Evanston tops Loyola on 80th-minute goal
Referee's decision gives late goal, and 3-2 win, to Wildkits
By Mike Garofola
WILMETTE – Evanston’s Adriana Merriam bagged a hat-trick with her game-winner in the 80th minute to end a pulsating last quarter of play, and the Wildkits came from behind twice to defeat rival Loyola 3-2 Tuesday afternoon at Hoerster Field.
Merriam's exclamation point goal gave the visitors their third-straight win over the Ramblers in the past 11 months.
"After losing early in the season a year ago, then eliminated by Evanston in sectionals later in the season, we obviously had this game circled on the calendar,” said Loyola senior star Grace Ehlert, who along with her teammates has come up empty against Evanston in their last five tries. “Had a great start, had almost all of the play in the first half, Evanston is a great team. We knew we would be for a fight all throughout this game."
Ehlert and Merriam put on an 80-minute display that few in the state of Illinois could rival.
"It was an exciting game to play against one of our biggest rivals,” said Merriam. “They had so much more energy than we did at the start, but after we slowly got ourselves into the game, we were able to do a lot of the things we do so well."
The action was captivating.
"It was a fun game to just watch between two really strong soccer programs," said Wildkits manager Stacy Salgado. “Even though the play wasn't always pretty because of the conditions, it still was well played. Fortunately for us, we were able to come away with a victory.”
When the action finally got underway between two of the Chicagoland Soccer top-ranked teams, no. 6 Loyola and no. 9 Evanston squared off in windy conditions with a light drizzle.
Loyola dominated from referee Bill Niemeyer's opening whistle. The Ramblers put the visitors under pressure with a pair of corners off the left foot of Emily Pikarski. The second ended with Ehlert running freely into the box to meet the serve with a thunderous header.
"We wanted to come out strong," said Ramblers manager Shannon Hartinger of Ehlert's goal in the eighth minute. “That's exactly what we did with Grace getting that early goal to inspire a very strong first half of soccer.”
"Our energy was so good at the start,” said Ehlert, a 2021 Chicagoland Soccer all-stater. “Even before that first goal we pressured them, didn't allow them to build anything especially out of the back. We kept the ball most of the time in their end, never really letting them get out."
While Ehlert, fellow all-stater Kaitlyn Kurtz and their midfield mates were running the show in the center of the park, the Ramblers backline quartet of Eva Pattison, Ellianna Seeley, Molly Sipe and Pikarski stepped in to win balls, while staying organized. Sipe got forward to join the attack on a regular basis but kept wary of the Wildkits’ dangerous senior forward, Brealyn Viamille, a Chicagoland Soccer all-stater who will continue her career at Florida International next fall.
"We did an excellent job in the first half in our execution of our defensive game plan.” said Hartinger. “Except for that late lapse before the break, we really didn't allow no. 5 (Viamille) or the rest of Evanston’s team to create any real serious chances."
The Wildkits Sydney Ross and Lucinda Lindblad sent Viamille through with a well-played early ball that she outran others to. The Loyola defense recovered and collectively parried the ball out of the area to squash the only opportunity the visitors had in the first half hour.
Loyola’s Tess O'Bryan, who came on for Lauren Couri when her nose was bloodied in the 14th minute, instantly provided pace and quality up-top for the Ramblers. She continued a high level of play whenever Hartinger brought on the junior forward.
"Tess gave us a lot of terrific play off the bench today, (which) is something we know she can give to us whenever we need her to," said Hartinger.
Ehlert continued to influence the attack of the home side, either by winning balls and quickly finding others with quality distribution or by taking the opposition on and beating them with near-perfect control and sublime two-footed touches.
Ehlert forced a save from Wildkits keeper Ariel Kite at 16 minutes. Maria Nikas did the same moments later before Kurtz and Pikarski each went wide.
The home side could have doubled its advantage at the half hour when Pikarski and Ehlert combined to give Kurtz a chance in close to head past Kite. But the strong gloves of the junior keeper saved the attempt.
The slippery ground led to a nervy moment for the Ramblers faithful when Viamille was sent through by Merriam in the 33rd minutes. Seeley engaged the attacker but had her feet come out from under her.
However, the junior remained composed and quickly returned to her feet and parried the ball out of the area.
When it appeared the first half would end in the favor of the home side, up popped Merriam. The junior midfielder’s trickery forced the Ramblers to foul and surrender a free kick from 22 yards.
Merriam took the attempt and used her left foot to send the ball toward the upper right corner. The wind seemed to knock her attempt down, and it settled just under the bar two minutes before the intermission.
"When I first hit it, I thought it was going to go over the bar," said Merriam. “But then the wind just forced it down to where their keeper just could not reach the ball.”
"That goal from Adriana gave us new life right before the half," said senior defender Sarah Sollinger, whose terrific play along the back in the second half was a key in the Wildkits victory. “Loyola had a few good chances in the first half, and it seemed like the ball was in our end for almost the entire half, which forced us to defend way more than we wanted to.”
The Evanston bench felt the effect of the tying goal.
"We were feeling a lot better about ourselves after Adriana got us back even right there at the end of the half,” said Selgado. “I thought our ability to win more balls, get our midfield more involved, play with more energy and pressure in their end (after) the break gave us a big advantage.
“But then we had to chase the lead once again."
While the visitors did indeed have much of the play in the first quarter hour of the second period, they were only able to muster an attempt off the side netting from senior defender Ellie Oif.
Moments later, Loyola struck. A Sipe inward swinging corner was punched away by Evanston keeper Kite, who then was forced into a reaction save on a close-range attempt by Kurtz at the six.
With the ball still alive near the endline, both Loyola’s Couri and Nikas got their foot on the ball at the same time and it found a way past the line for a 2-1 Ramblers lead in the 52nd minute. According to Hartinger after the game, Couri was credited with the goal.
"That was a big goal for us because Evanston was putting us under pressure, and also had the wind at their backs as well," offered Ehlert.
Despite trailing again, Evanston kept the faith and understood it had plenty of time to strike back. The moment came 11 minutes later thanks to an extraordinary solo effort from Merriam.
With mesmerizing touches, the junior moved the ball first to her right and then left. The actions created enough time and space to unload a left-footed snap-shot that exploded off the far post, and over the goal line from just over 20 yards. The delighted Wildkits bench erupted after the 63rd minute strike.
"Just an amazing shot," said Sollinger, a Denison recruit.
"I had enough time to take a shot, so I did," said Merriam, of her equalizer.
The goal began a frantic, hard-fought final 17 minutes of regulation.
The box-to-box play, both managers agreed, was not always the most attractive soccer. However, it certainly kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Both keepers were only lightly challenged but each defensive unit showed terrific work in order to limit chances.
Before the fateful final moments of the contest, Loyola’s Kurtz, Ehlert, and Pikarski went wide.
Evanston opportunities to run onto balls deep in their offensive end for Viamille and senior midfielder Nalah Dominguez went for naught.
Of the five balls that found their way into the net, four came off dead ball chances. That included the game-winner which began when Viamile created a corner for the visitors in the 80th minute.
From there, Dominguez sent in a dangerous ball. In what seemed like an eternity, it bounced around like a hot potato until ending in the gloves of Ramblers keeper Ellie Bradley.
The assistant referee (AR1) raised his flag. He was soon joined by referee Niemeyer. After a short discussion, the referee ruled the ball had crossed the endline, despite the objection of Bradley.
Merriam, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, was given credit for the goal.
"It was a crazy ending to a great game, but I thought we hung in there well today after giving the lead away twice against a really great team," she said.
"We came out flat and a bit slow," began Salgado. “But in the end, I think the girls all felt the hunger at our last opportunity to score, and they came through.
"(Loyola) is a strong team, with some very talented players. Who knows? maybe we'll see each other at the end of the season once more. It was a fun game.
"Adriana had some clutch finishes and became more dangerous as the game progressed. Nalah (Dominguez) was solid, as always. She is disciplined and works incredibly hard, on and off the ball.
"Carly Menocal was also a strong force for us. She reads the game well, recovers really well, and defends 1-v.-1 situations with confidence."
Next up for Salgado's club is Lake Forest on Thursday at Lazar Stadium. Loyola travels to city power Lane at noon Saturday.
"It was a tough way to lose today,” said Hartinger. “I'll have a look at the video to see what happened there at the end. Despite that, it was a game of two halves. We played really well in the first half, and they were a little better than us after the break.
"Ehlert, Kurtz, Sipe, Eva Pattison, Elliana Seeley and Maria Nikas, who was fantastic in a different role as our (no. 6), all played really well.
"We have some things to sort out before Saturday, but we're going to be just fine.”
"We were without (junior forward) Ella (Couri) today," said Ehlert, who will play next fall at Division III-power Washington University in St. Louis. “We missed her, but we made some good adjustments in her absence to make it an exciting game.
“We know we can play better, but we did some really good things out there against a very good team.”
Starting lineups
Evanston (4-4-3)
G - Ariel Kite
D- Lucinda Lindland
D- Carly Minocal
D- Anna Bergmann
D- Sarah Sollinger
M- Ellie Oif
M- Adriana Merriam
M- Nalah Dominguez
F- Jocelyn Leigh
F- Brealyn Viamille
F- Sydney Ross
Loyola (4-4-2)
G- Ellie Bradley
D- Emily Pikarski
D- Elliana Seeley
D- Eva Pattison
D- Molly Sipe
M- Maria Nikas
M- Grace Ehlert
M- Kaitlyn Kurtz
M- Emma Shaffer
F- Kathryn Diblik
F- Lauren Couri
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Adriana Merriam, jr., MF, Evanston
Referee: Bill Niemeyer
Scoring summary
First half
Loyola: Ehlert (Pikarski) 8'
Evanston: Merria (FK) 38'
Second half
Loyola: L. Couri (Sipe) 52'
Evanston: Merriam (Leigh) 63'
Evanston: Merriam (Dominguez) 80'
Referee's decision gives late goal, and 3-2 win, to Wildkits
By Mike Garofola
WILMETTE – Evanston’s Adriana Merriam bagged a hat-trick with her game-winner in the 80th minute to end a pulsating last quarter of play, and the Wildkits came from behind twice to defeat rival Loyola 3-2 Tuesday afternoon at Hoerster Field.
Merriam's exclamation point goal gave the visitors their third-straight win over the Ramblers in the past 11 months.
"After losing early in the season a year ago, then eliminated by Evanston in sectionals later in the season, we obviously had this game circled on the calendar,” said Loyola senior star Grace Ehlert, who along with her teammates has come up empty against Evanston in their last five tries. “Had a great start, had almost all of the play in the first half, Evanston is a great team. We knew we would be for a fight all throughout this game."
Ehlert and Merriam put on an 80-minute display that few in the state of Illinois could rival.
"It was an exciting game to play against one of our biggest rivals,” said Merriam. “They had so much more energy than we did at the start, but after we slowly got ourselves into the game, we were able to do a lot of the things we do so well."
The action was captivating.
"It was a fun game to just watch between two really strong soccer programs," said Wildkits manager Stacy Salgado. “Even though the play wasn't always pretty because of the conditions, it still was well played. Fortunately for us, we were able to come away with a victory.”
When the action finally got underway between two of the Chicagoland Soccer top-ranked teams, no. 6 Loyola and no. 9 Evanston squared off in windy conditions with a light drizzle.
Loyola dominated from referee Bill Niemeyer's opening whistle. The Ramblers put the visitors under pressure with a pair of corners off the left foot of Emily Pikarski. The second ended with Ehlert running freely into the box to meet the serve with a thunderous header.
"We wanted to come out strong," said Ramblers manager Shannon Hartinger of Ehlert's goal in the eighth minute. “That's exactly what we did with Grace getting that early goal to inspire a very strong first half of soccer.”
"Our energy was so good at the start,” said Ehlert, a 2021 Chicagoland Soccer all-stater. “Even before that first goal we pressured them, didn't allow them to build anything especially out of the back. We kept the ball most of the time in their end, never really letting them get out."
While Ehlert, fellow all-stater Kaitlyn Kurtz and their midfield mates were running the show in the center of the park, the Ramblers backline quartet of Eva Pattison, Ellianna Seeley, Molly Sipe and Pikarski stepped in to win balls, while staying organized. Sipe got forward to join the attack on a regular basis but kept wary of the Wildkits’ dangerous senior forward, Brealyn Viamille, a Chicagoland Soccer all-stater who will continue her career at Florida International next fall.
"We did an excellent job in the first half in our execution of our defensive game plan.” said Hartinger. “Except for that late lapse before the break, we really didn't allow no. 5 (Viamille) or the rest of Evanston’s team to create any real serious chances."
The Wildkits Sydney Ross and Lucinda Lindblad sent Viamille through with a well-played early ball that she outran others to. The Loyola defense recovered and collectively parried the ball out of the area to squash the only opportunity the visitors had in the first half hour.
Loyola’s Tess O'Bryan, who came on for Lauren Couri when her nose was bloodied in the 14th minute, instantly provided pace and quality up-top for the Ramblers. She continued a high level of play whenever Hartinger brought on the junior forward.
"Tess gave us a lot of terrific play off the bench today, (which) is something we know she can give to us whenever we need her to," said Hartinger.
Ehlert continued to influence the attack of the home side, either by winning balls and quickly finding others with quality distribution or by taking the opposition on and beating them with near-perfect control and sublime two-footed touches.
Ehlert forced a save from Wildkits keeper Ariel Kite at 16 minutes. Maria Nikas did the same moments later before Kurtz and Pikarski each went wide.
The home side could have doubled its advantage at the half hour when Pikarski and Ehlert combined to give Kurtz a chance in close to head past Kite. But the strong gloves of the junior keeper saved the attempt.
The slippery ground led to a nervy moment for the Ramblers faithful when Viamille was sent through by Merriam in the 33rd minutes. Seeley engaged the attacker but had her feet come out from under her.
However, the junior remained composed and quickly returned to her feet and parried the ball out of the area.
When it appeared the first half would end in the favor of the home side, up popped Merriam. The junior midfielder’s trickery forced the Ramblers to foul and surrender a free kick from 22 yards.
Merriam took the attempt and used her left foot to send the ball toward the upper right corner. The wind seemed to knock her attempt down, and it settled just under the bar two minutes before the intermission.
"When I first hit it, I thought it was going to go over the bar," said Merriam. “But then the wind just forced it down to where their keeper just could not reach the ball.”
"That goal from Adriana gave us new life right before the half," said senior defender Sarah Sollinger, whose terrific play along the back in the second half was a key in the Wildkits victory. “Loyola had a few good chances in the first half, and it seemed like the ball was in our end for almost the entire half, which forced us to defend way more than we wanted to.”
The Evanston bench felt the effect of the tying goal.
"We were feeling a lot better about ourselves after Adriana got us back even right there at the end of the half,” said Selgado. “I thought our ability to win more balls, get our midfield more involved, play with more energy and pressure in their end (after) the break gave us a big advantage.
“But then we had to chase the lead once again."
While the visitors did indeed have much of the play in the first quarter hour of the second period, they were only able to muster an attempt off the side netting from senior defender Ellie Oif.
Moments later, Loyola struck. A Sipe inward swinging corner was punched away by Evanston keeper Kite, who then was forced into a reaction save on a close-range attempt by Kurtz at the six.
With the ball still alive near the endline, both Loyola’s Couri and Nikas got their foot on the ball at the same time and it found a way past the line for a 2-1 Ramblers lead in the 52nd minute. According to Hartinger after the game, Couri was credited with the goal.
"That was a big goal for us because Evanston was putting us under pressure, and also had the wind at their backs as well," offered Ehlert.
Despite trailing again, Evanston kept the faith and understood it had plenty of time to strike back. The moment came 11 minutes later thanks to an extraordinary solo effort from Merriam.
With mesmerizing touches, the junior moved the ball first to her right and then left. The actions created enough time and space to unload a left-footed snap-shot that exploded off the far post, and over the goal line from just over 20 yards. The delighted Wildkits bench erupted after the 63rd minute strike.
"Just an amazing shot," said Sollinger, a Denison recruit.
"I had enough time to take a shot, so I did," said Merriam, of her equalizer.
The goal began a frantic, hard-fought final 17 minutes of regulation.
The box-to-box play, both managers agreed, was not always the most attractive soccer. However, it certainly kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Both keepers were only lightly challenged but each defensive unit showed terrific work in order to limit chances.
Before the fateful final moments of the contest, Loyola’s Kurtz, Ehlert, and Pikarski went wide.
Evanston opportunities to run onto balls deep in their offensive end for Viamille and senior midfielder Nalah Dominguez went for naught.
Of the five balls that found their way into the net, four came off dead ball chances. That included the game-winner which began when Viamile created a corner for the visitors in the 80th minute.
From there, Dominguez sent in a dangerous ball. In what seemed like an eternity, it bounced around like a hot potato until ending in the gloves of Ramblers keeper Ellie Bradley.
The assistant referee (AR1) raised his flag. He was soon joined by referee Niemeyer. After a short discussion, the referee ruled the ball had crossed the endline, despite the objection of Bradley.
Merriam, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, was given credit for the goal.
"It was a crazy ending to a great game, but I thought we hung in there well today after giving the lead away twice against a really great team," she said.
"We came out flat and a bit slow," began Salgado. “But in the end, I think the girls all felt the hunger at our last opportunity to score, and they came through.
"(Loyola) is a strong team, with some very talented players. Who knows? maybe we'll see each other at the end of the season once more. It was a fun game.
"Adriana had some clutch finishes and became more dangerous as the game progressed. Nalah (Dominguez) was solid, as always. She is disciplined and works incredibly hard, on and off the ball.
"Carly Menocal was also a strong force for us. She reads the game well, recovers really well, and defends 1-v.-1 situations with confidence."
Next up for Salgado's club is Lake Forest on Thursday at Lazar Stadium. Loyola travels to city power Lane at noon Saturday.
"It was a tough way to lose today,” said Hartinger. “I'll have a look at the video to see what happened there at the end. Despite that, it was a game of two halves. We played really well in the first half, and they were a little better than us after the break.
"Ehlert, Kurtz, Sipe, Eva Pattison, Elliana Seeley and Maria Nikas, who was fantastic in a different role as our (no. 6), all played really well.
"We have some things to sort out before Saturday, but we're going to be just fine.”
"We were without (junior forward) Ella (Couri) today," said Ehlert, who will play next fall at Division III-power Washington University in St. Louis. “We missed her, but we made some good adjustments in her absence to make it an exciting game.
“We know we can play better, but we did some really good things out there against a very good team.”
Starting lineups
Evanston (4-4-3)
G - Ariel Kite
D- Lucinda Lindland
D- Carly Minocal
D- Anna Bergmann
D- Sarah Sollinger
M- Ellie Oif
M- Adriana Merriam
M- Nalah Dominguez
F- Jocelyn Leigh
F- Brealyn Viamille
F- Sydney Ross
Loyola (4-4-2)
G- Ellie Bradley
D- Emily Pikarski
D- Elliana Seeley
D- Eva Pattison
D- Molly Sipe
M- Maria Nikas
M- Grace Ehlert
M- Kaitlyn Kurtz
M- Emma Shaffer
F- Kathryn Diblik
F- Lauren Couri
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Adriana Merriam, jr., MF, Evanston
Referee: Bill Niemeyer
Scoring summary
First half
Loyola: Ehlert (Pikarski) 8'
Evanston: Merria (FK) 38'
Second half
Loyola: L. Couri (Sipe) 52'
Evanston: Merriam (Leigh) 63'
Evanston: Merriam (Dominguez) 80'