2nd half upgrade
drives Warren past Carmel
Blue Devils put away Corsairs with 4 unanswered goals
By A.J. Schmitz
MUNDELEIN - Sometimes the first and second halves of the same match can easily seem to come from different games entirely.
This was the case Friday night when Warren (9-1-3) defeated Carmel (4-5-3) 7-2 in a nonconference game that tested the resiliency of a Blue Devils team that is largely used to keeping balls out of their own net.
Warren came out onto the pitch exuding confidence. With no sense of urgency, the Blue Devils hit the ball around the backfield, getting into their rhythm and feeling out the Corsair’s approach. Despite their possessive control early on, Warren did not get the ball past the 30-yard line on Carmel’s defensive end.
Warren’s attitude changed in the eighth minute when Carmel’s senior forward Sofia Coury got the ball and found herself on a run. A quick through-ball to freshman forward Anna Hartman sent her into the box with no mark in sight. Hartman set her eyes on the far post, and knocked in a shot on the ground that put the Corsairs up early in the first half.
“We were doing a good job connecting and waiting for passes,” Hartman said of her team’s go-ahead goal. “I think that brought out the confidence, and our energy was high after that for sure.”
This woke up a Warren side, which is ranked ninth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, that seemed stunned to concede despite largely dominating possession. Getting inside the 30-yard line was now Warren’s top priority.
The team succeed in their renewed offensive efforts during the 16th minute when junior midfielder Katelyn Crowson went on a run with her teammate, sophomore defender Emma Paraskos. Paraskos received the ball after a pass from Crowson that split the defense. Alone on net, all Paraskos had to do was poke it into the net.
“I love running up and going down the field, so when I saw my chance I was like, ‘I can get this!’” said Paraskos. “My other teammate Emily [Soriaga], and I were making the same run, so I called her off of it and just scored. Getting into the attack is my favorite part.”
“I encourage my defenders to get into the attack, and Emma has really taken that to heart,” said Warren head coach Ryan McCabe. “She does a great job of getting in and serving good balls. She made a great run to get in on the other end of that pass and get our first goal for us. That was really important. We were down a goal, and we really needed to respond.”
Warren scored again in the 31st minute after a long span of back-and-forth play that saw both teams struggle to establish dominance.
On a fast break, senior midfielder Amber Langosch passed a square ball to junior co-captain and forward Ella Skelton. Skelton lined up to take a shot, but it was blocked by Carmel freshman midfielder Jillian Miller.
The initial stop was not enough to clear the danger; Skelton got to the rebound with her back to the goal. She was allowed space to turn, and with that, ultimately finished to give Warren the lead.
Carmel responded quickly. In the 34th minute, Hartman carried the ball down the sideline to reach the goal line. Seemingly cornered, she somehow managed to break through a double-team defensive effort and pass the ball across the box to Coury.
With Warren’s defense sufficiently stretched, Coury had the time and space to put the ball in the net from close range.
Perhaps the equalizer let Carmel breathe a little too early, because mere moments later in the 35th minute, Warren answered to reclaim the lead. Langosch again carried the ball on the attack, and sent a through-ball to Skelton who just barely remained onside. All alone on goal, she rolled the ball inside the far post.
With all of Warren’s goals coming off fast-breaks, McCabe had a message for his team at halftime.
“Starting slow is a trend that I’ve noticed lately that I’m not real happy with. We sorted some things out at halftime, and I think the girls responded really well,” he said.
“We just noticed some things like they [Carmel] keep a high line. I like our speed, so if they keep a high line and we can get in behind them, then we can have success with that.
“We normally just like to play possession,” he added.
Warren proved just as effective on the attack in the second half, when the Blue Devils scored four unanswered goals.
The first came from Crowson who received a cross from the goal line by Skelton. With Carmel’s keeper stretched, Crowson had the entire near post open to slot the ball in, which she executed in the 48th minute. Warren’s fifth goal was almost identical in the 64th minute. Crowson and Skelton combined again in the same fashion.
Four minutes later, Warren received a free kick in the midfield that was taken by sophomore defender Paige Hogberg. She lobbed the ball to the top of the box where it was received by junior midfielder Samantha Pullins. With a one-touch turn, she fired the ball past the defense and into the back of the net.
Warren’s final goal gave Skelton a hat-trick. In the 69th minute, Crowson laid the ball off to Skelton, who took it down the line and cut in near the box, beating defenders in her way. Alone in front of the net, the forward converted for the Blue Devils.
“It’s been a change this year. My freshman year I played a very defensive role on our team: left back,” Skelton said. “Now I’m trying to get the ball in the back of the net, and so far this season I think I’ve been pretty successful. Tonight I showed that.”
Carmel head coach Stephanie Kile offered her perspective on how Warren came away with the game.
“When we gathered at halftime, I told them that they played really well and were definitely in this game,” she said. “I think one of the biggest challenges this season is if we get scored on, we automatically put our heads down. We’re trying to recover from that. We’ve gotten multiple goals scored on us, and we’ve just put our heads down. Then we don’t play our game. We don’t execute the game plan, and that’s frustrating.”
Hartman agreed.
“In the second half after they scored that fourth goal, we just kept our heads down and were kind of out of it.”
Despite the result, Kile made sure to express happiness with her side overall.
“I am proud of the team,” she added. “I think it’s definitely a challenge because most of the team is new. So it’s been a challenge just getting to know each other and getting to know how everyone plays. I am definitely proud of them.”
“The first half was a totally different soccer game.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK: Trish Georgiou
D: Emma Paraskos
D: Olivia Ehlers
D: Mia Gloria
M: Amber Langosch
M: Melissa Cote
M: Samantha Pullins
M: Kylie Mahoney
M: Emily Soriaga
F: Liza Matimore
F: Ella Skelton
Carmel
GK: Lisete Astudillo
D: Zkylah Barnes
D: Abby Gibbons
D: Grace Harvey
D: Kate Jones
M: Mia Salvi
M: Maddie Preda
M: Jillian Miller
F: Lyndsey Basara
F: Sofia Coury
F: Anna Hartman
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Ella Skelton, jr., F, Warren
Scoring Summary
First half
Carmel: Hartman (Coury) 8th minute
Warren: Paraskos (Crowson) 16th minute
Warren: Skelton (Langosch) 31st minute
Carmel: Coury (Hartman) 34th minute
Warren: Skelton (Pullins) 35 minute
Second half
Warren: Crowson (Skelton) 48th minute
Warren: Crowson (Skelton) 64th minute
Warren: Pullins (Hogberg) 68th minute
Warren: Skelton (Crowson) 69th minute
drives Warren past Carmel
Blue Devils put away Corsairs with 4 unanswered goals
By A.J. Schmitz
MUNDELEIN - Sometimes the first and second halves of the same match can easily seem to come from different games entirely.
This was the case Friday night when Warren (9-1-3) defeated Carmel (4-5-3) 7-2 in a nonconference game that tested the resiliency of a Blue Devils team that is largely used to keeping balls out of their own net.
Warren came out onto the pitch exuding confidence. With no sense of urgency, the Blue Devils hit the ball around the backfield, getting into their rhythm and feeling out the Corsair’s approach. Despite their possessive control early on, Warren did not get the ball past the 30-yard line on Carmel’s defensive end.
Warren’s attitude changed in the eighth minute when Carmel’s senior forward Sofia Coury got the ball and found herself on a run. A quick through-ball to freshman forward Anna Hartman sent her into the box with no mark in sight. Hartman set her eyes on the far post, and knocked in a shot on the ground that put the Corsairs up early in the first half.
“We were doing a good job connecting and waiting for passes,” Hartman said of her team’s go-ahead goal. “I think that brought out the confidence, and our energy was high after that for sure.”
This woke up a Warren side, which is ranked ninth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, that seemed stunned to concede despite largely dominating possession. Getting inside the 30-yard line was now Warren’s top priority.
The team succeed in their renewed offensive efforts during the 16th minute when junior midfielder Katelyn Crowson went on a run with her teammate, sophomore defender Emma Paraskos. Paraskos received the ball after a pass from Crowson that split the defense. Alone on net, all Paraskos had to do was poke it into the net.
“I love running up and going down the field, so when I saw my chance I was like, ‘I can get this!’” said Paraskos. “My other teammate Emily [Soriaga], and I were making the same run, so I called her off of it and just scored. Getting into the attack is my favorite part.”
“I encourage my defenders to get into the attack, and Emma has really taken that to heart,” said Warren head coach Ryan McCabe. “She does a great job of getting in and serving good balls. She made a great run to get in on the other end of that pass and get our first goal for us. That was really important. We were down a goal, and we really needed to respond.”
Warren scored again in the 31st minute after a long span of back-and-forth play that saw both teams struggle to establish dominance.
On a fast break, senior midfielder Amber Langosch passed a square ball to junior co-captain and forward Ella Skelton. Skelton lined up to take a shot, but it was blocked by Carmel freshman midfielder Jillian Miller.
The initial stop was not enough to clear the danger; Skelton got to the rebound with her back to the goal. She was allowed space to turn, and with that, ultimately finished to give Warren the lead.
Carmel responded quickly. In the 34th minute, Hartman carried the ball down the sideline to reach the goal line. Seemingly cornered, she somehow managed to break through a double-team defensive effort and pass the ball across the box to Coury.
With Warren’s defense sufficiently stretched, Coury had the time and space to put the ball in the net from close range.
Perhaps the equalizer let Carmel breathe a little too early, because mere moments later in the 35th minute, Warren answered to reclaim the lead. Langosch again carried the ball on the attack, and sent a through-ball to Skelton who just barely remained onside. All alone on goal, she rolled the ball inside the far post.
With all of Warren’s goals coming off fast-breaks, McCabe had a message for his team at halftime.
“Starting slow is a trend that I’ve noticed lately that I’m not real happy with. We sorted some things out at halftime, and I think the girls responded really well,” he said.
“We just noticed some things like they [Carmel] keep a high line. I like our speed, so if they keep a high line and we can get in behind them, then we can have success with that.
“We normally just like to play possession,” he added.
Warren proved just as effective on the attack in the second half, when the Blue Devils scored four unanswered goals.
The first came from Crowson who received a cross from the goal line by Skelton. With Carmel’s keeper stretched, Crowson had the entire near post open to slot the ball in, which she executed in the 48th minute. Warren’s fifth goal was almost identical in the 64th minute. Crowson and Skelton combined again in the same fashion.
Four minutes later, Warren received a free kick in the midfield that was taken by sophomore defender Paige Hogberg. She lobbed the ball to the top of the box where it was received by junior midfielder Samantha Pullins. With a one-touch turn, she fired the ball past the defense and into the back of the net.
Warren’s final goal gave Skelton a hat-trick. In the 69th minute, Crowson laid the ball off to Skelton, who took it down the line and cut in near the box, beating defenders in her way. Alone in front of the net, the forward converted for the Blue Devils.
“It’s been a change this year. My freshman year I played a very defensive role on our team: left back,” Skelton said. “Now I’m trying to get the ball in the back of the net, and so far this season I think I’ve been pretty successful. Tonight I showed that.”
Carmel head coach Stephanie Kile offered her perspective on how Warren came away with the game.
“When we gathered at halftime, I told them that they played really well and were definitely in this game,” she said. “I think one of the biggest challenges this season is if we get scored on, we automatically put our heads down. We’re trying to recover from that. We’ve gotten multiple goals scored on us, and we’ve just put our heads down. Then we don’t play our game. We don’t execute the game plan, and that’s frustrating.”
Hartman agreed.
“In the second half after they scored that fourth goal, we just kept our heads down and were kind of out of it.”
Despite the result, Kile made sure to express happiness with her side overall.
“I am proud of the team,” she added. “I think it’s definitely a challenge because most of the team is new. So it’s been a challenge just getting to know each other and getting to know how everyone plays. I am definitely proud of them.”
“The first half was a totally different soccer game.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK: Trish Georgiou
D: Emma Paraskos
D: Olivia Ehlers
D: Mia Gloria
M: Amber Langosch
M: Melissa Cote
M: Samantha Pullins
M: Kylie Mahoney
M: Emily Soriaga
F: Liza Matimore
F: Ella Skelton
Carmel
GK: Lisete Astudillo
D: Zkylah Barnes
D: Abby Gibbons
D: Grace Harvey
D: Kate Jones
M: Mia Salvi
M: Maddie Preda
M: Jillian Miller
F: Lyndsey Basara
F: Sofia Coury
F: Anna Hartman
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Ella Skelton, jr., F, Warren
Scoring Summary
First half
Carmel: Hartman (Coury) 8th minute
Warren: Paraskos (Crowson) 16th minute
Warren: Skelton (Langosch) 31st minute
Carmel: Coury (Hartman) 34th minute
Warren: Skelton (Pullins) 35 minute
Second half
Warren: Crowson (Skelton) 48th minute
Warren: Crowson (Skelton) 64th minute
Warren: Pullins (Hogberg) 68th minute
Warren: Skelton (Crowson) 69th minute