By Michael Wojtychiw
EVANSTON — It’s always going to be a barnburner when Evanston and New Trier meet.
In soccer, the rivalry between the two soccer programs has escalated. The teams consistently fight for Central Suburban League South Division titles. They last faced off in the state tournament in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
The large crowd at Evanston’s Lazier Field was in for a special treat Friday night when the Trevians and Wildkits renewed their second-season rivalry for a sectional title.
In the regular-season, New Trier defeated the Wildkits 2-1. The playoffs found a matching result but with a lot more drama. Noa Boeing’s goal in the first overtime gave the Trevians their 10th sectional in the last 12 years.
“I thought Noa Boeing, who scored that goal, played maybe the game of her life,” New Trier coach Jim Burnside said. “She played penalty spot to penalty spot all night long for 100 minutes. She just was astounding tonight.”
For Boeing, the goal was a redemption as well — she knocked in Evanston’s goal on an own-goal.
When it came to her game-winner in the 89th minute, she was locked in.
“I think I got a touch off a throw-in and tried to flick it on, but I headed it really far up, and they (Evanston) weren’t ready for it,” Boeing said. “I mishit again, but it came back to me. Then I just hit it as hard as I could and good thing it went in.
“I was really excited. It was an awesome way to bounce back from the own-goal in the first half. That really got in my head. Burnside talked to me and told me to have the mind of a goldfish, forget it. That really helped.”
Much like in their sectional semifinal against Lane, the Trevians (24-1-1) had a plethora of offensive opportunities throughout the game.
Evanston keeper Kanako Wagner made five saves in the first half. They included a stop when she came out to neutralize Bea Cirulis on an opportunity that was created by a beautiful through-ball by Quinn Brahm with just over 10 minutes left in the opening half.
However, also like its semifinal, New Trier failed to find the back of the net for a good portion of the time.
Down 1-0 after the 31st-minute mishap, the Trevians came out of the break looking like a team that wanted to make a statement.
In the first 12 minutes of the second half, they had five shots either go just high or wide and had two denied by Wagner.
New Trier got a big break with 21:55 remaining in regulation, when Evanston saw a player sent off for the remainder of the game.
The Trevians took advantage of that one-player advantage. Quickly.
Twenty-seven seconds later, junior Addy Randall collected a header from Catherine Shean, maneuvered her way in the box until she could turn and put a shot away to tie the game.
Evanston didn’t drop its head and kept working.
“I liked how the girls responded, they fought until the end,” manager Stacy Salgado said.
A big part of the Evanston’s success has come from the play of Leah George.
The sophomore forward wreaked havoc on defenses, using her speed and playmaking ability to create chances for herself and her teammates.
A good example of that came a minute after Randall’s goal. George got the ball in space, got past her initial defender and made a cut toward the goal.
The Trevians defense recovered and was able to thwart the opportunity to keep the score level at 1. It was, however, an example of the danger George presents.
“After we scored, we decided that I would drop back and start fronting her,” Boeing said speaking of the Trevians strategy. “I was trying to win the ball, not letting her touch it. When she gets on the ball, it’s hard to contain her.
“We thought it was best to put two on her to slow her down.”
George had three more opportunities between the 62nd and 72nd minutes, including two breathtaking ones.
With 15:32 remaining, she hit the crossbar. The ball ricocheted back into the field of play but no follow-up shot was found.
Then with 8:33 left in regulation, George got to the right side of the box and fired a laser beam that curved toward the goal. The strike forced Trevians standout keeper Annie Fowler to come out and make a sprawling, mid-air save to preserving the stalemate.
When regulation turned to overtime, New Trier took over.
The Trevians earned three corners in the first three minutes of the first overtime period alone and kept the onslaught going, putting six shots on goal in the extra periods including Boeing’s game-winner and later a shot from Randall that hit the post.
“Our kids have great fitness,” Burnside said. “They took a breath after halftime, and there were some nerves. But … there was some screaming, yelling and laughing, and I thought, ‘I can build on this.’ We went into the second half with some confidence, and getting to the overtime there was a real sense of ‘We’re going to do this.’”
Added Boeing: “I think we’re a really well-conditioned team. It’s something we worked on through the preseason, in the week before playoffs. Being well-conditioned means you can outrun teams in overtime even when it’s hot. We were just focused on winning the balls, keeping them in their half.”
Despite playing down a player for nearly 40 minutes, the Wildkits never gave up the fight.
“They got the first goal in overtime, so they started to change their play, holding a lot of people back and sending balls toward us,” George said. “When that happens, it’s hard to get up and get those same chances we did earlier in the game. When it was tied, they’re looking to attack, so it gave me more space to attack.”
Evanston (11-8-2) put together an unforgettable season against top-notch competition.
“This was a very new group. We only have four seniors,” Salgado said. “It was great to see them piece things together as the year went along, it was fun to see the group they became.”
“A big part was the diversity,” George said. “We connected with each other through culture, school. It’s like a family.
“A lot of us have played club together. So, coming into high school, a lot of us know each other and having those webs of knowing each other brings us together even more. Out of the group we have, someone knows somebody else, so that brings us more together.”
With the win, New Trier moves to the Class 3A Supersectional at Dominican University on Tuesday to face Hinsdale Central at 5 p.m. The two teams faced off earlier this season as part of the Ed Watson Naperville Invitational. The Trevians came out on top 3-1 April 30.
Starting lineups
Evanston
GK: Kanako Wagner
D: Damilola Adeniyi
D: Harper Wesenberg
D: Olivia Jean-Pierre
D: Maizlyn Kelly
MF: Sophia Hunwick
MF: Ella Dunlap
MF: Maya Klein
F: Kylie Pressoir
F: Leah George
F: Bridget Durkin
New Trier
GK: Annie Fowler
D: Xena Cadet
D: Claire Gallagher
D: Chloe Jacobi
MF: Addy Randall
MF: Noa Boeing
MF: Brooke Zabel
MF: Eleni Kanellos
F: Dami Balogun
F: London McCaffery
F: Quinn Brahm
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Noa Boeing, jr., MF, New Trier
Scoring summary
First half
E: own-goal, 32nd minute
Second half
NT: Addy Randall (unassisted), 59th minute
First overtime
NT: Noa Boeing (unassisted), 89th
Second overtime
No scoring
Michael Wojtychiw 