Kaspi makes most of change,
leads New Trier past Bartlett
Switch to forward nets hat trick as Trevian post 5-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NORTHFIELD -- New Trier has subtly made positions malleable, like an artist who shapes and molds forms to specific ends. The Trevians have so much depth, versatility and skill, the players are remarkably fluid and interchangeable.
Players also like the freedom and exhilaration of trying something new. It changes up the normal rhythm and forces players to adjust and adapt on the run.
With elite freshman Emma Weaver unavailable and sophomore midfielder Lily Conley protecting a minor injury, New Trier coach Jim Burnside played around with positions.
Nicole Kaspi was ecstatic at the possibilities. “I don’t normally play forward,” the junior said. “I am a midfielder, but I am thankful Burnside put me in the role and I was able to play with Hannah (Arment) a lot. She was able to find me. I think it’s very important to be versatile and play anywhere.”
Kaspi registered a personal best three goals and Arment contributed a goal and two assists as the no. 3 Trevians blitzed Bartlett 5-0 Saturday to win its group play and advance to the championship quarterfinals of the Naperville Invitational.
The Trevians advance to play unbeaten and fifth-ranked Geneva in the quarterfinal round Thursday. New Trier has won three-consecutive Class 3A state championships but has not won the state’s most prestigious tournament since 2010.
“What is wonderful about this season in particular is that we have a lot of different players who score goals,” Burnside said. “We move the ball around. Our last game (against Oak Park and River Forest) six different goalscorers scored. Today Nicole steps into a different positions and scores a hat trick. This team looks to each other, and they are not surprised when somebody new scores.”
The Trevians graduated 11 from last year’s dynastic senior class that was the cornerstone of the three-consecutive title teams, including high Division I recruits Kelly Maday, Celia Frei and Bina Sapai.
Kaspi represents a new dynamic -- players who have almost effortlessly made the transition from complementary players to featured performers.
“Everybody is stepping up to a new role for the most part,” Kaspi said. “I think we have all taken it to a new advantage. There is a feeling: ‘That is what they did last year, and this is what we are going to do this year.’ We are trying to remember what happened the last couple of years and trying to repeat it.”
Junior defender Sydney Parker also epitomizes the aspect of the positionally fluid player. She has a finely honed instinct on set pieces. She started the scoring with a header of an Avery Schuldt corner kick in the eighth minute for the Trevians (13-1-0).
“I think it’s really important for us to have different things we offer, with restarts or starting in the back and passing it up the midfielders and forwards and trying to attack it that way,” Parker said. “I am most comfortable in the back. If the ball is at my feet and I have time and space I will pass it to the forwards.”
The early New Trier lead notwithstanding, Bartlett mounted a very strong initial response. Two junior midfielders, Jenna Dombrowski and Jessica Mirsky, worked particularly well at applying pressure on the Trevians’ back. Mirsky slotted a ball to the right edge that gave Dombrowski a dangerous opportunity until New Trier keeper Katy Symanietz thwarted the angle.
“I thought in the first half there we definitely had a good fight there,” Dombrowski said. “I think we started to put our heads down as they started to rack up a few more goals. It was hard to keep our heads up, and we could not get that fight back.”
Bartlett coach Vince DiNuzzo said New Trier’s style proved especially difficult for the Hawks to get a proper handle against.
“I really thought they played a different brand of soccer,” he said. “It was a very direct style, and we struggled up-top, and we struggled with our transitions. I thought it was very back-and-forth in the first half until we let up that second goal. We had too many mistakes in the back. When you have crucial errors like we had in the back, it is very hard to recover against a team like that.”
Arment and Kaspi worked their magic together in the 23rd minute. Arment moved the ball into the middle and played a ball over the top to Kaspi, who brought the ball down and made a quick pirouette and roundhouse kick inside the upper right corner.
“I was able to play if off my chest and then just twirl around and get it to the upper right corner,” said Kaspi, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match.
“I thought Bartlett was a really good team,” Kaspi said. “I think we did a very good job of finishing our chances and being unselfish and that really worked to our advantage. That was the difference in the game. We were able to match up with them and finish our chances.”
Most problematic for the Hawks was that their own attack lost its edge. The runs Dombrowski made earlier in the half failed to materialize as New Trier increasingly dominated possession time and prevented Bartlett from developing any really cohesive opportunities the balance of the first half.
“We have played a lot of possession-oriented teams, and we have definitely seen the style of teams hitting it and running onto it,” Dombrowski said. “They had a mixture of goals. They had some really talented forwards, and they always tried to find them with those balls in the air. We had a hard time adjusting to that.”
Arment and Kaspi clicked again in the 29th minute, with Kaspi running wide left off an Arment advance and connecting after the pass with another strong finish for a 3-0 lead. Arment recorded her goal in the 37th minute for a commanding 4-0 New Trier lead at the break.
“We have definitely gotten more dynamic as the season has gone on, which is I think the best thing we have improved upon,” Arment said. “We lost a lot of great players last year. The returning players realized at the start of the year, we had to step up. It’s a whole new game for a lot of us now. You come out stronger and see the game in a whole different way. I try to use what I learned last year from Bina and Kelly.
“I am just trying to be a leader out there -- battle up-top and distribute.”
Bartlett competed hard but could not solve the Trevians’ talented backline. Junior defender Alyssa Modugno had the team’s best scoring opportunity on a free kick in the 73rd minute that bounded off the post.
“We have been struggling, which is very concerning right now with an important conference game with South Elgin on Tuesday,” DiNuzzo said. “The positive right now is that we are healthy. We are going to try and learn from this game. If we are going to reach any of our goals, we are going to have to play much better.”
Kaspi earned her first hat trick with the lone second half goal.
“It has taken us time, and we have spent a lot of practice learning how to come together,” Kaspi said. “Today’s game was a perfect example of how we are starting to come to know each other.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK: Teagan Noesen
D: Alyssa Modugno
D: Miranda Hedeen
D: Paige Bednarke
D: Makenna Hughes
MF: Maddie Donnelly
MF: Jenna Dombrowski
MF: Jessica Mirsky
F: Brooke Bednarke
F: Tabitha Evans
F: Sarah Jurek
New Trier
GK: Katy Symanietz
D: Megan Murdoch
D: Caroline Iserloth
D: Sam Urban
D: Sydney Parker
MF: Avery Schuldt
MF: Hope Baisley
MF: Heidi Bianucci
F: Nicole Kaspi
F: Hannah Arment
F: Whitney Hoban
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Nicole Kaspi, jr., F, New Trier
leads New Trier past Bartlett
Switch to forward nets hat trick as Trevian post 5-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NORTHFIELD -- New Trier has subtly made positions malleable, like an artist who shapes and molds forms to specific ends. The Trevians have so much depth, versatility and skill, the players are remarkably fluid and interchangeable.
Players also like the freedom and exhilaration of trying something new. It changes up the normal rhythm and forces players to adjust and adapt on the run.
With elite freshman Emma Weaver unavailable and sophomore midfielder Lily Conley protecting a minor injury, New Trier coach Jim Burnside played around with positions.
Nicole Kaspi was ecstatic at the possibilities. “I don’t normally play forward,” the junior said. “I am a midfielder, but I am thankful Burnside put me in the role and I was able to play with Hannah (Arment) a lot. She was able to find me. I think it’s very important to be versatile and play anywhere.”
Kaspi registered a personal best three goals and Arment contributed a goal and two assists as the no. 3 Trevians blitzed Bartlett 5-0 Saturday to win its group play and advance to the championship quarterfinals of the Naperville Invitational.
The Trevians advance to play unbeaten and fifth-ranked Geneva in the quarterfinal round Thursday. New Trier has won three-consecutive Class 3A state championships but has not won the state’s most prestigious tournament since 2010.
“What is wonderful about this season in particular is that we have a lot of different players who score goals,” Burnside said. “We move the ball around. Our last game (against Oak Park and River Forest) six different goalscorers scored. Today Nicole steps into a different positions and scores a hat trick. This team looks to each other, and they are not surprised when somebody new scores.”
The Trevians graduated 11 from last year’s dynastic senior class that was the cornerstone of the three-consecutive title teams, including high Division I recruits Kelly Maday, Celia Frei and Bina Sapai.
Kaspi represents a new dynamic -- players who have almost effortlessly made the transition from complementary players to featured performers.
“Everybody is stepping up to a new role for the most part,” Kaspi said. “I think we have all taken it to a new advantage. There is a feeling: ‘That is what they did last year, and this is what we are going to do this year.’ We are trying to remember what happened the last couple of years and trying to repeat it.”
Junior defender Sydney Parker also epitomizes the aspect of the positionally fluid player. She has a finely honed instinct on set pieces. She started the scoring with a header of an Avery Schuldt corner kick in the eighth minute for the Trevians (13-1-0).
“I think it’s really important for us to have different things we offer, with restarts or starting in the back and passing it up the midfielders and forwards and trying to attack it that way,” Parker said. “I am most comfortable in the back. If the ball is at my feet and I have time and space I will pass it to the forwards.”
The early New Trier lead notwithstanding, Bartlett mounted a very strong initial response. Two junior midfielders, Jenna Dombrowski and Jessica Mirsky, worked particularly well at applying pressure on the Trevians’ back. Mirsky slotted a ball to the right edge that gave Dombrowski a dangerous opportunity until New Trier keeper Katy Symanietz thwarted the angle.
“I thought in the first half there we definitely had a good fight there,” Dombrowski said. “I think we started to put our heads down as they started to rack up a few more goals. It was hard to keep our heads up, and we could not get that fight back.”
Bartlett coach Vince DiNuzzo said New Trier’s style proved especially difficult for the Hawks to get a proper handle against.
“I really thought they played a different brand of soccer,” he said. “It was a very direct style, and we struggled up-top, and we struggled with our transitions. I thought it was very back-and-forth in the first half until we let up that second goal. We had too many mistakes in the back. When you have crucial errors like we had in the back, it is very hard to recover against a team like that.”
Arment and Kaspi worked their magic together in the 23rd minute. Arment moved the ball into the middle and played a ball over the top to Kaspi, who brought the ball down and made a quick pirouette and roundhouse kick inside the upper right corner.
“I was able to play if off my chest and then just twirl around and get it to the upper right corner,” said Kaspi, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match.
“I thought Bartlett was a really good team,” Kaspi said. “I think we did a very good job of finishing our chances and being unselfish and that really worked to our advantage. That was the difference in the game. We were able to match up with them and finish our chances.”
Most problematic for the Hawks was that their own attack lost its edge. The runs Dombrowski made earlier in the half failed to materialize as New Trier increasingly dominated possession time and prevented Bartlett from developing any really cohesive opportunities the balance of the first half.
“We have played a lot of possession-oriented teams, and we have definitely seen the style of teams hitting it and running onto it,” Dombrowski said. “They had a mixture of goals. They had some really talented forwards, and they always tried to find them with those balls in the air. We had a hard time adjusting to that.”
Arment and Kaspi clicked again in the 29th minute, with Kaspi running wide left off an Arment advance and connecting after the pass with another strong finish for a 3-0 lead. Arment recorded her goal in the 37th minute for a commanding 4-0 New Trier lead at the break.
“We have definitely gotten more dynamic as the season has gone on, which is I think the best thing we have improved upon,” Arment said. “We lost a lot of great players last year. The returning players realized at the start of the year, we had to step up. It’s a whole new game for a lot of us now. You come out stronger and see the game in a whole different way. I try to use what I learned last year from Bina and Kelly.
“I am just trying to be a leader out there -- battle up-top and distribute.”
Bartlett competed hard but could not solve the Trevians’ talented backline. Junior defender Alyssa Modugno had the team’s best scoring opportunity on a free kick in the 73rd minute that bounded off the post.
“We have been struggling, which is very concerning right now with an important conference game with South Elgin on Tuesday,” DiNuzzo said. “The positive right now is that we are healthy. We are going to try and learn from this game. If we are going to reach any of our goals, we are going to have to play much better.”
Kaspi earned her first hat trick with the lone second half goal.
“It has taken us time, and we have spent a lot of practice learning how to come together,” Kaspi said. “Today’s game was a perfect example of how we are starting to come to know each other.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK: Teagan Noesen
D: Alyssa Modugno
D: Miranda Hedeen
D: Paige Bednarke
D: Makenna Hughes
MF: Maddie Donnelly
MF: Jenna Dombrowski
MF: Jessica Mirsky
F: Brooke Bednarke
F: Tabitha Evans
F: Sarah Jurek
New Trier
GK: Katy Symanietz
D: Megan Murdoch
D: Caroline Iserloth
D: Sam Urban
D: Sydney Parker
MF: Avery Schuldt
MF: Hope Baisley
MF: Heidi Bianucci
F: Nicole Kaspi
F: Hannah Arment
F: Whitney Hoban
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Nicole Kaspi, jr., F, New Trier