Deerfield, Maine East hope
to start league season off with a bang
By Bobby Narang
Deerfield boys soccer coach Elliott Hurtig possesses a good clear understanding of the Maine East program.
Besides competing against the Blue Demons on an annual basis in the Central Suburban League North Division, Hurtig coached six seasons at Maine East before accepting the coaching position at Deerfield in 2000.
Hurtig said his team enters Tuesday’s 7 p.m. home conference opener against the Blue Demons (2-2-1) riding a wave of momentum. The Warriors (3-3-0) lost their first two games of the season, won three-straight games including a 4-3 comeback win over Antioch, then dropped a hard-fought 1-0 decision to 15th-ranked Evanston on Thursday.
“We played a really strong game against Evanston,” Hurtig said. “It was our best game of season in terms of a full game. We were able to stick to our game plan, created a lot of chances off some mistakes. Evanston is one of the best teams in the state, with incredible talent but the game could’ve gone either way.
“Heading into conference, it’s nice to come off a game like that. The guys had won three in a row before that loss, so it was a nice previous week and then to play even better soccer than in some of our wins, it shows we’re trending in the right direction.”
Hurtig said one of the keys for his team’s recent surge has been the play of midfielders Ryder Coleman, David Jotkus and Addison Simon. The Warriors returned six starters from the spring season.
“Ryder, David and Addison have all been playing well in the midfield,” Hurtig said. "The main key is possessing the ball and finding our forwards and outside guys.
“The main thing is when we get chances that we need to finish them and create more chances and keep building on what we’re doing so far, because good things will happen. Every conference game is a battle. All the teams in our conference are really good. We have to keep building on what we’ve created so far.”
Maine East has lost two of its last three games. The Blue Demons head into Tuesday’s road game aiming for a fresh start in conference play. Maine East opened the season with a quality 3-0 win over Buffalo Grove.
“I feel confident in our guys, and think the two losses helped our team learn where we stand,” Maine East coach Jeffrey Bishop said. “We started off the season pretty hot, but the losses made us realize we can always do better.
“We're learning and growing every game and practice. Starting conference is always exciting, especially against Deerfield. We've been going up against (Hurtig) for years. (Deerfield) is always well prepared, organized and a tough game. It should be a good opening match for us, be a nice way to set the pace for the rest of the season.”
Maine East, which has 12 seniors on the team, is certainly not short on experience, Bishop said.
“This is the first time I’ve been in this situation where we’re senior heavy,” he said. “We usually have four or five seniors, but we have a good group of seniors that have been with us for four years, through thick and thin. They're hungry.”
Senior captains Jose Gutierrez, a defender, and midfielder Emanuel Montes have been the key leaders for the Blue Demons, Bishop said.
“We’re ready for conference (to start),” Bishop said. “We were so close to (winning conference) last year, and even the year before. We had two close years back-to-back, right there in the running for conference but just weren’t able to pull it off.
“We’re hoping on Tuesday that we bring the needed intensity for conference and play a full 80 minutes. Our history with Deerfield is always entertaining games.”
Junior goalie Emin Zec has made a quality adjustment to his new starting position following the graduation of Ramy Atia.
“I know this is one of better Maine East teams that they’ve had in a while,” Hurtig said. "The quality of play is really good, got a great keeper and they do a nice job of coaching those players up. It will be a close battle."
Bishop said Zec’s play in the net is one of the positives early this season.
“Emin has been playing well and strong after playing a year under Ramy last year,” he said. “But now is his time to shine. He’s stepped in and played very well. We definitely don’t give up many goals.”
to start league season off with a bang
By Bobby Narang
Deerfield boys soccer coach Elliott Hurtig possesses a good clear understanding of the Maine East program.
Besides competing against the Blue Demons on an annual basis in the Central Suburban League North Division, Hurtig coached six seasons at Maine East before accepting the coaching position at Deerfield in 2000.
Hurtig said his team enters Tuesday’s 7 p.m. home conference opener against the Blue Demons (2-2-1) riding a wave of momentum. The Warriors (3-3-0) lost their first two games of the season, won three-straight games including a 4-3 comeback win over Antioch, then dropped a hard-fought 1-0 decision to 15th-ranked Evanston on Thursday.
“We played a really strong game against Evanston,” Hurtig said. “It was our best game of season in terms of a full game. We were able to stick to our game plan, created a lot of chances off some mistakes. Evanston is one of the best teams in the state, with incredible talent but the game could’ve gone either way.
“Heading into conference, it’s nice to come off a game like that. The guys had won three in a row before that loss, so it was a nice previous week and then to play even better soccer than in some of our wins, it shows we’re trending in the right direction.”
Hurtig said one of the keys for his team’s recent surge has been the play of midfielders Ryder Coleman, David Jotkus and Addison Simon. The Warriors returned six starters from the spring season.
“Ryder, David and Addison have all been playing well in the midfield,” Hurtig said. "The main key is possessing the ball and finding our forwards and outside guys.
“The main thing is when we get chances that we need to finish them and create more chances and keep building on what we’re doing so far, because good things will happen. Every conference game is a battle. All the teams in our conference are really good. We have to keep building on what we’ve created so far.”
Maine East has lost two of its last three games. The Blue Demons head into Tuesday’s road game aiming for a fresh start in conference play. Maine East opened the season with a quality 3-0 win over Buffalo Grove.
“I feel confident in our guys, and think the two losses helped our team learn where we stand,” Maine East coach Jeffrey Bishop said. “We started off the season pretty hot, but the losses made us realize we can always do better.
“We're learning and growing every game and practice. Starting conference is always exciting, especially against Deerfield. We've been going up against (Hurtig) for years. (Deerfield) is always well prepared, organized and a tough game. It should be a good opening match for us, be a nice way to set the pace for the rest of the season.”
Maine East, which has 12 seniors on the team, is certainly not short on experience, Bishop said.
“This is the first time I’ve been in this situation where we’re senior heavy,” he said. “We usually have four or five seniors, but we have a good group of seniors that have been with us for four years, through thick and thin. They're hungry.”
Senior captains Jose Gutierrez, a defender, and midfielder Emanuel Montes have been the key leaders for the Blue Demons, Bishop said.
“We’re ready for conference (to start),” Bishop said. “We were so close to (winning conference) last year, and even the year before. We had two close years back-to-back, right there in the running for conference but just weren’t able to pull it off.
“We’re hoping on Tuesday that we bring the needed intensity for conference and play a full 80 minutes. Our history with Deerfield is always entertaining games.”
Junior goalie Emin Zec has made a quality adjustment to his new starting position following the graduation of Ramy Atia.
“I know this is one of better Maine East teams that they’ve had in a while,” Hurtig said. "The quality of play is really good, got a great keeper and they do a nice job of coaching those players up. It will be a close battle."
Bishop said Zec’s play in the net is one of the positives early this season.
“Emin has been playing well and strong after playing a year under Ramy last year,” he said. “But now is his time to shine. He’s stepped in and played very well. We definitely don’t give up many goals.”