Deerfield’s Katie Morgan couldn’t help but entertain thoughts about the future Monday night.
The senior defender said the Warriors’ 2-0 victory against visiting Rolling Meadows was the ideal way to begin a season full of promise.
“It’s a great start to our season, a very strong start,” Morgan said. “If this is our start, I can only imagine what the finish line will look like.”
Deerfield lost 2-0 to St. Viator in a Class 2A sectional championship game last June, and Morgan, for one, wants more.
“The goal this year is to make it as far as we can,” she said. “Our expectations are very high, and we’re looking for revenge this year.”
The Warriors, who welcome back 10 starters from last season, have plenty of offensive talent. But the back line might be the key to a long playoff run, according to coach Rich Grady.
On Monday, Deerfield scored two goals in the first half while limiting the Mustangs to a handful of shots.
“We scored a lot of goals last year, had a lot of chances tonight,” he said. “But the reality is you have to win a playoff game 1-0. We have to lock things better defensively, and tonight was a good step.”
It starts with Morgan.
“Katie Morgan played as a freshman, and her vocal leadership and ability to coordinate things back there was very impressive at a young age,” Grady said. “She stood out doing that right away, so it’s always nice to have her back there. She makes everyone else around her better.”
Morgan, who plans to play in college, said it wasn’t easy getting to that point.
“I had to climb my way up the ladder,” she said. “Looking back, I had to do double sessions and work twice as hard and put in extra hours. I think it has paid off.”
The Warriors’ hard work didn’t pay off immediately Monday. Senior forward Riley Schimanski scored the first goal of the season after the team missed three quality shots in the first 10 minutes.
“I just one-timed it on the ground, so it felt good to go one-up right away and give us some momentum,” Schimanski said.
Junior defender Katie Denison scored on a tap-in off a corner kick to provide a cushion with 11:33 left in the first half. It was her first career goal.
“I think we played really well together and had a lot of good combinations and one-touches, and we were able to get some good crosses,” Denison said.
Rolling Meadows junior goalkeeper Caroline Ciccone prevented a blowout by making several athletic stops. She finished with 13 saves.
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Deerfield freshman forward Aubrey Galvan made her presence felt in her varsity soccer debut. She joined the team after the Warriors’ basketball season ended, having averaged 11.1 points, 4.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 3.7 steals as a starting guard for the sectional finalists. Late in the second half Monday, she knocked down a Rolling Meadows player with a hip check.
Grady said having a large number of returning players and new ones like Galvan and freshmen Ryane Emory and Caroline McAnally bodes well for the season.
Schimanski (20 goals), sophomore midfielder Emily Fox (17 goals) and senior midfielder Holly Deutsch (17 goals) headline a group that combined to score 54 goals last year.
“We believe we have the deepest and most talented team we’ve ever had,” Grady said. “Our goal is to challenge ourselves throughout the season and make sure we’re playing our best when we get to the postseason.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.