NORTHFIELD – The Northside College Showcase is routinely one of the best in-season tournaments in the boys season. With half the teams ranked from no. 3 to no. 9 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, the tournament offers a good early test for all eight teams as they search for their identities.
Two of the ranked squads, no. 6 Loyola and no. 9 New Trier met in a neighborhood rivalry match Tuesday in Northfield. Both teams were 1-0-0 in the tournament after the opening day of competition Saturday: the Trevians defeated Grayslake Central; the Ramblers defeated no. 7 Libertyville.
Junior midfielder/forward Evan Kanellos made sure that only New Trier remained undefeated in the pool after the Tuesday night game.
New Trier keeper Aidan Crawford gets ready to send the ball downfield against Loyola. Photos by Michael Wojtychiw
Kanellos, the lone sophomore on the 2021’s spring season team, assisted on the Trevians’ first goal and scored the game-winner off of a free kick seven minutes into the second half en route to the praise of his mates and Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
“That (free kick) is something he’s been working on in training,” New Trier manager Matt Ravenscraft said. “Early on in the season, we want the ball on frame and force the goalie have to make a play. We actually haven’t been really dangerous off our set pieces in the first two games, so it’s something we’ve worked on and executed well tonight.”
“That (first goal) was huge for us,” Kanellos said. “It got the crowd going, gave us momentum.
“We gave up some momentum (after their goal) but knew we could get it back.”
Evanston’s Adriana Merriam and New Trier’s Annie Paden battle for the ball in the midfield. Photos by Michael Wojtychiw
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].
New Trier’s Caroline Finnigan looks for a teammate downfield.
Evanston’s Breayln Viamille makes a move toward the goal.
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
New Trier’s Mia Sedgwick follows the ball in a game against Evanston. Photos by Michael Wojtychiw
By Michael Wojtychiw
NORTHFIELD — Evanston and New Trier have arguably one of the best rivalries in the state. Both teams consistently fight for Central Suburban League South Division supremacy in pretty much every sport, making the rivalry even bigger.
The two teams came into Wednesday evening’s matchup atop the conference standings: the Trevians at 6-0-1; the Wildkits at 4-1-2. The fact that the Trevians handed Evanston its only loss of the year — overall and in conference — made May 20th’s game even bigger. And it didn’t disappoint.
NORTHFIELD – What do you get when you match up two teams with campuses located a mere 0.7 miles away from each other and feature multiple players who have played on the same club teams for years?
You get a tough, physical matchup that had double-digit fouls en route to a hard-earned 1-1 result between New Trier and Loyola, that’s what.
After dropping games to Glenbrook South and Evanston and tying Niles West last week to start Central Suburban League South Division play, the Hawks needed to get back in the win column. They started the year 5-0-1 in nonconference action.
But to do that, they’d have to go through Chicagoland Soccer’s top-ranked team, New Trier, which was coming off its first loss of the year Monday night, a 1-0 decision to third-ranked Warren.
NORTHFIELD — New Trier came into Thursday’s Central Suburban League South Division matchup with Glenbrook South with the gaudy 9-0-0 record and the top spot in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
That, however, doesn’t mean that the Trevians aren’t asking questions about themselves. How can they improve? New Trier searches for that answer every time its steps onto the pitch.
The team got some of the answers it was looking for, especially in the second half, as it took down the visiting Titans 3-0 on a chilly April Fools’ Day.
“We showed how we can play against a physical opponent that wouldn’t let up,” New Trier senior midfielder Zach Moskowitz said. “This is probably one of the best defenses we’ve played. They’re very physical, very organized in the midfield and kept working. We kept our composure and got the breakthrough eventually.”
“They pressed really hard the whole time and didn’t give us time to do anything with the ball,” Glenbrook South junior Owen Beumer said. “We tried to play it out, and they’d stop it right away. We’d play a long ball, and they’d win it in the back. They’re really good 1-on-1 defenders.”
This edition of the Trevians, which according to coach Matt Ravenscraft may be the strongest he’s had in his tenure as head coach, has been a force on offense, outscoring their opponents 35-4 after Thursday’s win.
New Trier had a prime opportunity to break the ice in the fourth minute. Glenbrook South keeper Colin Morse missed a long send from the Trevians, and the ball rolled behind him. Krueger tried but couldn’t catch up, before it went over the endline just wide of the goal.
That wasn’t the only opportunity the Trevians had in the first half. Krueger just missed on a shot that hit the post, and another went wide left after he forced a turnover.
But it wasn’t only the Trevians (10-0-0, 2-0-0) who had opportunities in the first half. After settling in after the first 10 minutes or so, Glenbrook South (3-4-0, 0-2-0) had shots from Beumer and Arturo Moyo that were thwarted by New Trier keeper Aidan Crawford. A shot by Jeffrey Keating went high after he created a turnover.
“We need to finish our opportunities that we have on goal,” Beumer said. “We missed three in the first 10 minutes and if we put at least one of those in, it changes everyone’s mindset.”
Going into halftime, with the score 0-0, both teams knew that if they wanted to pull out the conference win, they needed to get something going.
“We just wanted to win,” New Trier senior midfielder Will Franzen said. “We emphasized that to each other; we huddled up, told each other to trust each other.”
“We noticed they (GBS) had a high line, so we told the front three to make runs in behind,” Moskowitz said. “Even if they didn’t get it, it’d push their defense and give more space for some of the other guys to operate.”
After each team had multiple opportunities in the first 10 minutes, New Trier’s Franzen was finally able to capitalize with 24 minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the match.
One team has won 10 field hockey state championships, including two of the last three; the other just had its best finish in 20 years, with a fourth-place finish in last year’s state tournament.
Four years ago, the New Trier boys lacrosse program saw one if its best players, Ben Connelly, graduate and head east to play at Tufts University. That following season, a new No. 32 (Connelly’s New Trier jersey number) arrived on campus — freshman Henry Scherb. Fast forward four years and Scherb will once again be following in Connelly’s footsteps, as he goes to Massachusetts to play for the Jumbos starting in the fall.
Coming off its best finish at the state meet since 2015, the New Trier boys cross country team was ready to show that last season’s 10th-place showing wasn’t a fluke.
The coronavirus pandemic prompted the Illinois High School Association to cancel all of the state’s spring sports. For much of the summer, it looked like the IHSA was going to do the same with fall sports.
Michael Wojtychiw 