game winning streak, Lane has a 56-1 goal differential.
Solorio faded against the home team's attack.
“We have a really strong team with lots of fire and lots of commitment, and we have shown really good ball movement, but we were not able to do that against Lane’s speed and how quickly they were on us,” Kringle said. “We weren’t able to connect the ball the way we usually do.
“We were not able to switch the field fast enough and get those through-balls. They were pretty much intercepting those balls through the back of the defense.”
Lane's Murray was in the enviable position of reading the early flow of the game and seeing how she might provide the spark. That is what she did. From the moment she was inserted into the game Murray provided a jolt, a change of pace. She made a good foray upon her entrance.
“I don’t usually start, but I can see how we are playing and try to bring something different,” she said. “If we are playing slow or not really talking or connecting, I can come and try to change that. In the first half, we were not really playing our game, and our captains did a great job of helping us realize we had to step up.”
Murray authored the beginning of the rout. In the 45th minute, star junior Camaron Niforos controlled a ball in the middle and slotted it to her left to a streaking Murray in space. Murray drove the ball hard and finished with authority.
Eily Quinn, an electric young sophomore who is tied with the team-lead of 12 goals, again showed off her scoring prowess by breaking through the gap and taking a through-ball from sophomore Lisa Rios. Murray continued the second half onslaught with another hard drive down the left edge and a cross that Dunaway put the finishing touch on.
Sorich and Murray shared the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
The stage is set now set for the final.
“It is going to be a great game with Young,” Sorich said. “We are really looking forward to the city final. We are always trying to push ourselves.”
Starting lineups
Solorio
GK: Lizbeth Barajas
D: Damaris Castaneda
D: Vanessa Guillen
D: Yulexi Diaz
D: Gabriella Guillen
MF: Sofia Aguilera
MF: Laura Saucedo
MF: Mitzi Navarro
MF: Azury Sanchez
F: Esmeralda Diaz
F: Giovanna Martinez
Lane
GK: Brianna Love
D: Carole Makuch
D: Samantha Sorich
D: Alana Coffman
D: Zehra Halilic
MF: Johanna Bozic
MF: Camaron Niforos
MF: Melissa Garcia
MF: Sydney Varga
F: Grace Dunaway
F: Kayla Dutton
Chicagoland Soccer co-MVPs of the Match: Samantha Sorich, sr., D, Lane
Scout Murray, fr., MF, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Grace Dunaway (unassisted), third minute
Lane—Isabel Sobolewski (Dunaway), 37th minute
Second half
Lane—Scout Murray (Camaron Niforos), 45th minute
Lane—Eily Quinn (Lisa Rios), 66th minute
Lane—Samantha Sorich (unassisted), 68th minute
Lane—Dunaway (Murray), 70th minute
Lane—Sorich (free kick), 76th minute
No. 11 Indians power past Sun Warriors in city semifinal
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The natural impulse of a freshman like Scout Murray joining city juggernaut Lane is to wait her turn and learn incrementally the system and be ready for her chance.
That is fundamentally true, but also a bit misleading, or only part of the story. Being selected to play varsity as a first-year player means not just going along for the ride.
She has to rise up to the challenge.
“It was scary at first, but once I got into it, then it's really exciting. And now I am just honored to be able to play with this team,” Murray said. “I know everyone is so good, so I am just trying to play up to their level.
“I want to improve every game.”
Murray personifies the depth and skill level of the Indians. Starters and reserves are malleable. Coach Michelle Vale has options, and she shrewdly deploys them.
Murray scored a goal and egistered an assist as the Indians, ranked 11th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, continued their chase for the unprecedented in beating Solorio 7-0 in the first semifinal of the Chicago Public League city championship Tuesday at Lane.
The Indians (17-3-1) won their ninth-straight game and advanced to the title match against no. 25 Young on Thursday at UIC. It marks the sixth time in the last seven years these two programs have played in the city title game.
Lane has already achieved what no other city Public League program -- boys or girls -- had previously accomplished by winning four-consecutive titles. The Indians edged Young 1-0 at Toyota Park last year.
On Tuesday, five different players scored as the Indians broke the game open in the second half. The score itself is deceptive. Solorio (15-6-0) is an exciting program on the rise, joining its celebrated boys’ team. Against tall odds, they were trying to achieve something remarkable in itself, winning the boys and girls’ city championship in the same athletic year. The Solorio boys defeated Washington last fall.
Greta Kringle is one of the bright young coaches in the city, and she brought a technical and sharp attacking style to the program. In her third year leading the Sun Warriors, Kringle delivered a breakthrough campaign. Solorio beat Jones 3-2 in Premier Divison play and shocked Payton 2-1 in group play to earn a place in the semifinals.
It marked quite a contrast from March 18. Making their Premier debut at Lane that day, the Sun Warriors lost 8-0. Kringle feared it would be a harbinger of things to come. Just the opposite.
“We were in the bottom of the 1st Division for a couple of years, and then slowly we moved our way up,” she said. “We did much better in the Premier than we thought we were going to. After playing Lane in our first conference game, we wondered if this is what was going to happen to us.”
Solorio has two breakout young stars of its own in sophomore forwards Esmeralda Diaz and Giovanna Martinez. The two combined for more than 50 goals and set the tone for a program on the rise.
Fluid and quick, Martinez scored a team-high 27 goals. Crafty and quick with the ball, Diaz was just behind her with 24 goals.
Diaz showed Lane the Sun Warriors were not the same team they played two months ago.
Lane jumped out to a 1-0 on effectively an own goal credited to Grace Dunaway. She broke down the left edge and crossed the ball that deflected off a Solorio player for the goal.
That unfortunate start would have probably been a deal-ender for the Sun Warriors at the start of the year. Now the team shook it off and played some impressive soccer throughout the first half. In the 14th minute, Diaz blasted a ball from the right wing that required a superb diving stop by Brianna Love.
At the start of the second half, Love also made a great lunging stop off a hard ball from Martinez.
“We had a few good shots, and then Lane came back, and we got kind of tired,” Diaz said. “We have a lot of improvement since the beginning of the year. Today the game just got away.”
The 1-0 margin held until Lane junior midfielder Isabel Sobolewski, another talented situational player off the bench, got free and drilled home a ball from the top of the box in the 37th minute.
Solorio caught the Indians’ attention and forced them to reckon with a team hungry to prove something. Put another way, Lane had to step up.
“I think the way they played showed that no team in the city is going to give us anything,” defender Samantha Sorich said. “We talked at halftime about how we had to pick up the intensity. It took us a couple of minutes; but once it clicked it clicked pretty fast, and we were back to our normal play.
“The past couple of games have not been very competitive for us, and we knew today we had to step it up, and I thought we did a good job doing that.”
Sorich scored two goals, both off of set pieces. She finished her own rebound that originated off a Dunaway corner, and she also drilled a beautiful and unreachable free kick from about 24 yards.
Lane’s depth is simply overpowering. During its nine-game winning streak, Lane has a 56-1 goal differential.
Solorio faded against the home team's attack.
“We have a really strong team with lots of fire and lots of commitment, and we have shown really good ball movement, but we were not able to do that against Lane’s speed and how quickly they were on us,” Kringle said. “We weren’t able to connect the ball the way we usually do.
“We were not able to switch the field fast enough and get those through-balls. They were pretty much intercepting those balls through the back of the defense.”
Lane's Murray was in the enviable position of reading the early flow of the game and seeing how she might provide the spark. That is what she did. From the moment she was inserted into the game Murray provided a jolt, a change of pace. She made a good foray upon her entrance.
“I don’t usually start, but I can see how we are playing and try to bring something different,” she said. “If we are playing slow or not really talking or connecting, I can come and try to change that. In the first half, we were not really playing our game, and our captains did a great job of helping us realize we had to step up.”
Murray authored the beginning of the rout. In the 45th minute, star junior Camaron Niforos controlled a ball in the middle and slotted it to her left to a streaking Murray in space. Murray drove the ball hard and finished with authority.
Eily Quinn, an electric young sophomore who is tied with the team-lead of 12 goals, again showed off her scoring prowess by breaking through the gap and taking a through-ball from sophomore Lisa Rios. Murray continued the second half onslaught with another hard drive down the left edge and a cross that Dunaway put the finishing touch on.
Sorich and Murray shared the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
The stage is set now set for the final.
“It is going to be a great game with Young,” Sorich said. “We are really looking forward to the city final. We are always trying to push ourselves.”
Starting lineups
Solorio
GK: Lizbeth Barajas
D: Damaris Castaneda
D: Vanessa Guillen
D: Yulexi Diaz
D: Gabriella Guillen
MF: Sofia Aguilera
MF: Laura Saucedo
MF: Mitzi Navarro
MF: Azury Sanchez
F: Esmeralda Diaz
F: Giovanna Martinez
Lane
GK: Brianna Love
D: Carole Makuch
D: Samantha Sorich
D: Alana Coffman
D: Zehra Halilic
MF: Johanna Bozic
MF: Camaron Niforos
MF: Melissa Garcia
MF: Sydney Varga
F: Grace Dunaway
F: Kayla Dutton
Chicagoland Soccer co-MVPs of the Match: Samantha Sorich, sr., D, Lane
Scout Murray, fr., MF, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Grace Dunaway (unassisted), third minute
Lane—Isabel Sobolewski (Dunaway), 37th minute
Second half
Lane—Scout Murray (Camaron Niforos), 45th minute
Lane—Eily Quinn (Lisa Rios), 66th minute
Lane—Samantha Sorich (unassisted), 68th minute
Lane—Dunaway (Murray), 70th minute
Lane—Sorich (free kick), 76th minute