Notebook: Deerfield and Warren
By Patrick Z. McGavin
Few things are more terrifying in soccer than seeing a blistering forward attack in full bloom.
“Warren has some players,” one prominent coach said.
Two years removed from the greatest team in program history, the Blue Devils have been striving towards this moment, the full weight of its arsenal now in play. Glimpses have been there from the start.
Warren featured five games where they scored at least five goals, most impressively a 5-4 victory over no. 19 Glenbrook South in the Glenbrook Cup. Junior forward Elizabeth Weinberg scored 15 goals. She has four multiple-goal games this year.
A terrific athlete who is also an elite volleyball prospect, Weinberg combines size, quickness and a angular frame to serve as an ideal target at the top of the Blue Devils’ attack. Sophomore Cate Cullison is her opposite number, a free-spirited and roaming talent who plays with an unshakeable confidence.
She scored 11 goals and added seven assists for the Blue Devils (11-8-3). Her nearest goal came in the 32nd minute as Warren concluded the regular season with an impressive 1-0 victory at Deerfield.
“From last year until now I have evolved by learning to acclimate better to the high school and my coach’s style of play,” Cullison said. “I have been able to implement my skills into the game in a way that helps my team grow.”
Warren now is preparing for the next stage. The Blue Devils are the seventh-seed of the Class 3A sectional at Buffalo Grove. Warren begins play against a familiar opponent, conference rival Mundelein, in a regional semifinal at Libertyville on Tuesday (May 14).
Having offensive-oriented talents like Cullison and Weinberg is crucial as goals become more scarce and teams tend to adopt a more defensive approach. Warren started the year 0-3-1, but there were signs of a talented team just in need of time to cohere. Warren played no. 4 New Trier to a draw the first game of the season and suffered a tight 1-0 loss against no. 16 Wauconda.
Warren broke through with a 2-0 victory over downstate power Granite City in a tournament in St. Louis during its spring break. That helped unlock an offense brimming with potential.
Midfielder Emily Soriaga, another gifted sophomore, suffered an ankle injury on the eve of training and has played through the pain the entire season. She aggravated the injury and missed about 10 days, and her absence was felt by the Blue Devils’ offense. They experienced a stretch of scoring just one goal in four games.
Soriaga and defender Morgan Liebau are back. Soriaga has a rocket touch and the is the long free kick specialist. Two freshmen, Athena McGinn and Ella Skelton, have also demonstrated great promise and excitement.
“We are absolutely ready to take on any challenge,” senior midfielder Courtney Chomko. She is the link to the 2017 team that won the North Suburban Conference and became the first Warren girls team ever to reach a sectional final.
Chomko scored two goals in the sectional semifinal against Libertyville.
“We have a lot of our injured players back and we are really jelling and everything came together really well at the end of the season,” Chomko said. “We are playing great competition and getting the results we want, even if we are not scoring a lot of goals in every game.
“We are getting ahead from where the game started.”
The return of Liebau has stabilized the defense. McCabe is sticking with his two keeper formula, typically starting senior Alana Turner and finished with the athletic and dynamic junior, Sarah Barbosa.
Warren lost 2-0 against Mundelein on May 7.
“I think Tuesday is going to be a different game,” McCabe said. “We were lethargic when we played last week. Right now, I think we are pretty optimistic. The girls are coming together now, feeling good and we are getting some players back from injuries.
“We are starting to fit the pieces together here at the right time. We just need to focus on Tuesday and make sure we are able to take care of business there.”
Continuity is the key. Deerfield has gone through a more elliptical season, punctuated by disruption and an absence of its best player for more than five weeks.
Midfielder Malori Killoren emerged as one of the best players in the state last year in scoring 24 goals and contributed 11 assists as Deerfield established a new school record for goals (87) in a season.
The Warriors jumped out of the game brilliantly. Killoren scored nine goals in her first seven games. Then she was felled by mono -- the first of a series of devastating injuries that shook Deerfield at its foundation. Coach Rich Grady has referred to his team as a band of walking wounded.
Killoren has been back for two weeks, and she is seizing the moment. Despite missing 12 games, she finished the regular-season the Warriors’ leading scorer with 12 goals and four assists.
She is the lynchpin of an attack that at its best is capable of scoring against any defense. Three years ago Deerfield finished second in the Class AA state tournament. The Warriors reached a sectional semifinal last year.
Even in its incomplete or depleted form, this is a gifted team with weapons. The Warriors are also hungry.
“I think we need to play calm and play our game and play the way are used to playing,” Killoren said. “I think we can get so far by doing that. We just need to focus on doing all that we can do.”
Some players, most notably freshman Riley Schimanski, took advantage of the absence of Killoren to develop an expanded role. Schimanski scored five goals and added five assists.
Forward Marissa Hyland says the seniors like herself are ready to go out on a final note of glory. They came into the program together and look to make a bold closing statement. None of the graduating players are set to play in college, except in club or intramurals.
This marks the last hurrah.
“We all want it really badly, and that is coming off on every single player,” Hyland said. “Especially for the seniors, we want to go further than we did last year.”
After the volatile stretches and injury marred-results, Deerfield (11-11-2) is in relatively good shape. The Warriors are the fourth-seed of the Class AA sectional at Antioch. There is not a team in the field, including top-seed Wauconda, Lake Forest or Saint Viator, the Warriors are not capable of beating.
Deerfield opens with a regional semifinal against Public League program Northside at Grayslake North on Tuesday (May 14).
“Once you get into the playoffs, it is about who is playing the best at that particular time,” Grady said. “I think there are a lot of strong teams in our sectional, and all I am thinking about is Northside.
“We have to play well Tuesday and earn the right to keep playing. Hopefully we are going to have our combinations sorted out and we are going to go from there. I liked our second half play against Warren. If we can replicate that, we are going to be in good shape.”
By Patrick Z. McGavin
Few things are more terrifying in soccer than seeing a blistering forward attack in full bloom.
“Warren has some players,” one prominent coach said.
Two years removed from the greatest team in program history, the Blue Devils have been striving towards this moment, the full weight of its arsenal now in play. Glimpses have been there from the start.
Warren featured five games where they scored at least five goals, most impressively a 5-4 victory over no. 19 Glenbrook South in the Glenbrook Cup. Junior forward Elizabeth Weinberg scored 15 goals. She has four multiple-goal games this year.
A terrific athlete who is also an elite volleyball prospect, Weinberg combines size, quickness and a angular frame to serve as an ideal target at the top of the Blue Devils’ attack. Sophomore Cate Cullison is her opposite number, a free-spirited and roaming talent who plays with an unshakeable confidence.
She scored 11 goals and added seven assists for the Blue Devils (11-8-3). Her nearest goal came in the 32nd minute as Warren concluded the regular season with an impressive 1-0 victory at Deerfield.
“From last year until now I have evolved by learning to acclimate better to the high school and my coach’s style of play,” Cullison said. “I have been able to implement my skills into the game in a way that helps my team grow.”
Warren now is preparing for the next stage. The Blue Devils are the seventh-seed of the Class 3A sectional at Buffalo Grove. Warren begins play against a familiar opponent, conference rival Mundelein, in a regional semifinal at Libertyville on Tuesday (May 14).
Having offensive-oriented talents like Cullison and Weinberg is crucial as goals become more scarce and teams tend to adopt a more defensive approach. Warren started the year 0-3-1, but there were signs of a talented team just in need of time to cohere. Warren played no. 4 New Trier to a draw the first game of the season and suffered a tight 1-0 loss against no. 16 Wauconda.
Warren broke through with a 2-0 victory over downstate power Granite City in a tournament in St. Louis during its spring break. That helped unlock an offense brimming with potential.
Midfielder Emily Soriaga, another gifted sophomore, suffered an ankle injury on the eve of training and has played through the pain the entire season. She aggravated the injury and missed about 10 days, and her absence was felt by the Blue Devils’ offense. They experienced a stretch of scoring just one goal in four games.
Soriaga and defender Morgan Liebau are back. Soriaga has a rocket touch and the is the long free kick specialist. Two freshmen, Athena McGinn and Ella Skelton, have also demonstrated great promise and excitement.
“We are absolutely ready to take on any challenge,” senior midfielder Courtney Chomko. She is the link to the 2017 team that won the North Suburban Conference and became the first Warren girls team ever to reach a sectional final.
Chomko scored two goals in the sectional semifinal against Libertyville.
“We have a lot of our injured players back and we are really jelling and everything came together really well at the end of the season,” Chomko said. “We are playing great competition and getting the results we want, even if we are not scoring a lot of goals in every game.
“We are getting ahead from where the game started.”
The return of Liebau has stabilized the defense. McCabe is sticking with his two keeper formula, typically starting senior Alana Turner and finished with the athletic and dynamic junior, Sarah Barbosa.
Warren lost 2-0 against Mundelein on May 7.
“I think Tuesday is going to be a different game,” McCabe said. “We were lethargic when we played last week. Right now, I think we are pretty optimistic. The girls are coming together now, feeling good and we are getting some players back from injuries.
“We are starting to fit the pieces together here at the right time. We just need to focus on Tuesday and make sure we are able to take care of business there.”
Continuity is the key. Deerfield has gone through a more elliptical season, punctuated by disruption and an absence of its best player for more than five weeks.
Midfielder Malori Killoren emerged as one of the best players in the state last year in scoring 24 goals and contributed 11 assists as Deerfield established a new school record for goals (87) in a season.
The Warriors jumped out of the game brilliantly. Killoren scored nine goals in her first seven games. Then she was felled by mono -- the first of a series of devastating injuries that shook Deerfield at its foundation. Coach Rich Grady has referred to his team as a band of walking wounded.
Killoren has been back for two weeks, and she is seizing the moment. Despite missing 12 games, she finished the regular-season the Warriors’ leading scorer with 12 goals and four assists.
She is the lynchpin of an attack that at its best is capable of scoring against any defense. Three years ago Deerfield finished second in the Class AA state tournament. The Warriors reached a sectional semifinal last year.
Even in its incomplete or depleted form, this is a gifted team with weapons. The Warriors are also hungry.
“I think we need to play calm and play our game and play the way are used to playing,” Killoren said. “I think we can get so far by doing that. We just need to focus on doing all that we can do.”
Some players, most notably freshman Riley Schimanski, took advantage of the absence of Killoren to develop an expanded role. Schimanski scored five goals and added five assists.
Forward Marissa Hyland says the seniors like herself are ready to go out on a final note of glory. They came into the program together and look to make a bold closing statement. None of the graduating players are set to play in college, except in club or intramurals.
This marks the last hurrah.
“We all want it really badly, and that is coming off on every single player,” Hyland said. “Especially for the seniors, we want to go further than we did last year.”
After the volatile stretches and injury marred-results, Deerfield (11-11-2) is in relatively good shape. The Warriors are the fourth-seed of the Class AA sectional at Antioch. There is not a team in the field, including top-seed Wauconda, Lake Forest or Saint Viator, the Warriors are not capable of beating.
Deerfield opens with a regional semifinal against Public League program Northside at Grayslake North on Tuesday (May 14).
“Once you get into the playoffs, it is about who is playing the best at that particular time,” Grady said. “I think there are a lot of strong teams in our sectional, and all I am thinking about is Northside.
“We have to play well Tuesday and earn the right to keep playing. Hopefully we are going to have our combinations sorted out and we are going to go from there. I liked our second half play against Warren. If we can replicate that, we are going to be in good shape.”