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Lake Zurich’s Daleske comes up with an amazing effort in NSC title game

By esc, 05/23/12, 1:02PM CDT

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Soccer: Lake Zurich’s Daleske comes up with an amazing effort in NSC title game

May 18, 2012 4:35PM

 

By tim froehlig

http://lakezurich.suntimes.com/sports/12510050-419/soccer-lake-zurichs-daleske-comes-up-with-an-amazing-effort-in-nsc-title-game.html#.T7b2DwsJNkg.email

In the game of soccer — perhaps more than any other sport — underclassmen often have the opportunity to contribute significantly at the varsity level.

Lake Zurich freshman goalkeeper Elanor Daleske is a shining example. Just a week following her epic shutout victory in the longest North Suburban Conference title game in history, against Vernon Hills, the magnitude of her accomplishment is still fully sinking in.

In that game, on May 10, Daleske didn’t allow a goal during 80 minutes of regulation, or during four 10-minute overtime periods. But maybe more impressive was the fact she also stopped all five penalty kicks following that, to clinch the championship in one of the sport’s most pressure-packed situations.

She also admits her brief time thus far in the spotlight is something she’s enjoyed. Yet she refuses to let it go to her head.

“I think what we accomplished as a team — and what I did — is finally starting to sink in a little bit,” Daleske said. “People have been coming up to me and congratulating me, and it’s a great feeling. But at the same time, now I need to keep up that reputation, because people are gonna expect that (kind of performance) from me all the time. I know I’m only a freshman, but I want to do my best to help keep that success going for the next three years of my life.”

The funny thing is, Daleske wasn’t even on the Bears varsity roster at the start of the season.

“She was going to be a field player for our sophomore team,” Lake Zurich coach Mike Castronova said. “She was on our sophomore team for three or four days, and our goalie got injured and had to have ACL surgery. So we had her come in and try out as a goalie for us. Now, several months later, here we are in a situation where she’s exceeded everyone’s expectations.

In her second game of the season, against Fremd, Daleske got hit in the chin by an opposing player, and needed seven stitches. Just a few days later, in the Bears very next game, she was back out there is if nothing had happened.

“Her determination to succeed is one of the first things we noticed about her,” Castronova said. “As a freshman, there were a lot of expectations put on her and the rest of the team, and the way they’ve stepped up and met so many of those goals has been a great thing to see.”

Daleske is one of three freshmen on the LZ roster, which also includes three sophomores. She’s been playing since kindergarten, and been a goalie since second grade.

“In the four years I’ve been here (three as an assistant, one as head coach), we’ve had freshmen on the team three of those years. We knew we had a good group of young players coming in before the start of the season based on things we’d seen from games at the club level — and while some of the girls were playing in middle school. In a lot of cases, these girls are coming into high school and they’re really ready to play. Elanor is a good example of that.”

In addition to her standout season and performance in the NSC title game, Daleske plays at the club level for Ela Soccer, was a member of the sophomore basketball team, and played volleyball for the Bears in the fall. She credits a portion of her success to the work she’s done with her club coach, Richard Drake.

“He was joking with me after we won the division title game that my success was all because of the time he spent working with me,” Daleske said. “But seriously, he’s taught me a lot about being a goalie ... and he’s always reminding me about how practice makes perfect. So I owe a huge thanks to him.”

The news got even better for Daleske on Monday. That’s when she found out she was one of seven LZ players to be named to the NSC all-conference team.

Joining her on the all-conference squad were seniors Maisie Cox and Catalina Abad; juniors Vanesa Abad, Danielle Tassi and Katie McCullough; and sophomore Meaghan Gelinas. Freshman Nicole Rasiarmos was listed as an honorable mention selection.

Additionally, Cox, Gelinas and Vanesa Abad (the team’s leading scorer in total points) were honored as all-sectional players.

 

On the secedule: The third-seeded Bears were scheduled to play No. 2 seed Cary-Grove, in the semifinal round of the IHSA Class 3A Lake Zurich regional Wednesday.

If LZ wins, they would play for the regional championship on Friday, May 18 at 6 p.m., against the winner of the game between top seed Barrington, and No. 4 seed Round Lake. That game, if necessary, would also take place at Lake Zurich High School.