First-half flurry fuels Deerfield
A 3-goal explosion just before intermission put Deerfield's girls soccer team comfortably in front, and the Warriors (13-6-2, 4-0-1) never looked back en route to a 4-0 victory over Maine West on a foggy Tuesday night in Des Plaines.
Mirelle Haas gave the visitors the only goal they needed at 35 minutes.
Teammates Julia Harlan and Sarah Neal later found the back of the net less than sixty seconds apart to complete a remarkable five-minute flurry for a 3-0 lead.
Deerfield went on to capture its fourth consecutive Central Suburban League North title and a date with New Trier next Tuesday in the conference championship in Northfield.
"We played them even for the first 35 minutes and probably had the better of the play five to seven minutes before their first goal," said Maine West coach Jeff Bishop, whose club entered the match 1-0-2 record in the CSL North. "Then the bottom dropped out all in the last five minutes of the half to all but end our hopes of staying alive in the division race.
"We came in knowing a win still gave us a chance, which is something we have not had for quite awhile, but Deerfield played well. They deserved the win tonight."
Deerfield coach Rich Grady said his club has performed well on restarts.
"And Mirelle (Haas) has given us a lot of quality in that area," he said. "And her free kick got us going tonight. After that, we were fortunate to put a few more in to give us a nice advantage heading into the break."
The hosts opened the match aggressively, thanks in part to the duo of Joanne Stanfa and Rachel Kolling. Their pace and work rate in the middle of the park kept their teammates involved. Particularly effective were Allie Webb and Yessica Reyes on the outside, in addition to Julie Garcia, who looked dangerous up top when the midfield connected with the junior.
"That was the best we possessed and knocked the ball around this year so far," said Kölling, who ran and tackled hard all night long alongside her talented teammate Stanfa. "We did a lot of good things, especially in that first half.
"But things went bad for us so quickly near the end and it took a lot out of us. And we never really got back to the way we were playing after giving up those three quick goals."
West enjoyed a bit of good fortune at the quarter hour when Sydney Barber drove her penalty kick off the post and the glove of keeper Katie Ehlers, which kept the match scoreless in the 15th minute.
Ales Faraone had a half-chance stopped by Ehlers' counterpart, Sari Eisen moments later.
But some carelessness in the Maine West end provided the visitors, specifically Haas, a chance to strike.
The sophomore bended her right-footed angled free kick into the far inside netting.
That was followed up by Harlan's sublime touch past Ehlers after Katie Marquardt played a marvelous ball from the far touchline onto the foot of the sophomore Harlan.
More trouble in the Maine West end allowed Neal, on the turn, to drive her attempt into the back of the net from 12 yards.
Suddenly, the Warriors were up against it.
"Julia is normally a defender for us, but she gave us a great second goal,"Grady said. "Then Sarah Neal got us that third one very quickly, to give us control. We needed that in order to advance into the championship match and to give our seniors four straight division titles."
Much to the credit of Bishop, and his club, Maine West did not give in.
It played the second half with a lot of energy even when the Warriors head coach began to take many of his starters out for during the last quarter hour of play.
"It was out biggest game of the season, and although we didn't get the result that we had hoped for, we still did a lot of good things out there tonight," Bishop said. "And that's what we'll take with us going forward and into our final CSL North game of the season (Thursday against Glenbrook North)."