Ackman gives it a shot,
Evanston edges St. Francis
Longshot goal in 80th minute earns Malnati's finals spot
By Matt Le Cren
NORTHFIELD – Soccer coaches are constantly imploring their players to shoot the ball.
“Make the goalie make a play,” is the refrain, because you never know what can happen.
Evanston senior Avery Ackman did just that and it led to the Wildkits 3-2 win in the Lou Malnati's Deep Dish Classic semifinals on Friday at New Trier stadium.
Ackman’s 40-yard free kick with a stiff wind at her back bounced in front of St. Francis goalkeeper Courtney Kozak and eluded her with 54 seconds remaining.
Evanston (6-3-2) will play 18th-ranked Glenbrook South (7-0-3) in the championship game, which is slated for 2:15 p.m. Saturday but might be postponed by the weather.
“It was just like any other shot,” Ackman said. “I don’t know, I thought (Kozak) had saved it.”
Earlier Ackman had missed a wide-open shot in front over the crossbar that would have given Evanston a 2-0 lead.
“We were playing hard, so we should have gotten (the winner) another way,” Ackman said. “But I’m glad that we ended up pulling it out.”
This was a fascinating game of ebbs and flows that featured errors as well as several beautiful goals. Each team missed golden opportunities to take a two-goal lead and both played tenaciously in awful conditions.
For Class AA St. Francis (5-2-1), it was a disappointing end to an otherwise brilliant week that saw the 20th-ranked Spartans win the toughest of the three groups, beating Stevenson and Lyons and tying state power New Trier, which eliminated the Trevians from a title shot in the tournament they co-host.
“All in all it was a good week,” St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. “We beat Stevenson, beat LT in the snow, play on Tuesday against Providence, win that, and then tie New Trier to get here.
“We had a good week, and it’s not like we played poorly (against Evanston). We didn’t play great today, but when you’ve played that many games in that many days, you’re not expecting miraculous things.”
And still the Spartans had the Wildkits on the ropes at times.
Evanston opened the scoring just 1:58 into the match when Vanessa Eljaiek lofted a great 22-yard free kick from the left wing over the head of Kozak and inside the far post.
But St. Francis equalized at the 25:50 mark when junior Hannah Rittenhouse scored the first of her two goals on a perfectly placed shot from 28 yards on the right wing. Rittenhouse struck the ball on the dead run and rolled the ball off the inside of the left post and in.
“She has elevated,” Winslow said of Rittenhouse. “She was a good player last year. She is now a major impact player.
“Claire (Hensley) has played well, too.”
Rittenhouse and Hensley teamed up on another highlight reel goal to give St. Francis a 2-1 lead with 25:36 left in the second half. The Spartans were awarded a free kick just two yards outside the right edge of the Evanston penalty area and the Wildkits set up a four-player wall.
Hensley foiled the strategy by chipping her serve over the wall into the middle of the box as Rittenhouse ran toward the ball from left to right. Rittenhouse volleyed the ball with her right foot inside the left post.
“It was kind of back and forth,” Evanston coach Stacy Salgado said. “They had a very strong forward (Rittenhouse) who was taking it to our defense quite a bit.”
The Spartans, though didn’t go forth enough. They had a great chance to extend the lead when Caroline Zimmer sprung Rittenhouse up the left wing.
Rittenhouse dribbled into the box before toe-poking a pass to her right to Erin Peck, who was wide-open in the middle of the box. But Peck rolled a short shot wide of the left post.
“The last 20 minutes of the first half, we owned,” Winslow said. “We didn’t do enough in the first half with the wind.
“The second half we had opportunities, and we didn’t bury them.”
But Evanston did.
Throwing caution to the wind that was blowing at their backs, the Wildkits sent greater numbers forward, and it paid off with the tying goal with 7:15 remaining. Ackman dribbled into the right corner and crossed into the box, where the ball hit a defender and went straight to Katarina Sehgal, who ripped a 15-yard shot inside the right post.
“I was just running up,” Sehgal said. “I saw her going to cross it in so I was running up to get the cross and it deflected off someone and came directly to me.
“I was like, ‘Oh, gosh.’”
The prevailing sentiment for the Spartans seemed to be “Oh, no,” because the Wildkits took control after that.
“I think that definitely gave us the momentum to keep playing really hard, because we were officially in it after that,” Sehgal said. “I don’t know about them, but I think the way we came out strong maybe influenced their play a little bit and made us that much stronger.”
Ackman agreed.
“Especially at the end we were doing a really good job of finding different connections and not just booting the ball,” Ackman said. “I think we were playing really well as a unit.
“Another thing we did this game that we don’t normally do is when we were tied Stacy put more forwards up, so we had a more attacking mindset, and I think that really helped. We got numbers in much easier.”
Then came the foul that gave Evanston the decisive free kick. After several attempts to keep the ball stationary in the gusting wind, Ackman eventually struck the ball as it was moving, putting the ball on frame as instructed.
“You never know what is going to happen,” Salgado said. “That’s what we try to tell them all the time, (that) people make mistakes, so shoot (the ball).”
Though his team was outshot just 10-9, Winslow lamented the missed chances to pull the trigger.
“That’s probably the one thing we didn’t do enough of today was just shoot,” Winslow said. “For the first half, for as much as we possessed the ball, we didn’t shoot it. But we’ll get over it and move on.”
Now the Wildkits are moving on to the final to take on Central Suburban League South Division rival Glenbrook South, which edged Naperville North 1-0 in double overtime.
Evanston has reached the final without playing one of its rostered goalies for a single minute. Their fourth different person in goal this season, sophomore Abra Levin, a forward on the JV team, was brought up this week and has played her first two varsity games between the pipes.
Levin, the daughter of Evanston goalie coach Neal Levin, followed center back Ruby Siegel, who played the prior two matches. Levin made one save in notching the victory. The Wildkits regular keepers, freshman Caitlin Fitzpatrick and sophomore Sylvi imrem, are out with injuries.
“Abra literally saved us,” Ackman said. “I could not be more thankful for her stepping it up so well.
“She’s so nervous out there, but she tries so hard.”
The Wildkits, who advanced to the semifinals as the wild card team, are excited to be in the final.
“It feels awesome considering we went through a little dip,” said Ackman of the Wildkits who fell to 3-3-0 before their current five-game unbeaten streak. “We were tying and losing and now we seem to be getting it back together.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK Courtney Kozak
D Ava Hensley
D Jill DiTusa
D Sarah Maller
D Katherine Lemke
D Emma Armbrust
M Claire Hensley
M Mickey Corrigan
F Kendra Pasquale
F Erin Peck
F Hannah Rittenhouse
Evanston
GK Abra Levin
D Ruby Rogers
D Ruby Siegel
D Kathleen Donati
M Keara Keff
M Annika DeStefano
M Katarina Sehgal
M Callista O’Connor
F Hadley Bushala
F Vanessa Eljaiek
F Avery Ackman
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Avery Ackman, sr., F, Evanston
Scoring summary
1st half
Evanston – Vanessa Eljaiek 38:02
St. Francis – Hannah Rittenhouse 25:50
2nd Half
St. Francis – Rittenhouse (Claire Hensley) 25:36
Evanston – Katarina Sehgal 7:15
Evanston – Avery Ackman :54
Evanston edges St. Francis
Longshot goal in 80th minute earns Malnati's finals spot
By Matt Le Cren
NORTHFIELD – Soccer coaches are constantly imploring their players to shoot the ball.
“Make the goalie make a play,” is the refrain, because you never know what can happen.
Evanston senior Avery Ackman did just that and it led to the Wildkits 3-2 win in the Lou Malnati's Deep Dish Classic semifinals on Friday at New Trier stadium.
Ackman’s 40-yard free kick with a stiff wind at her back bounced in front of St. Francis goalkeeper Courtney Kozak and eluded her with 54 seconds remaining.
Evanston (6-3-2) will play 18th-ranked Glenbrook South (7-0-3) in the championship game, which is slated for 2:15 p.m. Saturday but might be postponed by the weather.
“It was just like any other shot,” Ackman said. “I don’t know, I thought (Kozak) had saved it.”
Earlier Ackman had missed a wide-open shot in front over the crossbar that would have given Evanston a 2-0 lead.
“We were playing hard, so we should have gotten (the winner) another way,” Ackman said. “But I’m glad that we ended up pulling it out.”
This was a fascinating game of ebbs and flows that featured errors as well as several beautiful goals. Each team missed golden opportunities to take a two-goal lead and both played tenaciously in awful conditions.
For Class AA St. Francis (5-2-1), it was a disappointing end to an otherwise brilliant week that saw the 20th-ranked Spartans win the toughest of the three groups, beating Stevenson and Lyons and tying state power New Trier, which eliminated the Trevians from a title shot in the tournament they co-host.
“All in all it was a good week,” St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. “We beat Stevenson, beat LT in the snow, play on Tuesday against Providence, win that, and then tie New Trier to get here.
“We had a good week, and it’s not like we played poorly (against Evanston). We didn’t play great today, but when you’ve played that many games in that many days, you’re not expecting miraculous things.”
And still the Spartans had the Wildkits on the ropes at times.
Evanston opened the scoring just 1:58 into the match when Vanessa Eljaiek lofted a great 22-yard free kick from the left wing over the head of Kozak and inside the far post.
But St. Francis equalized at the 25:50 mark when junior Hannah Rittenhouse scored the first of her two goals on a perfectly placed shot from 28 yards on the right wing. Rittenhouse struck the ball on the dead run and rolled the ball off the inside of the left post and in.
“She has elevated,” Winslow said of Rittenhouse. “She was a good player last year. She is now a major impact player.
“Claire (Hensley) has played well, too.”
Rittenhouse and Hensley teamed up on another highlight reel goal to give St. Francis a 2-1 lead with 25:36 left in the second half. The Spartans were awarded a free kick just two yards outside the right edge of the Evanston penalty area and the Wildkits set up a four-player wall.
Hensley foiled the strategy by chipping her serve over the wall into the middle of the box as Rittenhouse ran toward the ball from left to right. Rittenhouse volleyed the ball with her right foot inside the left post.
“It was kind of back and forth,” Evanston coach Stacy Salgado said. “They had a very strong forward (Rittenhouse) who was taking it to our defense quite a bit.”
The Spartans, though didn’t go forth enough. They had a great chance to extend the lead when Caroline Zimmer sprung Rittenhouse up the left wing.
Rittenhouse dribbled into the box before toe-poking a pass to her right to Erin Peck, who was wide-open in the middle of the box. But Peck rolled a short shot wide of the left post.
“The last 20 minutes of the first half, we owned,” Winslow said. “We didn’t do enough in the first half with the wind.
“The second half we had opportunities, and we didn’t bury them.”
But Evanston did.
Throwing caution to the wind that was blowing at their backs, the Wildkits sent greater numbers forward, and it paid off with the tying goal with 7:15 remaining. Ackman dribbled into the right corner and crossed into the box, where the ball hit a defender and went straight to Katarina Sehgal, who ripped a 15-yard shot inside the right post.
“I was just running up,” Sehgal said. “I saw her going to cross it in so I was running up to get the cross and it deflected off someone and came directly to me.
“I was like, ‘Oh, gosh.’”
The prevailing sentiment for the Spartans seemed to be “Oh, no,” because the Wildkits took control after that.
“I think that definitely gave us the momentum to keep playing really hard, because we were officially in it after that,” Sehgal said. “I don’t know about them, but I think the way we came out strong maybe influenced their play a little bit and made us that much stronger.”
Ackman agreed.
“Especially at the end we were doing a really good job of finding different connections and not just booting the ball,” Ackman said. “I think we were playing really well as a unit.
“Another thing we did this game that we don’t normally do is when we were tied Stacy put more forwards up, so we had a more attacking mindset, and I think that really helped. We got numbers in much easier.”
Then came the foul that gave Evanston the decisive free kick. After several attempts to keep the ball stationary in the gusting wind, Ackman eventually struck the ball as it was moving, putting the ball on frame as instructed.
“You never know what is going to happen,” Salgado said. “That’s what we try to tell them all the time, (that) people make mistakes, so shoot (the ball).”
Though his team was outshot just 10-9, Winslow lamented the missed chances to pull the trigger.
“That’s probably the one thing we didn’t do enough of today was just shoot,” Winslow said. “For the first half, for as much as we possessed the ball, we didn’t shoot it. But we’ll get over it and move on.”
Now the Wildkits are moving on to the final to take on Central Suburban League South Division rival Glenbrook South, which edged Naperville North 1-0 in double overtime.
Evanston has reached the final without playing one of its rostered goalies for a single minute. Their fourth different person in goal this season, sophomore Abra Levin, a forward on the JV team, was brought up this week and has played her first two varsity games between the pipes.
Levin, the daughter of Evanston goalie coach Neal Levin, followed center back Ruby Siegel, who played the prior two matches. Levin made one save in notching the victory. The Wildkits regular keepers, freshman Caitlin Fitzpatrick and sophomore Sylvi imrem, are out with injuries.
“Abra literally saved us,” Ackman said. “I could not be more thankful for her stepping it up so well.
“She’s so nervous out there, but she tries so hard.”
The Wildkits, who advanced to the semifinals as the wild card team, are excited to be in the final.
“It feels awesome considering we went through a little dip,” said Ackman of the Wildkits who fell to 3-3-0 before their current five-game unbeaten streak. “We were tying and losing and now we seem to be getting it back together.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK Courtney Kozak
D Ava Hensley
D Jill DiTusa
D Sarah Maller
D Katherine Lemke
D Emma Armbrust
M Claire Hensley
M Mickey Corrigan
F Kendra Pasquale
F Erin Peck
F Hannah Rittenhouse
Evanston
GK Abra Levin
D Ruby Rogers
D Ruby Siegel
D Kathleen Donati
M Keara Keff
M Annika DeStefano
M Katarina Sehgal
M Callista O’Connor
F Hadley Bushala
F Vanessa Eljaiek
F Avery Ackman
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Avery Ackman, sr., F, Evanston
Scoring summary
1st half
Evanston – Vanessa Eljaiek 38:02
St. Francis – Hannah Rittenhouse 25:50
2nd Half
St. Francis – Rittenhouse (Claire Hensley) 25:36
Evanston – Katarina Sehgal 7:15
Evanston – Avery Ackman :54