New Trier takes down game Prospect
Trevians complete 1st step toward 4th-straight title with 6-2 win
By Mike Garofola
MOUNT PROSPECT -- Maybe regionals should no longer be referred to with the host school's name when New Trier is playing in it. Just name it after the Trevians, who won an unprecedented 16th-straight regional title after overwhelming Prospect 6-2 Friday in George Gattas Memorial Stadium.
However, New Trier, ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, survived an early storm thrown at them by the Lady Knights (8-10-2) who did not play the first quarter hour as if it was a sizeable underdog.
"We didn't come close to matching their energy during the first 15 minutes or more," said Trevians manager Jim Burnside. "(Credit) them for doing so, and shame on us for not realizing (that) at this time of the year that's a mistake like that can cost you dearly."
"Oh yeah, (Burnside) reminded us of (that) at the break," began MVP of the Match Nicole Kaspi, whose double enabled her club to dominate the proceedings once it got on its front foot.
"I'm not sure why we started too slow today. Maybe it begins with our warm-up, or just our own individual preparation, but next week it gets bigger and tougher with each step, so we've got to be ready to go at that opening whistle."
The home side made the three-time defending Class 3A state champs pay for their missteps during the early exchanges on one of a handful of well-executed counters, which were the weak link in the Trevians tactical game, in the first twenty minutes or so.
Prospect opened with a modified 4-2-4-1 formation, sitting two defensive midfielders in front of its back four. It enforced this defensive stance directive issued by manager Tom Froats quite well leading up to Shawna Stokes' opening score in the 13th minute.
"Our plan all along was to try to play as well as we could in our own end, and not allow an athletic and talented team like New Trier to play fast, and get balls in (behind) our backline," began Froats.
"I thought we did a real good job with that when we found the first goal, I thought the momentum would shift a little in our direction, but instead, our play kind of let up, and that's when New Trier put three fairly quick ones in on us."
Stokes' marvelous strike finished off an Aby Kolber helper from the right side. But the Trevians long-standing reputation of having long-range free kick specialists delivered when Sydney Parker drove in her 35-yard attempt off the gloves of keeper Gianna Rossi at 17 minutes.
Soon after the Lady Knights faithful howled in disbelief when they thought goalkeeper Katy Symanietz brought down Ella Marzolf in the box. In fact, the Trevians keeper did well in her tackle and dashed the hopes of the home side after Ashley Welk and Jalyn Mosley helped put their teammate through.
That sequence was the end of Prospect's chances for the rest of the first period with constant raids from the visitors helping put the Lady Knights under until the scoreboard read 4-1 at the intermission.
Heidi Bianucci, who nearly put one in with a left-footed 25-yard cracker just moments after she was brought on, signaled the start of three unanswered goals from the Trevians.
Hope Baisley was left alone near the spot took the easy opportunity and made it easy for the senior to put the Trevians ahead at 25 minutes, before Kaspi' side-footed one-timer off a lovely Avery Schuldt cross from an unmarked position made it 3-1 four minutes later.
"I had the easy part, just put a great cross into the net. (The) same was true on my other one in the second half," said Kaspi, who made both of her sublime touches sound easier then they appeared.
Ashley Welk's half chance was easily saved by Symanietz just after the Kaspi goal and was followed by more than a dozen Trevians corners and deep-throws in the remainder of the first half. It was the last corner whipped in by Lily Conley that would find its way in.
Prospect's failure to clear the area ended when Whitney Urban slotted past a diving Rossi in a crowded penalty area.
"We had our troubles in the last half of the first half with the pressure from (their) ability to win 50-50 balls in our end, and nearly every other challenge which kept us from getting out," said Froats.
"They are so good at that. And that's one thing we really had hoped to keep to a minimum in order to be at 1-1, or 2-1 at the break to give us a chance."
The Trevians possessed well while playing quick and using width after the intermission, but when the Lady Knights pulled one back off another counter, Burnside and his staff were not amused.
"We let our guard down all day on their counter, and for the second time it would end up in the back of our net. It's something we just cannot do from here on out," said the manager.
Symanietz pushed a wicked strike from Mosley up and off the bar - but when the ball spilled free - an opportunistic Marzolf was there to make it 4-2 at 64 minutes.
"We've got to clean some things up before our sectional semifinal next week," admitted senior defender Sam Urban.
The Marzolf goal gave the Lady Knights some life to their attack and for the next 5-7 minutes it was the visitors who were put under pressure. Marzolf and her mates Welk, Mosley, Faith Fitzsimmons and others were inspired by their second goal of this contest.
However, Prospect's match-long battle was undone for good with a pair of quick strikes -- Kaspi, then Urban from Schuldt, scored within two minutes.
"It was a good result, but statistics show that 90% of the time when you concede the first goal, you end up with a loss," began Urban.
"It's important to set the tone right away - even if it doesn't come from scoring a goal. And that's something we really did not do tonight.
"Credit Prospect, they played hard and with a lot of heart. But with all due respect to them, our next opponent will be even better, and we cannot afford a let down if we hope to continue to advance."
Next up for the Trevians will be Glenbrook South (18-4-0) in the 4:30 p.m. semifinal Tuesday at the Glenbrook North Sectional.
Urban and her mates hope for a result that mirrors their 2-1 home win over Glenbrook South on May 2.
Prospect should be proud of a historic footnote to its performance. The Knights broke New Trier's streak of 22-straight playoff shutouts. And the future is bright in Mount Prospect with nine of the first 11 scheduled to return next spring.
"I could not be more proud of the girls. They played and fought hard and didn't fold when they could have when it became 4-1 at the half," said Froats.
"Maybe the year didn't go the way we had hoped, but to play one of the best, if not the best in the state, as hard as we did does bode well for the future."
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK- Gianni Rossi
D- Madalyn Ladd
D- Marissa Valentini
D- Natalie Marfilius
D- Helen Slavelis
DM- Grace Johannesen
DM- Jalyn Mosley
M- Shawna Stokes
M- Ashley Welk
M- Ella Marzolf
F- Aby Kobler
New Trier
GK- Katy Symanietz
D- Megan Murdoch
D- Caroline Iserloth
D- Sydney Parker
D- Sam Urban
M- Avery Schuldt
M- Hope Baisley
M- Lily Conley
F- Hannah Arment
F- Nicole Kaspi
F- Emma Weaver
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Nicole Kaspi, jr., MF/F, New Trier
Referee: Rich Geati
Trevians complete 1st step toward 4th-straight title with 6-2 win
By Mike Garofola
MOUNT PROSPECT -- Maybe regionals should no longer be referred to with the host school's name when New Trier is playing in it. Just name it after the Trevians, who won an unprecedented 16th-straight regional title after overwhelming Prospect 6-2 Friday in George Gattas Memorial Stadium.
However, New Trier, ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, survived an early storm thrown at them by the Lady Knights (8-10-2) who did not play the first quarter hour as if it was a sizeable underdog.
"We didn't come close to matching their energy during the first 15 minutes or more," said Trevians manager Jim Burnside. "(Credit) them for doing so, and shame on us for not realizing (that) at this time of the year that's a mistake like that can cost you dearly."
"Oh yeah, (Burnside) reminded us of (that) at the break," began MVP of the Match Nicole Kaspi, whose double enabled her club to dominate the proceedings once it got on its front foot.
"I'm not sure why we started too slow today. Maybe it begins with our warm-up, or just our own individual preparation, but next week it gets bigger and tougher with each step, so we've got to be ready to go at that opening whistle."
The home side made the three-time defending Class 3A state champs pay for their missteps during the early exchanges on one of a handful of well-executed counters, which were the weak link in the Trevians tactical game, in the first twenty minutes or so.
Prospect opened with a modified 4-2-4-1 formation, sitting two defensive midfielders in front of its back four. It enforced this defensive stance directive issued by manager Tom Froats quite well leading up to Shawna Stokes' opening score in the 13th minute.
"Our plan all along was to try to play as well as we could in our own end, and not allow an athletic and talented team like New Trier to play fast, and get balls in (behind) our backline," began Froats.
"I thought we did a real good job with that when we found the first goal, I thought the momentum would shift a little in our direction, but instead, our play kind of let up, and that's when New Trier put three fairly quick ones in on us."
Stokes' marvelous strike finished off an Aby Kolber helper from the right side. But the Trevians long-standing reputation of having long-range free kick specialists delivered when Sydney Parker drove in her 35-yard attempt off the gloves of keeper Gianna Rossi at 17 minutes.
Soon after the Lady Knights faithful howled in disbelief when they thought goalkeeper Katy Symanietz brought down Ella Marzolf in the box. In fact, the Trevians keeper did well in her tackle and dashed the hopes of the home side after Ashley Welk and Jalyn Mosley helped put their teammate through.
That sequence was the end of Prospect's chances for the rest of the first period with constant raids from the visitors helping put the Lady Knights under until the scoreboard read 4-1 at the intermission.
Heidi Bianucci, who nearly put one in with a left-footed 25-yard cracker just moments after she was brought on, signaled the start of three unanswered goals from the Trevians.
Hope Baisley was left alone near the spot took the easy opportunity and made it easy for the senior to put the Trevians ahead at 25 minutes, before Kaspi' side-footed one-timer off a lovely Avery Schuldt cross from an unmarked position made it 3-1 four minutes later.
"I had the easy part, just put a great cross into the net. (The) same was true on my other one in the second half," said Kaspi, who made both of her sublime touches sound easier then they appeared.
Ashley Welk's half chance was easily saved by Symanietz just after the Kaspi goal and was followed by more than a dozen Trevians corners and deep-throws in the remainder of the first half. It was the last corner whipped in by Lily Conley that would find its way in.
Prospect's failure to clear the area ended when Whitney Urban slotted past a diving Rossi in a crowded penalty area.
"We had our troubles in the last half of the first half with the pressure from (their) ability to win 50-50 balls in our end, and nearly every other challenge which kept us from getting out," said Froats.
"They are so good at that. And that's one thing we really had hoped to keep to a minimum in order to be at 1-1, or 2-1 at the break to give us a chance."
The Trevians possessed well while playing quick and using width after the intermission, but when the Lady Knights pulled one back off another counter, Burnside and his staff were not amused.
"We let our guard down all day on their counter, and for the second time it would end up in the back of our net. It's something we just cannot do from here on out," said the manager.
Symanietz pushed a wicked strike from Mosley up and off the bar - but when the ball spilled free - an opportunistic Marzolf was there to make it 4-2 at 64 minutes.
"We've got to clean some things up before our sectional semifinal next week," admitted senior defender Sam Urban.
The Marzolf goal gave the Lady Knights some life to their attack and for the next 5-7 minutes it was the visitors who were put under pressure. Marzolf and her mates Welk, Mosley, Faith Fitzsimmons and others were inspired by their second goal of this contest.
However, Prospect's match-long battle was undone for good with a pair of quick strikes -- Kaspi, then Urban from Schuldt, scored within two minutes.
"It was a good result, but statistics show that 90% of the time when you concede the first goal, you end up with a loss," began Urban.
"It's important to set the tone right away - even if it doesn't come from scoring a goal. And that's something we really did not do tonight.
"Credit Prospect, they played hard and with a lot of heart. But with all due respect to them, our next opponent will be even better, and we cannot afford a let down if we hope to continue to advance."
Next up for the Trevians will be Glenbrook South (18-4-0) in the 4:30 p.m. semifinal Tuesday at the Glenbrook North Sectional.
Urban and her mates hope for a result that mirrors their 2-1 home win over Glenbrook South on May 2.
Prospect should be proud of a historic footnote to its performance. The Knights broke New Trier's streak of 22-straight playoff shutouts. And the future is bright in Mount Prospect with nine of the first 11 scheduled to return next spring.
"I could not be more proud of the girls. They played and fought hard and didn't fold when they could have when it became 4-1 at the half," said Froats.
"Maybe the year didn't go the way we had hoped, but to play one of the best, if not the best in the state, as hard as we did does bode well for the future."
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK- Gianni Rossi
D- Madalyn Ladd
D- Marissa Valentini
D- Natalie Marfilius
D- Helen Slavelis
DM- Grace Johannesen
DM- Jalyn Mosley
M- Shawna Stokes
M- Ashley Welk
M- Ella Marzolf
F- Aby Kobler
New Trier
GK- Katy Symanietz
D- Megan Murdoch
D- Caroline Iserloth
D- Sydney Parker
D- Sam Urban
M- Avery Schuldt
M- Hope Baisley
M- Lily Conley
F- Hannah Arment
F- Nicole Kaspi
F- Emma Weaver
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Nicole Kaspi, jr., MF/F, New Trier
Referee: Rich Geati