Carmel returns with win over Warren
Corsairs resume winning ways with 6-1 home victory
By Rusty Silber
MUNDELEIN –Carmel’s early, truncated season has been one of streaks.
The high of a tremendous start with a sweep of three wins in its annual opening season quad was followed by the disappointment of three-straight losses in the tough Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic on the North Shore.
Weather blanked out two games over the last seven days, and gave the Corsairs a chance to reset and recuperate with the intention of starting another successful run.
Riley Harmon was one of several players who made it back to the soccer field after dealing with injuries and/or illnesses.
The senior means a lot to a Carmel squad that builds a lot on its attack through the midfield. Harmon missed a couple of games with leg issues.
Her return was a good one in more ways than one. Harmon led the Corsairs (4-3-0) with a goal and two assists and began a few other scoring chances in a strong 6-1 win over Warren in a nonconference game Friday afternoon.
After an all-out performance, Harmon earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors.
"I was having a knee issue and had an MRI on it," Harmon said. "But luckily it was nothing bad; it was just tight muscles.
"But when I was warming up for the Evanston game, I strained my quad. That's why I was out. This was my first game back. We were getting games canceled. So I was waiting and waiting to be ready. To see us win like we did was great. And the way we played together, it exciting to just get out there."
One thing Harmon did quite well in the match-up against Warren was demonstrate a presence in the midfield. She made the game look easy and led her team like a senior leader should.
"Playing in the midfield puts a lot of pressure on me," Harmon added. "I've done well finding passes and connecting, finishing passes. I'm just good at finding the next person on the attack."
And those connections yielded benefits. She found Zenaya Barnes on two occasions that led to the junior’s first pair of goals of the season.
"Honestly, I call Riley and I the Dynamic Duo, because we work so well together," Barnes said. "She creates a lot of through-balls for me and the girls outside. It really gives us so many chances. She's just a great athletic player and easy to play with."
Carmel coach Ray Krawzak was glad to have Harmon back on the field for many reasons.
"Beyond being captain and one of the leaders of the team, Riley is like the momma of the team," Krawzak said. “She's watching out for everybody all the time. She's not only leading by example with the effort puts out there.
“She runs things with her order, her kindness, the thoughtfulness that she shows toward everybody. Everybody wants to work for her. She's a really good example as a leader and can ask a lot, in the right way, of her teammates. She brings a lot to our team.”
On Friday, Harmon started things off with an assist from the middle to the left side of the box. Morgan Smola ran on to the ball and hit a volley kick into the goal for a 1-0 Carmel lead in the 16th minute.
Two minutes later, Skyler Thomas made it 2-0 after she took a ball away from a Blue Devils defender.
In the 35th minute, Thomas applyied pressure up-top, won a ball off another Blue Devils defender and dropped the ball off to Barnes, who converted for the third goal.
Carmel went up 4-0 in the in the 50th minute, Barnes took control of a loose ball in the box and delivered it into the goal.
Warren (4-7-1) found its first goal of the match in the 60th minute. Emily Soriaga won a ball off a tackle outside of the box, took control of it and placed a 25-yard kick under the crossbar.
The Corsairs added two more goals from Harmon and Lucy Tarcha. Harmon assisted on the final goal.
"We're now prepared for our (ESCC) conference to start," said Krawzak. "I don't think we've been in a game that we didn't think we would've won. We could've beaten Evanston and had been up one with 10 minutes left.
“But they found three goals. We've learned to believe in ourselves before, and now it's really good timing to see it happen today as our conference is about to open."
Warren (4-7-1) has played tough opponents this season. With their young group, they've played a lot of games since spring break.
"Carmel was a nice team," Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. "They have a lot of potent offensive weapons. I thought our girls did a nice job, especially in the second half.
"I think our schedule helps, we do have a young team, and they're skilled. I can get them experience. By front-loading the schedule with all these tough teams, we're forced to get that experience on the go.
“We're not prepping for this game; we're prepping for the postseason. Once we get these games under our belt, get healthy and get everybody back. I think we'll look pretty good for the postseason.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK-Sarah Barbosa
D-Olivia Wolf
D-Jamie Kwon
D-Zoe Wagner
MF-Courtney Chomko
MF-Emma Preda
MF-Melissa Cote
MF-Emily Soriaga
MF-Megan Best
F-Cate Cullison
F-Elizabeth Weinberg
Carmel
GK-Kylee Smith
D-Lily Sykes
D-Ciara Thomas
D-Maddy Splitt
D-Liz Galla
MF-Olivia Salvi
MF-Mia Salvi
MF-Riley Harmon
F-Zenaya Barnes
F-Emma Heinrich
F-Skyler Thomas
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Riley Harmon, sr., MF, Carmel
Scoring summary
First half
CARM-Smola (Harmon) 16
CARM-Thomas 18
CARM-Barnes (Thomas) 35
Second half
CARM-Barnes 50
WAR-Soriaga 60
CARM-Harmon (Barnes) 63
CARM-Tarcha (Harmon) 70
Corsairs resume winning ways with 6-1 home victory
By Rusty Silber
MUNDELEIN –Carmel’s early, truncated season has been one of streaks.
The high of a tremendous start with a sweep of three wins in its annual opening season quad was followed by the disappointment of three-straight losses in the tough Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic on the North Shore.
Weather blanked out two games over the last seven days, and gave the Corsairs a chance to reset and recuperate with the intention of starting another successful run.
Riley Harmon was one of several players who made it back to the soccer field after dealing with injuries and/or illnesses.
The senior means a lot to a Carmel squad that builds a lot on its attack through the midfield. Harmon missed a couple of games with leg issues.
Her return was a good one in more ways than one. Harmon led the Corsairs (4-3-0) with a goal and two assists and began a few other scoring chances in a strong 6-1 win over Warren in a nonconference game Friday afternoon.
After an all-out performance, Harmon earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors.
"I was having a knee issue and had an MRI on it," Harmon said. "But luckily it was nothing bad; it was just tight muscles.
"But when I was warming up for the Evanston game, I strained my quad. That's why I was out. This was my first game back. We were getting games canceled. So I was waiting and waiting to be ready. To see us win like we did was great. And the way we played together, it exciting to just get out there."
One thing Harmon did quite well in the match-up against Warren was demonstrate a presence in the midfield. She made the game look easy and led her team like a senior leader should.
"Playing in the midfield puts a lot of pressure on me," Harmon added. "I've done well finding passes and connecting, finishing passes. I'm just good at finding the next person on the attack."
And those connections yielded benefits. She found Zenaya Barnes on two occasions that led to the junior’s first pair of goals of the season.
"Honestly, I call Riley and I the Dynamic Duo, because we work so well together," Barnes said. "She creates a lot of through-balls for me and the girls outside. It really gives us so many chances. She's just a great athletic player and easy to play with."
Carmel coach Ray Krawzak was glad to have Harmon back on the field for many reasons.
"Beyond being captain and one of the leaders of the team, Riley is like the momma of the team," Krawzak said. “She's watching out for everybody all the time. She's not only leading by example with the effort puts out there.
“She runs things with her order, her kindness, the thoughtfulness that she shows toward everybody. Everybody wants to work for her. She's a really good example as a leader and can ask a lot, in the right way, of her teammates. She brings a lot to our team.”
On Friday, Harmon started things off with an assist from the middle to the left side of the box. Morgan Smola ran on to the ball and hit a volley kick into the goal for a 1-0 Carmel lead in the 16th minute.
Two minutes later, Skyler Thomas made it 2-0 after she took a ball away from a Blue Devils defender.
In the 35th minute, Thomas applyied pressure up-top, won a ball off another Blue Devils defender and dropped the ball off to Barnes, who converted for the third goal.
Carmel went up 4-0 in the in the 50th minute, Barnes took control of a loose ball in the box and delivered it into the goal.
Warren (4-7-1) found its first goal of the match in the 60th minute. Emily Soriaga won a ball off a tackle outside of the box, took control of it and placed a 25-yard kick under the crossbar.
The Corsairs added two more goals from Harmon and Lucy Tarcha. Harmon assisted on the final goal.
"We're now prepared for our (ESCC) conference to start," said Krawzak. "I don't think we've been in a game that we didn't think we would've won. We could've beaten Evanston and had been up one with 10 minutes left.
“But they found three goals. We've learned to believe in ourselves before, and now it's really good timing to see it happen today as our conference is about to open."
Warren (4-7-1) has played tough opponents this season. With their young group, they've played a lot of games since spring break.
"Carmel was a nice team," Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. "They have a lot of potent offensive weapons. I thought our girls did a nice job, especially in the second half.
"I think our schedule helps, we do have a young team, and they're skilled. I can get them experience. By front-loading the schedule with all these tough teams, we're forced to get that experience on the go.
“We're not prepping for this game; we're prepping for the postseason. Once we get these games under our belt, get healthy and get everybody back. I think we'll look pretty good for the postseason.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK-Sarah Barbosa
D-Olivia Wolf
D-Jamie Kwon
D-Zoe Wagner
MF-Courtney Chomko
MF-Emma Preda
MF-Melissa Cote
MF-Emily Soriaga
MF-Megan Best
F-Cate Cullison
F-Elizabeth Weinberg
Carmel
GK-Kylee Smith
D-Lily Sykes
D-Ciara Thomas
D-Maddy Splitt
D-Liz Galla
MF-Olivia Salvi
MF-Mia Salvi
MF-Riley Harmon
F-Zenaya Barnes
F-Emma Heinrich
F-Skyler Thomas
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Riley Harmon, sr., MF, Carmel
Scoring summary
First half
CARM-Smola (Harmon) 16
CARM-Thomas 18
CARM-Barnes (Thomas) 35
Second half
CARM-Barnes 50
WAR-Soriaga 60
CARM-Harmon (Barnes) 63
CARM-Tarcha (Harmon) 70