It’s a bond that started before kindergarten, and it has gotten stronger than ever much to the frustration of Steinert High boys soccer opponents.
Senior defenders Elliot Morris and Jake Reilly have come up through the ranks together and were finally given the chance to play a full season together at the high school level this autumn. The result has been one of the stingiest defenses at Steinert since the Shawn Gardiner-led state championship team of 1988.
“We entered this year and they were both healthy and we got back to what we were expecting,” coach Anthony Tessein said. “Both were day one starters and, knock on wood, they’ve been healthy all year. And the two of them, with Ryan (Checkowski) have exceeded any expectations I had for them.”
As Steinert entered the Oct. 24 Colonial Valley Conference semifinals, it was 13-2-3 with 11 shutouts and had allowed just 10 goals – just over a half a goal per game.
The rocks have been Morris and Reilly, who were joined this year by Checkowski and have a formidable keeper behind them with Dennis Chaykovskyy.
After every game Tessein marvels at their instincts and anticipation of what each other will do, and that comes from years of playing together.
“Me and Jake are good friends,” Morris said. “We played with each other when we were young in the rec league, and a little bit here and there when I would play with his travel team every once in a while. But we have played together all throughout high school and I think that made our bond better.”
Reilly concurred, noting: “I’ve been playing with and around Elliot since we were four years old on the rec fields. It helps us out a lot since we know exactly what both of our strengths and weaknesses are, and we complement each other very well.”
Their paths to this season were slightly different, however.
“In the previous two years there’s been a lot of adversity for both of them,” Tessein said.
After making varsity as a sophomore, Reilly saw decent playing time and gained experience as an occasional starter in the midfield “and had a really good sophomore year,” according to Tessein.
Morris saw little time that season, but took it in stride.
“I don’t think I ever really got frustrated,” he said. “I knew that I would get my chances and that just being with the older guys and playing at practice with them would make me a better player. And the back line doesn’t get subbed in or out very much so I just knew I had to be patient.”
That patience paid off last year as both players were day one starters along with senior Liam Gardiner. But a month into the season, Reilly suffered an injury that affected his play upon returning.
“He wasn’t the same and we had kind of moved on,” Tessein said. “It was one of those Lou Gehrig-Wally Pipp things where he kind of lost his spot. I know it was difficult for him.”
Reilly admitted as much.
“Having played every minute of the first eight games to not seeing the field at all really frustrated me,” he said. “I knew I was always a starter and definitely knew I would have my spot back coming into this year. It was about keeping it and staying healthy for me.”
Tessein was impressed that Reilly did not let his disappointment get the best of him.
“He had the right attitude, he observed, he practiced hard, when the minutes came his way he put in a good shift,” the coach said. “He just had to wait his turn and his turn is this year and from day one he made it impossible to take him out of the lineup. Just like Elliott did last year.”
The result has been a slew of close, low-scoring games this season, as Steinert had allowed a season-high two goals in just one of its first 18 matches. One of the highlights came in shutting out a high-scoring Notre Dame offense in a 1-0 win.
“They’re great, they did a great job,” Irish coach Bryan Fisher said afterwards. “They play to their strengths and they’re tough to break down.”
Entering the season, the two main questions in the back were whether Morris could move from outside to center back; and could Checkowski and Chaykovskyy take over as first-year varsity starters.
Morris provided a resounding answer.
“He has done it really well,” Tessein said. “Liam looked a little calmer doing it but nothing gets past Elliot.”
Morris welcomed the move, which requires a little more awareness and communication.
“It was a bit of a change but I’ve always known that I want to be in the center and that’s where I play best,” he said. “But I just like to play the game more than anything so playing on the outside was fun. Knowing I would always play, I’d go wherever the coach wants me.”
And while Morris and Reilly had built-in chemistry, Checkowski was able to mesh nicely.
“Ryan has done a great job filling in for Liam and has been a great defender with us,” Morris said. “He fit right in that spot and I think as soon as we started playing together we all got pretty confident with how each of us plays.”
It’s a group that has allowed less than four shots on goal per game. But when an attacker does launch one, Chaykovskyy has answered the call most times. He also controls the box, which is key for a goalie.
“I feel very confident and safe when he’s back there,” Reilly said. “He’s been standing in my net since sixth grade so me and him have a great connection knowing exactly what each other wants to do with the ball.”
Tessein took it a step further.
“We don’t give up a lot of shots on frame but when Dennis is called into duty he makes the saves,” the coach said. “One of the things that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet is his ability to read crosses. He’s got great length, he covers a lot of ground. He’s tall, but his reach is incredible.
“Another thing probably underrated with Dennis is his ability with the ball at his feet, he’s very calm. There’s very few things that seem to get him rattled and you need that out of a goalkeeper to calm things down.”
Three backs and a goalie do not make up an entire defensive effort, of course. Steinert’s midfielders have done an outstanding job of keeping the ball out of the opponent’s attacking zone. But the foundation is in the back and Morris and Reilly are the anchors.
“I feel that our back line definitely sets a standard of high level defending, and that makes the midfield and the strikers defend at that higher level,” said Morris, who was actually an offensive force when he notched the assist on the game-winning goal against Lawrence in the CVCT quarterfinals.
Reilly feels a cohesiveness with the midfielders, which is important.
“I have always felt confident in the back, especially because of the connection between the back three and our midfield,” he said. “We definitely set the tone because of the way we defend and don’t allow the other team much area to work in.”
That last statement is spot on. Even when teams penetrate into the final third, good scoring chances are minimal as the back three defenders shut down the passing lanes and win their one v one battles.
Tessein said his seniors have everything needed to be a defender.
“They both win headers, they’re not afraid of contact and they’re both very fast,” he said. “When things happen they can cover for each other’s mistakes. They cover a lot of ground and they both anticipate each other really well. They work off each other so great. It helps that they are three-year varsity players. They know what I expect and they know what’s expected of the position.”
Morris feels the key to success is keeping focus.
“Being a good defender is being very patient, always moving, watching the ball and always being involved in the game,” he said.
Reilly looks at it as a right place-right time situation.
“The number one thing for me no doubt is positioning,” he said. “No matter how good, fast, or strong you are, any decent attacker can beat you if your positioning is terrible.”
One thing is certain – playing well defensively is a key to tournament success as so many games are close and low scoring that oftentimes a break can win a match. Steinert isn’t an offensive juggernaut, but will always hang around so one goal could win a game.
“It’s very important to have a great defense heading into the tournament season because we are able to play in games that maybe if we didn’t have such a great defense we wouldn’t be in all of them,” Morris said. “It usually puts us in tight games. I feel very confident and comfortable that if we go up 1-0 we can hold it until we get another goal.”
Reilly’s confidence was brimming heading into the CVCT.
“Elliot and I make sure that anyone who goes into a midfield or defensive role knows what the game plan is defensively and has an idea of what our coach expects of them in that role,” he said. “I have always known no matter who we play we will match up to them; and for them to win they will have to play their best game to get by us.”
And it’s been that way since they were 4-years-old.
Steinert soccer captains Jake Reilly, Elliot Morris and Tyler Tafrow. (Photo by Amanda Ruch.),
