Loyola holds off Stevenson for title shot
Ehlert’s header earns Ramblers TBD title shot vs. Lyons
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NORTHFIELD -- Grace Ehlert got her revenge.
Twice.
The Loyola forward's basketball career ended with a four-point loss against Stevenson in a Class 4A supersectional.
Then, Stevenson defeated Benet and Barrington for the state title. Loyola proved the Patriots toughest competition along the way. The Ramblers also administered one of the 4A champions' two defeats during the season.
The sport shifted, but Ehlert still had a score to settle.
“It’s definitely always good to beat Stevenson,” she said. “They always have very good sports teams.”
Ehlert’s header off a corner in the 62nd minute secured a 1-0 victory over no. 8 Stevenson in the semifinals of the 4th Annual Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic on Saturday at New Trier.
After the week and Saturday win, Loyola moved up from no. 14 to no. 8 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
The Ramblers (9-3-1) will face top-ranked Lyons in the tournament championship at a time and date to be announced. Loyola is on break through Wednesday, and the two teams will participate in the Naperville Invitational, which starts Thursday.
Ehlert got just enough of a touch inside the box to get the ball past Stevenson’s ace keeper Mandy Meliker, who conceded just her second goal of the season.
“Eva Pattison and Emily Pikarski always serve a great ball in. It kind of bounced, and it hit my face,” Ehlert said.
“I just knew we wanted to put one in the back of the net.”
She scored her team-best 12th goal of the year.
Fittingly for Ehlert, the player she beat to the ball, Meliker, was a reserve guard on the Stevenson basketball team.
Meliker was brilliant throughout the game with eight saves, including a spectacular leaping stop off a ball by Isabella Guzman in the seventh minute.
Stevenson endured and played exceptionally well under very difficult circumstances. Starting center backs Hailey Livesay and Bri Welter suffered ankle injuries in the first half and neither returned.
Standout junior Bella Chavez, the daughter of coach PepeJon Chavez, suffered a hyperextended knee during group play against Carmel. The fourth captain, midfielder Madison Kim, was also out.
Freshman defender Gabi Poretto suffered a gash above her right eye that caused significant bleeding.
It was that kind of physical and intense game that belied the notion of the women’s game as simply one of finesse.
“In more than 20 years of coaching, I have never had a situation where all of my captains were out before halftime in a game,” PepeJon Chavez said.
Meliker drew on her basketball experience.
“During basketball season, coach (Ashley) Graham would always say when your backs are against the wall, you need to push back and fight. That’s what makes good teams great,” Meliker said.
“Even though we just lost, the fact that we pushed so hard in the last couple of minutes was great.”
Meliker is quick and agile and showed great reaction and anticipation around the ball.
Junior Mimi VanZanten also illustrated the versatility and strength of the Patriots, who lost for the first time this season.
After Livesay and Welter went down, VanZanten moved to center back to bring some stability to the position.
“There are always big obstacles that every team has to go through,” VanZanten said.
“Unfortunately for us, it was all four of our captains and half of our backline. With my old club, I often had games where I played center back for a half and then I’d switch to forward for a half.
“Going back to center back, it wasn’t the hardest thing ever, just because I’ve had years of experience there. It felt good to be back there. I really like defending, but I also really like moments when I can go up.”
VanZanten nearly yielded the equalizer in the 77th minute off a free kick from the right edge from about 22 yards.
She sent a howitzer that Loyola junior keeper Ellie Bradley made a fantastic denial of. It thwarted the Patriots’ best late scoring threat.
“The goalie actually plays on my club team,” VanZanten said. “It all had to be placement, and unfortunately, I didn’t have the best placement.
“I did try to get a lot of power behind it, because I knew she is a really talented keeper. It had to be placement and power.”
Loyola’s physical and gifted back, anchored around Eva Pattison and Ellianna Seeley set the tone. They closed spaces and rarely allowed the Patriots’ fast action-and-quick-combination play to take hold.
Even Loyola coach Shannon Hartinger reflected the on-field intensity, taking a slight gash on her face off a deflection.
“There is definitely a physical element to our game,” she said. “We always stress winning 50/50 balls. I think today was an opportunity to win a lot of those balls. I thought we did a nice job of staying in the game physically.
“We wanted to challenge ourselves, and I think we have done that the first half of the season.”
The play of Ehlert and midfielder Kaitlyn Kurtz swung the game. Ehlert’s pressure down the left edge resulted in the corner kick that decided the game.
Loyola’s three one-goal losses came against city power Lane, no. 4 Evanston and aforementioned Lyons.
“I felt it was a way for us to redeem ourselves,” Kurtz said. “We obviously didn’t get the outcome we wanted against Lyons. We felt like today showed how we might have done had we gotten the score in our favor.
“We were there; we built up, and we were able to play together very well. That’s how we always play, but this time we finished. Even competing with Stevenson and also beating them, we were able to show that we are one of the top teams.”
Now the Ramblers look to do what defending tournament champion Stevenson did in 2019, the last year the tournament was played.
The Patriots lost to New Trier in group play and then rallied behind Kiki VanZanten, Mimi’s older sister, in the championship rematch.
Now it’s Loyola’s turn to try for that turnaround.
“We definitely felt grateful for the opportunity,” Ehlert said. “We played a really strong Lyons team on Wednesday, and lost a tough one. It was a second chance, and we wanted to prove ourselves. We know we can be elite, and be at that level.
“We’ve had some unfortunate results, but to get a big win like this is really good. I think this is big for our confidence. We have some people who didn’t play last year, some new people, and I think we are all starting to find our footing. We know we can get goals and score and beat good teams.”
Stevenson (7-1-0) hopes its depth and versatility provides the necessary cushion until its team returns to full strength. The Patriots resolved to carry on.
“I feel like throughout the season, there are going to be defining moments,” Mimi VanZanten said. “I hope that this loss is going to help us bounce back and get ready to play those tough conference games.
“This game meant a lot to us, and we were not going to just give up.”
Starting lineups
Stevenson
GK: Mandy Meliker
D: Kaitlyn Hong
D: Lily Mahdavian
D: Hailey Livesay
D: Bri Welter
MF: Ella Hong
MF: Mimi VanZanten
MF: Brynn Stein
MF: Hailey Popkey
F: Arria Chavez
F: Ellie Egeland
Loyola
GK: Ellie Bradley
D: Emily Pikarski
D: Eva Pattison
D: Ellianna Seeley
D: Maria Nikas
MF: Kaitlyn Kurtz
MF: Isabella Guzman
MF: Lauren Couri
MF: Emma Shafer
F: Grace Ehlert
F: Kathryn Diblik
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Grace Ehlert, sr., MF, Loyola
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Loyola—Grace Ehlert (Eva Pattison), 62nd minute
Ehlert’s header earns Ramblers TBD title shot vs. Lyons
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NORTHFIELD -- Grace Ehlert got her revenge.
Twice.
The Loyola forward's basketball career ended with a four-point loss against Stevenson in a Class 4A supersectional.
Then, Stevenson defeated Benet and Barrington for the state title. Loyola proved the Patriots toughest competition along the way. The Ramblers also administered one of the 4A champions' two defeats during the season.
The sport shifted, but Ehlert still had a score to settle.
“It’s definitely always good to beat Stevenson,” she said. “They always have very good sports teams.”
Ehlert’s header off a corner in the 62nd minute secured a 1-0 victory over no. 8 Stevenson in the semifinals of the 4th Annual Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic on Saturday at New Trier.
After the week and Saturday win, Loyola moved up from no. 14 to no. 8 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
The Ramblers (9-3-1) will face top-ranked Lyons in the tournament championship at a time and date to be announced. Loyola is on break through Wednesday, and the two teams will participate in the Naperville Invitational, which starts Thursday.
Ehlert got just enough of a touch inside the box to get the ball past Stevenson’s ace keeper Mandy Meliker, who conceded just her second goal of the season.
“Eva Pattison and Emily Pikarski always serve a great ball in. It kind of bounced, and it hit my face,” Ehlert said.
“I just knew we wanted to put one in the back of the net.”
She scored her team-best 12th goal of the year.
Fittingly for Ehlert, the player she beat to the ball, Meliker, was a reserve guard on the Stevenson basketball team.
Meliker was brilliant throughout the game with eight saves, including a spectacular leaping stop off a ball by Isabella Guzman in the seventh minute.
Stevenson endured and played exceptionally well under very difficult circumstances. Starting center backs Hailey Livesay and Bri Welter suffered ankle injuries in the first half and neither returned.
Standout junior Bella Chavez, the daughter of coach PepeJon Chavez, suffered a hyperextended knee during group play against Carmel. The fourth captain, midfielder Madison Kim, was also out.
Freshman defender Gabi Poretto suffered a gash above her right eye that caused significant bleeding.
It was that kind of physical and intense game that belied the notion of the women’s game as simply one of finesse.
“In more than 20 years of coaching, I have never had a situation where all of my captains were out before halftime in a game,” PepeJon Chavez said.
Meliker drew on her basketball experience.
“During basketball season, coach (Ashley) Graham would always say when your backs are against the wall, you need to push back and fight. That’s what makes good teams great,” Meliker said.
“Even though we just lost, the fact that we pushed so hard in the last couple of minutes was great.”
Meliker is quick and agile and showed great reaction and anticipation around the ball.
Junior Mimi VanZanten also illustrated the versatility and strength of the Patriots, who lost for the first time this season.
After Livesay and Welter went down, VanZanten moved to center back to bring some stability to the position.
“There are always big obstacles that every team has to go through,” VanZanten said.
“Unfortunately for us, it was all four of our captains and half of our backline. With my old club, I often had games where I played center back for a half and then I’d switch to forward for a half.
“Going back to center back, it wasn’t the hardest thing ever, just because I’ve had years of experience there. It felt good to be back there. I really like defending, but I also really like moments when I can go up.”
VanZanten nearly yielded the equalizer in the 77th minute off a free kick from the right edge from about 22 yards.
She sent a howitzer that Loyola junior keeper Ellie Bradley made a fantastic denial of. It thwarted the Patriots’ best late scoring threat.
“The goalie actually plays on my club team,” VanZanten said. “It all had to be placement, and unfortunately, I didn’t have the best placement.
“I did try to get a lot of power behind it, because I knew she is a really talented keeper. It had to be placement and power.”
Loyola’s physical and gifted back, anchored around Eva Pattison and Ellianna Seeley set the tone. They closed spaces and rarely allowed the Patriots’ fast action-and-quick-combination play to take hold.
Even Loyola coach Shannon Hartinger reflected the on-field intensity, taking a slight gash on her face off a deflection.
“There is definitely a physical element to our game,” she said. “We always stress winning 50/50 balls. I think today was an opportunity to win a lot of those balls. I thought we did a nice job of staying in the game physically.
“We wanted to challenge ourselves, and I think we have done that the first half of the season.”
The play of Ehlert and midfielder Kaitlyn Kurtz swung the game. Ehlert’s pressure down the left edge resulted in the corner kick that decided the game.
Loyola’s three one-goal losses came against city power Lane, no. 4 Evanston and aforementioned Lyons.
“I felt it was a way for us to redeem ourselves,” Kurtz said. “We obviously didn’t get the outcome we wanted against Lyons. We felt like today showed how we might have done had we gotten the score in our favor.
“We were there; we built up, and we were able to play together very well. That’s how we always play, but this time we finished. Even competing with Stevenson and also beating them, we were able to show that we are one of the top teams.”
Now the Ramblers look to do what defending tournament champion Stevenson did in 2019, the last year the tournament was played.
The Patriots lost to New Trier in group play and then rallied behind Kiki VanZanten, Mimi’s older sister, in the championship rematch.
Now it’s Loyola’s turn to try for that turnaround.
“We definitely felt grateful for the opportunity,” Ehlert said. “We played a really strong Lyons team on Wednesday, and lost a tough one. It was a second chance, and we wanted to prove ourselves. We know we can be elite, and be at that level.
“We’ve had some unfortunate results, but to get a big win like this is really good. I think this is big for our confidence. We have some people who didn’t play last year, some new people, and I think we are all starting to find our footing. We know we can get goals and score and beat good teams.”
Stevenson (7-1-0) hopes its depth and versatility provides the necessary cushion until its team returns to full strength. The Patriots resolved to carry on.
“I feel like throughout the season, there are going to be defining moments,” Mimi VanZanten said. “I hope that this loss is going to help us bounce back and get ready to play those tough conference games.
“This game meant a lot to us, and we were not going to just give up.”
Starting lineups
Stevenson
GK: Mandy Meliker
D: Kaitlyn Hong
D: Lily Mahdavian
D: Hailey Livesay
D: Bri Welter
MF: Ella Hong
MF: Mimi VanZanten
MF: Brynn Stein
MF: Hailey Popkey
F: Arria Chavez
F: Ellie Egeland
Loyola
GK: Ellie Bradley
D: Emily Pikarski
D: Eva Pattison
D: Ellianna Seeley
D: Maria Nikas
MF: Kaitlyn Kurtz
MF: Isabella Guzman
MF: Lauren Couri
MF: Emma Shafer
F: Grace Ehlert
F: Kathryn Diblik
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Grace Ehlert, sr., MF, Loyola
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Loyola—Grace Ehlert (Eva Pattison), 62nd minute