North Shore Country Day hosts
Latin in battle of league unbeatens
By Michael Wojtychiw
After a record-setting year in 2019 that featured a number of underclassmen playing key roles in a fourth place state finish, North Shore Country Day came into the 2020-21 school year looking to make another deep run.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, that idea was squashed when the IHSA moved seasons around due to the coronavirus pandemic. But it didn't stop the Raiders from working in the offseason to come back better than before.
"Having those guys returning, knowing what the team is about, how we play, having success playing that way, those guys have really worked hard in the offseason and remained optimistic," North Shore coach Kyle Jones said. "Their remaining hard work and focus has been key. Having nine seniors has helped as well, helping maintain the culture."
After dropping its first game to Lake Forest Academy, North Shore has rattled off eight-consecutive wins and looks like the team that was clicking at the end of the 2019 season.
The Raiders (8-1-0, 5-0-0) will try to stretch their streak to nine when they host Latin at 4:30 Friday. Both teams are unbeaten in Independent School League play.
Some have said the best part about underclassmen is that they become upperclassmen and bring a whole wealth of knowledge in their subsequent go-around on the pitch.
Luckily for Jones, he says that it hasn't been one player who's stepped up in preparation for the season and during the season -- it's been all of them.
"We always talk about leadership, not only from the older guys but the younger guys too," Jones said. "We've got great seniors, but we've also got great freshmen, sophomores and juniors. It doesn't take being 18 to be a leader, you can be that at any age.
"Everybody's upped their game. We've got 22 good guys this year, and it's a deep squad. We've got a group of good soccer players, good athletes, good people, and it allows us to make changes if we need to."
The roster at Latin (3-0-0, 3-0-0) has a good number of underclassmen including three freshman playing key roles for the team. Like North Shore Country Day, it's a K-12 school, so a number of the players have been playing together since they were in middle school.
"I think it falls upon the head coaches communicating with others," Latin coach Andrew Sanchez said. "Last year, I met with the middle school coach, and we laid down goals and expectations. You don't get that opportunity at other larger schools."
That fact has helped even more this year, because so far Latin has only gotten three games in so far due to a lack of available playing fields or teams not being able to field full rosters because of injuries.
While only playing three games hasn't been ideal for the Romans, who will play seven games in eight days starting with Friday's contest, it's allowed them to get some good training time in for the squad.
"We have an experienced crew so it's been good in terms of having the flexibility to have practices where we can focus on set pieces, focus on developing from our backline, things where you have time to get creative," Sanchez said. "It's been sort of a blessing, but at the same time probably hard on the kids. They have so many games (coming up); the kids are jacked to get out there and play as much as possible."
Latin in battle of league unbeatens
By Michael Wojtychiw
After a record-setting year in 2019 that featured a number of underclassmen playing key roles in a fourth place state finish, North Shore Country Day came into the 2020-21 school year looking to make another deep run.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, that idea was squashed when the IHSA moved seasons around due to the coronavirus pandemic. But it didn't stop the Raiders from working in the offseason to come back better than before.
"Having those guys returning, knowing what the team is about, how we play, having success playing that way, those guys have really worked hard in the offseason and remained optimistic," North Shore coach Kyle Jones said. "Their remaining hard work and focus has been key. Having nine seniors has helped as well, helping maintain the culture."
After dropping its first game to Lake Forest Academy, North Shore has rattled off eight-consecutive wins and looks like the team that was clicking at the end of the 2019 season.
The Raiders (8-1-0, 5-0-0) will try to stretch their streak to nine when they host Latin at 4:30 Friday. Both teams are unbeaten in Independent School League play.
Some have said the best part about underclassmen is that they become upperclassmen and bring a whole wealth of knowledge in their subsequent go-around on the pitch.
Luckily for Jones, he says that it hasn't been one player who's stepped up in preparation for the season and during the season -- it's been all of them.
"We always talk about leadership, not only from the older guys but the younger guys too," Jones said. "We've got great seniors, but we've also got great freshmen, sophomores and juniors. It doesn't take being 18 to be a leader, you can be that at any age.
"Everybody's upped their game. We've got 22 good guys this year, and it's a deep squad. We've got a group of good soccer players, good athletes, good people, and it allows us to make changes if we need to."
The roster at Latin (3-0-0, 3-0-0) has a good number of underclassmen including three freshman playing key roles for the team. Like North Shore Country Day, it's a K-12 school, so a number of the players have been playing together since they were in middle school.
"I think it falls upon the head coaches communicating with others," Latin coach Andrew Sanchez said. "Last year, I met with the middle school coach, and we laid down goals and expectations. You don't get that opportunity at other larger schools."
That fact has helped even more this year, because so far Latin has only gotten three games in so far due to a lack of available playing fields or teams not being able to field full rosters because of injuries.
While only playing three games hasn't been ideal for the Romans, who will play seven games in eight days starting with Friday's contest, it's allowed them to get some good training time in for the squad.
"We have an experienced crew so it's been good in terms of having the flexibility to have practices where we can focus on set pieces, focus on developing from our backline, things where you have time to get creative," Sanchez said. "It's been sort of a blessing, but at the same time probably hard on the kids. They have so many games (coming up); the kids are jacked to get out there and play as much as possible."