Evanston hits on all cylinders
against Lake Forest
Wildkits post impressive 6-1 win behind hat-trick form Leigh
By Neil Milbert
EVANSTON -- Undefeated Evanston demonstrated to Lake Forest why it’s the eighth-ranked team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Playing at Murney Lazier Field on a cold night with light snow falling, the undefeated Wildkits were assertive on offense and rigid on defense Thursday when they downed Lake Forest 6-1.
The Scouts (1-2-0) played hard and refused to be intimidated, but they were forced to defend for most of the match while the poised Wildkits (4-0-0) controlled the play.
“We had some beautiful goals,” said Evanston coach Stacy Salgado. “We like to attack, and we utilize our outside backs to become attackers. We’ve utilized players in different positions, and we have the skill set for options.”
In taking a 3-0 first half lead, Evanston goalkeeper Ariel Kite had to make only one save, fielding a long free kick by Charlotte Andress in the eighth minute.
The Wildkits pressured Lake Forest keeper Sarah Constantine and came away with first half goals from sophomore Sydney Ross on an open shot from the near left, fellow sophomore Jocelyn Leigh off a feed from senior Brealyn Viamille and senior Nahla Dominguez on a penalty kick.
Lake Forest increased its offense in the second half, but couldn’t slow down the Wildkits. They increased their lead to 5-0 on a shot from Dominguez from 30 yards and after Leigh demonstrated nifty footwork and dissolved the defense.
It wasn’t until the 68th minute that the Scouts got on the scoreboard when sophomore defender Hannah Balmelli found the net on a free kick from afar.
Two minutes later Leigh answered for the Wildkits, completing her hat-trick performance on a splendidly choreographed play. She passed the ball to Ross and then slipped into the open to take a return pass and score from short range.
“She put away her chances today,” Salgado said. “She has good awareness. She’s very strong on the ball, and she’s a very accurate shooter.”
Leigh played on the varsity last season as a freshman.
“I’m more confident, and I’m communicating a bit more this year,” she said. “This definitely was my best performance (as a high school player).”
In Dominguez’s opinion, team chemistry is an important element in the Wildkits’ early season success story.
“A lot of us have been playing together since sixth grade, maybe younger, so definitely our chemistry is very helpful. And our work ethic is really good -- at practice and in games.
“Our defense is solid. Carly (Menocal) and Elie (Oif) hold their ground, and it’s the same with our outside backs, Sofia (Borden Gomez) and Lucinda (Lindland).”
All four Evanston backliners are seniors, and their experience showed. They repeatedly handled anything Lake Forest could throw at them. The Wildkits prevented attacks and then moved up to put the ball in the offensive zone. Taking advantage of the protection she received, Kite sometimes moved as far as 40 yards from goal.
Starters Leigh and Ross are the only sophomores on the Wildkits roster. Lake Forest Coach Ty Stuckslager had freshman Ava Walsh and sophomores Constantine, Hanna Sands and Lainey Tabor in his lineup. The Scouts have seven sophomores on the varsity team.
In the second half the visitors had more opportunities than in the first half, thanks primarily to the play of Walsh, seniors Ashleigh Rupprecht and Emersen Waddle and junior Riley Hoskins. But Lake Forest was unable to mount a sustained counterattack against their much more experienced opponents.
“We picked it up in the second half,” Stuckslager said. “It didn’t feel like a 6-1 game. I was happy with our play. It’s just that they had individual moments where they beat us.
“When we had opportunities we didn’t have the same poise and skill that they had in those situations. When they were under pressure their forwards were fantastic and so were their center midfielders.”
His players also took a philosophical approach to the defeat in the Scouts first match since a 5-0 win against Antioch on March 16.
“They had some aggressive players with great skills,” Waddle said. “At some points we did a great job of holding them down. It took a lot of adjusting for us to move forward. As the game wore on, we made the small passes and moved off each other to make the rush. We figured out how to work together.
“The only way we’re going to get better is by playing teams like this.”
Rupprecht saw it the same way: “When you play against hard opponents you learn. You challenge yourself and you grow.”
There was one negative aspect in Evanston’s compelling conquest. Senior midfielder Stella Tobin went down with an injury to her right knee in the 28th minute of the first half and after remaining on the Astroturf for a few moments had to be helped off the field. She did not return to the match.
Salgado didn’t know the extent of Tobin’s injury but is hopeful that she will recover and be back in action in April.
Starting lineups
Lake Forest
GK: Sarah Constantine
D: Sophie Benjakul
D: Hanna Sands
D: Riley Hoskins
D: Charlotte Andress
D: Lyla Walsh
MF: Emerson Waddle
MF: Lainey Tabor
MF: Kathy Peterson-Ross
F: Ava Walsh
F: Ashleigh Rupprecht
Evanston
GK: Ariel Kite
D: Anna Bergmann
D: Ellie Oif
D: Carly Menocal
D: Lucinda Lindland
D: Sofia Borden Gomez
MF: Adriana Merriam
MF: Nahla Dominguez
MF: Sydney Ross
F: Brealyn Viamille
F: Jocelyn Leigh
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jocelyn Leigh, so., F, Evanston
Scoring summary
First half
Evanston: Sydney Ross (unassisted), 14th minute
Evanston: Jocelyn Leigh (Brealyn Viamille), 19th minute
Evanston: Nahla Dominguez (unassisted), 25th minute
Second half
Evanston: Nahla Dominguez (unassisted), 62nd minute
Evanston: Jocelyn Leigh (unassisted), 65th minute
Lake Forest: Hannah Balmelli (unassisted), 68th minute
Evanston: Jocelyn Leigh (Sydney Ross), 69th minute
against Lake Forest
Wildkits post impressive 6-1 win behind hat-trick form Leigh
By Neil Milbert
EVANSTON -- Undefeated Evanston demonstrated to Lake Forest why it’s the eighth-ranked team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Playing at Murney Lazier Field on a cold night with light snow falling, the undefeated Wildkits were assertive on offense and rigid on defense Thursday when they downed Lake Forest 6-1.
The Scouts (1-2-0) played hard and refused to be intimidated, but they were forced to defend for most of the match while the poised Wildkits (4-0-0) controlled the play.
“We had some beautiful goals,” said Evanston coach Stacy Salgado. “We like to attack, and we utilize our outside backs to become attackers. We’ve utilized players in different positions, and we have the skill set for options.”
In taking a 3-0 first half lead, Evanston goalkeeper Ariel Kite had to make only one save, fielding a long free kick by Charlotte Andress in the eighth minute.
The Wildkits pressured Lake Forest keeper Sarah Constantine and came away with first half goals from sophomore Sydney Ross on an open shot from the near left, fellow sophomore Jocelyn Leigh off a feed from senior Brealyn Viamille and senior Nahla Dominguez on a penalty kick.
Lake Forest increased its offense in the second half, but couldn’t slow down the Wildkits. They increased their lead to 5-0 on a shot from Dominguez from 30 yards and after Leigh demonstrated nifty footwork and dissolved the defense.
It wasn’t until the 68th minute that the Scouts got on the scoreboard when sophomore defender Hannah Balmelli found the net on a free kick from afar.
Two minutes later Leigh answered for the Wildkits, completing her hat-trick performance on a splendidly choreographed play. She passed the ball to Ross and then slipped into the open to take a return pass and score from short range.
“She put away her chances today,” Salgado said. “She has good awareness. She’s very strong on the ball, and she’s a very accurate shooter.”
Leigh played on the varsity last season as a freshman.
“I’m more confident, and I’m communicating a bit more this year,” she said. “This definitely was my best performance (as a high school player).”
In Dominguez’s opinion, team chemistry is an important element in the Wildkits’ early season success story.
“A lot of us have been playing together since sixth grade, maybe younger, so definitely our chemistry is very helpful. And our work ethic is really good -- at practice and in games.
“Our defense is solid. Carly (Menocal) and Elie (Oif) hold their ground, and it’s the same with our outside backs, Sofia (Borden Gomez) and Lucinda (Lindland).”
All four Evanston backliners are seniors, and their experience showed. They repeatedly handled anything Lake Forest could throw at them. The Wildkits prevented attacks and then moved up to put the ball in the offensive zone. Taking advantage of the protection she received, Kite sometimes moved as far as 40 yards from goal.
Starters Leigh and Ross are the only sophomores on the Wildkits roster. Lake Forest Coach Ty Stuckslager had freshman Ava Walsh and sophomores Constantine, Hanna Sands and Lainey Tabor in his lineup. The Scouts have seven sophomores on the varsity team.
In the second half the visitors had more opportunities than in the first half, thanks primarily to the play of Walsh, seniors Ashleigh Rupprecht and Emersen Waddle and junior Riley Hoskins. But Lake Forest was unable to mount a sustained counterattack against their much more experienced opponents.
“We picked it up in the second half,” Stuckslager said. “It didn’t feel like a 6-1 game. I was happy with our play. It’s just that they had individual moments where they beat us.
“When we had opportunities we didn’t have the same poise and skill that they had in those situations. When they were under pressure their forwards were fantastic and so were their center midfielders.”
His players also took a philosophical approach to the defeat in the Scouts first match since a 5-0 win against Antioch on March 16.
“They had some aggressive players with great skills,” Waddle said. “At some points we did a great job of holding them down. It took a lot of adjusting for us to move forward. As the game wore on, we made the small passes and moved off each other to make the rush. We figured out how to work together.
“The only way we’re going to get better is by playing teams like this.”
Rupprecht saw it the same way: “When you play against hard opponents you learn. You challenge yourself and you grow.”
There was one negative aspect in Evanston’s compelling conquest. Senior midfielder Stella Tobin went down with an injury to her right knee in the 28th minute of the first half and after remaining on the Astroturf for a few moments had to be helped off the field. She did not return to the match.
Salgado didn’t know the extent of Tobin’s injury but is hopeful that she will recover and be back in action in April.
Starting lineups
Lake Forest
GK: Sarah Constantine
D: Sophie Benjakul
D: Hanna Sands
D: Riley Hoskins
D: Charlotte Andress
D: Lyla Walsh
MF: Emerson Waddle
MF: Lainey Tabor
MF: Kathy Peterson-Ross
F: Ava Walsh
F: Ashleigh Rupprecht
Evanston
GK: Ariel Kite
D: Anna Bergmann
D: Ellie Oif
D: Carly Menocal
D: Lucinda Lindland
D: Sofia Borden Gomez
MF: Adriana Merriam
MF: Nahla Dominguez
MF: Sydney Ross
F: Brealyn Viamille
F: Jocelyn Leigh
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jocelyn Leigh, so., F, Evanston
Scoring summary
First half
Evanston: Sydney Ross (unassisted), 14th minute
Evanston: Jocelyn Leigh (Brealyn Viamille), 19th minute
Evanston: Nahla Dominguez (unassisted), 25th minute
Second half
Evanston: Nahla Dominguez (unassisted), 62nd minute
Evanston: Jocelyn Leigh (unassisted), 65th minute
Lake Forest: Hannah Balmelli (unassisted), 68th minute
Evanston: Jocelyn Leigh (Sydney Ross), 69th minute