By Michael Wojtychiw

NORTHFIELD – “See you guys at practice tomorrow.”

Those are the words that New Trier manager Jim Burnside told his squad after his postgame meeting with his players in the shed under their stadium following a 2-0 win over rival Evanston in the Maine South Sectional championship. 

This sectional title is the seventh consecutive for the Trevians. It’s a streak that stretches back to the 2014 season, which marked the first of three-consecutive state title runs for the program.

“It was really great to say that,” Burnside said. “That’s what we tell them. We count down how many teams will be practicing, and we know only eight (Class) 3A teams will be practicing. It’s a great feeling.

“I really liked our grit today. I thought we possessed when we needed too, I thought we actually got a little better. The kids listened and adjusted as the game went on, and as this team does they grinded it out. That’s what they do.”

Friday night also marked another milestone for Illinois overall. Earlier in the day, the IHSA announced that with the state moving into Phase 5 of its COVID pandemic plan, crowd limits would no longer be in effect.

That meant that for the first time in the 2020-21 school year, stadiums were able to be at full capacity. And what better way is there to win a sectional title on your home field than in front of a raucous crowd for the first time all season?

“It was crazy to see so many fans out here tonight,” New Trier’s Morgan Fagan said. “The baseball team came in at some point (after a sectional title win over Oak Park and River Forest) and not having to wear a mask was nice. It felt normal. It was great.

“It was great having so many people out here supporting you, playing for your school. Everyone was so hyped for the win.”

“The environment was superb,” Burnside said. “Not having masks on the field was superb. I’m so happy for these kids that there’s a little bit of a normal season for these girls. They work so hard. They push themselves to be ready for this.

“They worked their tails off. We lifted a lot of weights in masks, six feet from each other, and they never once complained.”

“It’s a good feeling just to come out here and battle,” New Trier’s Mia Sedgwick said. “You realize what it’s all about, why you play. You come out and play against a good team. All the fans just make it better.”

The Trevians (20-1-4), the top seed in the sectional, and the Wildkits (16-3-3), the second seed, last faced each other May 19 when Evanston rallied late for a 2-2 tie.

That game is also the last time New Trier, its defense and keeper Wynne Hague allowed a goal.

Following that game, the Trevians were able to use what they learned in preparation for the third meeting with their CSL South rivals.

“We knew about their formation and those outside mids that were a problem for us last time. Our forwards kept pushing up, and there was no one tracking back on them,” Fagan said. “We knew that we had to cover on the weak side and cover on those. We also knew we had to match their level of intensity and aggressiveness.”

“We knew that we were going to be physical,” Sedgwick said. “Knowing that they were going to come in and come in physical and hard, especially if we go up 1-0, 2-0, we know that in that last 15, 20 minutes that they’re coming in hard. Knowing who they are, what their mentality is, really helped us know what to expect.”

“The one glaring difference is we didn’t allow any silly fouls in front of the net, because we know that they’re dangerous,” Burnside said. “Their number 14 (Nahla Dominguez) is dangerous on restarts, and we needed to make sure we didn’t give up any silly restarts.”

After much of the first half was played in the midfield with each team getting deep into the other team’s just a couple times, Fagan, the Boston University-bound midfielder/forward scored her 11th goal of the year when she took a beautiful cross from Alex Wirth and headed it past Evanston keeper Caitlin Fitzpatrick with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

For Fagan, who is playing in her first and only season of high school soccer after playing two years with her club team and the missed season last spring, the playoffs have been something she never could have imagined.

“I honestly had no expectations coming into this, I’ve never had a playoff season,” she said. “It’s more intense than I thought. We played these teams in conference, but these are nothing like conference games at all. It’s so much more intense than I ever thought.”

Evanston’s best chance in the first half came when Nahla Dominguez took aim at Hague with a free kick from the same location she converted a game-tying kick during the May 19 contest.

Unfortunately for her and the Wildkits, the ball went just high and left the Trevians in the lead.

Evanston forced Hague to make five saves on the night, three of which came off the foot of sophomore midfielder Adriana Merriam.

Merriam, Dominguez and Breaylin Viamille will return next season for Evanston. With a squad that had only five seniors on its roster, the Wildkits were able to put pressure on the Trevians defense but to no avail.

New Trier’s Kate Dobsch put the match away with just under eight minutes remaining when she tapped in a free kick from fellow senior Jenna Birdsell. Like Fagan, Dobsch is playing in her first state playoffs after playing on her club team. The Wake Forest-bound player moved up from the defense to more of a midfielder position midway through the year.

With the win, the Trevians advance to the Glenbrook North Supersectional, where they’ll face Libertyville. The Wildcats are the lone team to defeat the Trevians with a 1-0 result May 1. Since that day, the Trevians have given up only three goals — May 17 in a 2-1 win versus Glenbrook North; and the 2-2 tie against Evanston, which were the most goals the Trevians allowed in a game this season.

That team from May 1 is different than the one that Libertyville will face on Tuesday in Northbrook. 

“We’re already thinking about it,” Fagan said after the game. “We’re looking forward to practice and how it’s redemption time and we know Tuesday we want to come out and crush them. This is who we really are, and we’re here to beat you.”

“I still don’t think we’ve put together our best yet, but today was a great effort,” Burnside said. “We’ve grown into a very good soccer team, and we need to do what we do well. We need to possess; we need to attack the goal; and we need to be organized on defense.

“We need to be us. We need to be the best version of New Trier soccer. If we do that, whether things go our way or not, we’re going to have a shot at [a win].

Starting lineups

Evanston
GK: Caitlin Fitzgerald
D: Lucinda Lindland
D: Carly Menocal
D: Sarah Sollinger
MF: Sydney Ross
MF: Ruby Rogers
MF: Adriana Merriam
MF: Shayna DaSilva
MF: Nahla Dominguez
F: Brealyn Viamille
F: Nadia VanDenBerg 

New Trier
GK: Wynne Hague
D: Jenna Birdsell
D: Anna Marshall
D: Mia Sedgwick
D: Ava Shah
MF: Kate Dobsch
MF: Caroline Finnigan
MF: Annie Paden
F: Alex Wirth
F: Charlotte Dellin
F: Morgan Fagan

Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Morgan Fagan, sr., F/MF, New Trier

Scoring summary

First half
New Trier – Morgan Fagan (Alex Wirth), 29th minute

Second half
New Trier – Kate Dobsch (Jenna Birdsell), 72nd minute

https://www.chicagolandsoccer.org/gs-evanston-at-nt-6-11-21.html