New Trier's Frei steps up
against Neuqua Valley
Junior overcomes injury to give Trevians 2nd-consecutive title
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – New Trier midfielder Celia Frei went from feeling agony in her feet to making Neuqua Valley feel the agony of defeat Saturday night.
Frei, who has battled strained ligaments in the top of her right foot this spring, scored both goals in the early going to lead the Trevians to a 2-0 victory in the Class 3A state championship game at North Central College in Naperville.
The state title was the second in a row and fifth overall for New Trier (27-1-1), which did not surrender a goal during either playoff run.
“[The injury] was obviously a bummer because I missed like the first half of the season,” Frei said. “I did a ton of physical therapy.
“My ankle is wrapped in tape, and I don’t think I could play without the tape. I owe the trainer so much so that I could play tonight.”
Neuqua Valley is probably wishing the New Trier trainer had gone on vacation because Frei, a junior who had scored only three goals this season, stunned everyone by scoring 59 seconds into the game.
New Trier scoring leader Kelly Maday found Frei making a run into the top of the box and fed her a pass from the right wing. Frei fought off a defender and blasted an open shot past Neuqua Valley goalkeeper Hannah Parrish.
“It was a shock,” Frei said. “I guess I was just open at the top of the box and Kelly picked up her head and found me. I just tried to hit it in the goal and try to make the goalie make a save in the first 57 seconds.”
Parrish didn’t have much of a chance on Frei’s shot, which gave the Wildcats (19-4-2) a dose of their own medicine.
Neuqua had scored 31 seconds into their 2-0 supersectional win over Hinsdale Central and on two of its first three shots in Friday’s 3-1 semifinal win over Collinsville, the latter feat duplicated by the Trevians in this match.
“We knew that [history] and we knew they were a great opponent,” Frei said. “So we wanted to jump on them because we knew that they had done that against Collinsville.”
The Trevians probed the Neuqua VAlley defense from the get-go, with Maday trying to figure out a way to solve a back line that had given up only 13 goals this year.
“Their defense was great so we just had to test them,” Maday said. “We dribbled them a few times, couldn’t get around and then I turned and saw either a shot that I could either have taken a few touches and got something off, but I saw Celia make a great run sliding across the box.
“There was a defender kind of on her but Celia definitely put a body on her and in her mind I think she said, ‘I’m getting this ball before you,’ She stepped in front and made the shot.”
Frei made another shot in the 15th minute, this time blasting a curving 24-yard free kick around the defensive wall and into the lower left corner of the net to give the Trevians a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Parrish lunged and got a hand on the ball but the shot had too much pace for her to keep it out.
“I’ve been practicing curling the ball like that all season,” Frei said. “The goalie was kind of shifted over a little, and I just saw the opening in the goal, so I tried to bend it in there.”
While Maday, an Illinois-bound junior who has 20 goals and 29 assists, and sophomore Natalie Laser, a USC commit with 13 goals, have received much of the attention this spring, the Trevians have a deep pool of talent, which Frei’s performance showcased.
“I think that [performance] just shows who Celia is as a person and she doesn’t stop for anything,” Maday said. “She doesn’t let anything bother her.
“I think she put her foot out of her mind tonight and just went to goal and did everything she could to get this win for us. It’s definitely a team effort for us, but I think she really stepped up tonight and proved herself.
“No one could stop her tonight. She was just unbelievable.”
The same could be said for the Trevians, who over the last two seasons have compiled a record of 58-2-1. They conceded only 12 goals this spring as Maryland-bound junior goalkeeper Dani Kaufman let in just seven goals in 20 matches, none, of course, in the postseason.
“That’s definitely on Dani and our entire back line,” Maday said. “I think that also goes to show that we can prove ourselves two years in a row and nothing can really stop us.
“We got t-shirts at the beginning of the year that had a target on our backs symbolizing that everyone is after us. I think we kind of just stepped up to that. We knew everyone would be playing one of their best games of the season against us so we had to step up for that.”
The Trevians were content to sit back a little bit with the two-goal lead in the second half, confident that the Wildcats would not be able to break through.
They were correct as Kaufman made eight saves, including a diving effort to tip a 14-yard drive by Kiley Czerwinski wide of the left post in the 33rd minute, and her defenders bottled up plenty of other forays by the Wildcats, who actually outshot the Trevians 13-10.
“We came out a little bit on our heels, and you can’t do that against good teams,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “They had two good goals, but we fought to the very end. We put a ton of pressure on them in the second half.
“But I’m so proud of the girls. I told them to hold their heads high. They definitely deserved to be in this championship game.”
That is undeniable. The Wildcats reeled off 11-straight wins to reach the final for the first time since they won the 2005 state title. This is the second state trophy in program history.
“They’re a really great team,” Neuqua Valley senior defender Sophia Moreau said of New Trier. “We’ve got to give (credit) to them, but I think we also stuck it out.
“We’re a good team. I’m not disappointed in our effort. It was just a tough game, and they came out on top. I couldn’t be more proud of my team.”
Neuqua Valley never gave up more than two goals in any game this season and only three teams scored twice on them.
The Wildcats rode the performance of defenders Moreau, Dannah Williams, Tatiana Espinoza and Nicole Mondi on a trip few others thought would last as long as it did.
“I think we played the best defensive game we could against the team that we were against,” Sophia Moreau said. “We stepped to cut off service.
“Dannah played a heckuva game. Tati played amazing with a very hurt back. Nicole is going to do some great things next year. I couldn’t be more proud of my defense.”
Williams should be applauded just for playing after the week she had. The Purdue recruit had one tooth shattered and another pushed out of place by an elbow to the mouth against Hinsdale Central, yet came back in that game and scored on a diving header.
She played this weekend with a temporary tooth and a wire holding the second in place.
“If that happened to me I don’t think I would be out here today,” Sophia Moreau said. “She came in during the Hinsdale Central game and the tooth wasn’t even out yet, still in her mouth. I don’t think anyone can fight harder than Dannah did in the box. Unbelievable.”
Williams, who returned to the team after playing club soccer as a junior, was not going to miss the finale to a memorable season.
“I’m just incredibly proud of what we’ve done because no one expected anything from us,” Williams said. "From my freshman and sophomore year we had so many D one athletes like Zoey Goralski, Gianna Dal Pozzo, Hope D’Addario and Brooke Ksiazaek going great places and our bench was so deep and we never even made it past our sectional.
“So this year just shows how much fight we really had. We may not have had the deepest bench but we had the most heart that I’ve ever seen in a team.
In the end, there were few tears shed by the Wildcats.
“I give [credit] to New Trier,” Williams said. “They obviously won two years in a row for a reason. They have really talented players, and I would rather lose to a team because they were better than us, not because we didn’t fight our hardest.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK: Dani Kaufman
D: Megan Murdoch
D: Jackie Welch
D: Caroline Smith
D: Katie Sadera
M: Adena Kerzner
M: Celia Frei
M: Bina Saipi
F: Maggie Armstrong
F: Natalie Laser
F: Kelly Maday
Neuqua Valley
GK: Hannah Parrish
D: Sophia Moreau
D: Dannah Williams
D: Tatiana Espinoza
D: Nicole Mondi
M: Rachel Ehrman
M: Lauren Ciesla
M: Veda Tappin
F: Jamie Goralski
F: Alyssa Bombacino
F: Kiley Czerwinski
MVP of the Match: Celia Frei, M, New Trier.
Officials: Middle Cory Formea, AR1 Lorry Salasche, AR2 Bill Niemeyer, 4th Jay Weis
Editor's note: Batavia, Fremd, Hinsdale Central, Neuqua Valley, Plainfield North, St. Charles East, Saint Viator and Wheaton Warrenville South high schools helped make Chicagoland Soccer's state finals coverage possible.
against Neuqua Valley
Junior overcomes injury to give Trevians 2nd-consecutive title
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – New Trier midfielder Celia Frei went from feeling agony in her feet to making Neuqua Valley feel the agony of defeat Saturday night.
Frei, who has battled strained ligaments in the top of her right foot this spring, scored both goals in the early going to lead the Trevians to a 2-0 victory in the Class 3A state championship game at North Central College in Naperville.
The state title was the second in a row and fifth overall for New Trier (27-1-1), which did not surrender a goal during either playoff run.
“[The injury] was obviously a bummer because I missed like the first half of the season,” Frei said. “I did a ton of physical therapy.
“My ankle is wrapped in tape, and I don’t think I could play without the tape. I owe the trainer so much so that I could play tonight.”
Neuqua Valley is probably wishing the New Trier trainer had gone on vacation because Frei, a junior who had scored only three goals this season, stunned everyone by scoring 59 seconds into the game.
New Trier scoring leader Kelly Maday found Frei making a run into the top of the box and fed her a pass from the right wing. Frei fought off a defender and blasted an open shot past Neuqua Valley goalkeeper Hannah Parrish.
“It was a shock,” Frei said. “I guess I was just open at the top of the box and Kelly picked up her head and found me. I just tried to hit it in the goal and try to make the goalie make a save in the first 57 seconds.”
Parrish didn’t have much of a chance on Frei’s shot, which gave the Wildcats (19-4-2) a dose of their own medicine.
Neuqua had scored 31 seconds into their 2-0 supersectional win over Hinsdale Central and on two of its first three shots in Friday’s 3-1 semifinal win over Collinsville, the latter feat duplicated by the Trevians in this match.
“We knew that [history] and we knew they were a great opponent,” Frei said. “So we wanted to jump on them because we knew that they had done that against Collinsville.”
The Trevians probed the Neuqua VAlley defense from the get-go, with Maday trying to figure out a way to solve a back line that had given up only 13 goals this year.
“Their defense was great so we just had to test them,” Maday said. “We dribbled them a few times, couldn’t get around and then I turned and saw either a shot that I could either have taken a few touches and got something off, but I saw Celia make a great run sliding across the box.
“There was a defender kind of on her but Celia definitely put a body on her and in her mind I think she said, ‘I’m getting this ball before you,’ She stepped in front and made the shot.”
Frei made another shot in the 15th minute, this time blasting a curving 24-yard free kick around the defensive wall and into the lower left corner of the net to give the Trevians a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Parrish lunged and got a hand on the ball but the shot had too much pace for her to keep it out.
“I’ve been practicing curling the ball like that all season,” Frei said. “The goalie was kind of shifted over a little, and I just saw the opening in the goal, so I tried to bend it in there.”
While Maday, an Illinois-bound junior who has 20 goals and 29 assists, and sophomore Natalie Laser, a USC commit with 13 goals, have received much of the attention this spring, the Trevians have a deep pool of talent, which Frei’s performance showcased.
“I think that [performance] just shows who Celia is as a person and she doesn’t stop for anything,” Maday said. “She doesn’t let anything bother her.
“I think she put her foot out of her mind tonight and just went to goal and did everything she could to get this win for us. It’s definitely a team effort for us, but I think she really stepped up tonight and proved herself.
“No one could stop her tonight. She was just unbelievable.”
The same could be said for the Trevians, who over the last two seasons have compiled a record of 58-2-1. They conceded only 12 goals this spring as Maryland-bound junior goalkeeper Dani Kaufman let in just seven goals in 20 matches, none, of course, in the postseason.
“That’s definitely on Dani and our entire back line,” Maday said. “I think that also goes to show that we can prove ourselves two years in a row and nothing can really stop us.
“We got t-shirts at the beginning of the year that had a target on our backs symbolizing that everyone is after us. I think we kind of just stepped up to that. We knew everyone would be playing one of their best games of the season against us so we had to step up for that.”
The Trevians were content to sit back a little bit with the two-goal lead in the second half, confident that the Wildcats would not be able to break through.
They were correct as Kaufman made eight saves, including a diving effort to tip a 14-yard drive by Kiley Czerwinski wide of the left post in the 33rd minute, and her defenders bottled up plenty of other forays by the Wildcats, who actually outshot the Trevians 13-10.
“We came out a little bit on our heels, and you can’t do that against good teams,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “They had two good goals, but we fought to the very end. We put a ton of pressure on them in the second half.
“But I’m so proud of the girls. I told them to hold their heads high. They definitely deserved to be in this championship game.”
That is undeniable. The Wildcats reeled off 11-straight wins to reach the final for the first time since they won the 2005 state title. This is the second state trophy in program history.
“They’re a really great team,” Neuqua Valley senior defender Sophia Moreau said of New Trier. “We’ve got to give (credit) to them, but I think we also stuck it out.
“We’re a good team. I’m not disappointed in our effort. It was just a tough game, and they came out on top. I couldn’t be more proud of my team.”
Neuqua Valley never gave up more than two goals in any game this season and only three teams scored twice on them.
The Wildcats rode the performance of defenders Moreau, Dannah Williams, Tatiana Espinoza and Nicole Mondi on a trip few others thought would last as long as it did.
“I think we played the best defensive game we could against the team that we were against,” Sophia Moreau said. “We stepped to cut off service.
“Dannah played a heckuva game. Tati played amazing with a very hurt back. Nicole is going to do some great things next year. I couldn’t be more proud of my defense.”
Williams should be applauded just for playing after the week she had. The Purdue recruit had one tooth shattered and another pushed out of place by an elbow to the mouth against Hinsdale Central, yet came back in that game and scored on a diving header.
She played this weekend with a temporary tooth and a wire holding the second in place.
“If that happened to me I don’t think I would be out here today,” Sophia Moreau said. “She came in during the Hinsdale Central game and the tooth wasn’t even out yet, still in her mouth. I don’t think anyone can fight harder than Dannah did in the box. Unbelievable.”
Williams, who returned to the team after playing club soccer as a junior, was not going to miss the finale to a memorable season.
“I’m just incredibly proud of what we’ve done because no one expected anything from us,” Williams said. "From my freshman and sophomore year we had so many D one athletes like Zoey Goralski, Gianna Dal Pozzo, Hope D’Addario and Brooke Ksiazaek going great places and our bench was so deep and we never even made it past our sectional.
“So this year just shows how much fight we really had. We may not have had the deepest bench but we had the most heart that I’ve ever seen in a team.
In the end, there were few tears shed by the Wildcats.
“I give [credit] to New Trier,” Williams said. “They obviously won two years in a row for a reason. They have really talented players, and I would rather lose to a team because they were better than us, not because we didn’t fight our hardest.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK: Dani Kaufman
D: Megan Murdoch
D: Jackie Welch
D: Caroline Smith
D: Katie Sadera
M: Adena Kerzner
M: Celia Frei
M: Bina Saipi
F: Maggie Armstrong
F: Natalie Laser
F: Kelly Maday
Neuqua Valley
GK: Hannah Parrish
D: Sophia Moreau
D: Dannah Williams
D: Tatiana Espinoza
D: Nicole Mondi
M: Rachel Ehrman
M: Lauren Ciesla
M: Veda Tappin
F: Jamie Goralski
F: Alyssa Bombacino
F: Kiley Czerwinski
MVP of the Match: Celia Frei, M, New Trier.
Officials: Middle Cory Formea, AR1 Lorry Salasche, AR2 Bill Niemeyer, 4th Jay Weis
Editor's note: Batavia, Fremd, Hinsdale Central, Neuqua Valley, Plainfield North, St. Charles East, Saint Viator and Wheaton Warrenville South high schools helped make Chicagoland Soccer's state finals coverage possible.