New Trier strikes late to edge York
Crowder-to-Powell goal produces 1-0 win
By Dave Owen
ELMHURST -- Late game magic works both ways.
Three days after Fremd used a last-minute goal to tie New Trier 3-3, the Trevians (1-0-1) unveiled their own slightly less dramatic but even more effective version of a cliffhanger finish Thursday at York (0-2-0).
Tied with the host Dukes 0-0 and having endured a wave of chances by York much of the night, New Trier, 12th-ranked in Chicagoland Soccer's state-wide preseason poll, broke through with 9:17 left in the match on an Alex Powell goal to win 1-0.
“We struggled with closing out the game in our first game (vs. Fremd),” Powell said, “so tonight was a big step for us in terms of just playing smart and managing the game as time goes along. And having things go our way instead of having to chase the ball and defend heavily.”
The deciding goal was primarily the product of a great individual effort by Aidan Crowder, whose right side rush and end line cross found Powell wide open at the goal mouth for an easy putaway at the left post.
“I want to give all the credit to Aidan Crowder,” Powell said, “because he did all the hard work getting past the center defender and whipping a great ball across the box.
“My eyes just kind of got wide when I saw it coming, and thankfully it went in the back of the net.”
The expressions of 15th-ranked York featured less excitement on the play, as the Dukes contended an offsides call should have nullified the score.
“I heard two completely different explanations (by officials),” York coach Lukasz Majewski said. “One said it was a shot saved by the keeper for a rebound, and the other that the player was in an onside position.
“I think everybody could see it was a pass into the path of a player offsides, standing pretty much inside the goal. I disagree with the call, but we can’t take it back.
“It’s a learning experience,” Majewski added. “Don’t let the ref dictate the game. Take it into your own hands, get the result you want and then things like that are an afterthought.”
Adding extra sting to Thursday’s result was York’s 2019 opener two days earlier. Despite allowing no shots on goal, the Dukes suffered a 1-0 loss to Hoffman Estates on an own goal.
“That was just very unfortunate,” York standout midfielder Paolo Favuzzi said. “We’re definitely upset with the results, but we know that we did show up to play. It’s just one play (in each game) that we slipped, and we just need to make sure that on every play we’re giving 100 percent.”
Offside call or not, Favuzzi kept the match in perspective.
“I just think that at the end of the day we can’t blame the game on the refs,” he said. “We may not have agreed with the play, but we should have still been able to play through it.”
Playing through was Crowder’s only focus on the deciding goal.
“People were saying I might have been offsides, or I might have been on -- I didn’t care,” Crowder said. “I just kept going. You just do what you’ve got to do to get the goal. You just block all that out. And Alex was screaming my name, so I had to get it to him.
“I was just trying to give us a chance late in the game. We needed this win today after having a win stolen from us Monday. We just really wanted it this game.”
The game began with an exchange of early chances for the first 15 minutes, then an offensive advantage to York.
The first chance came just one minute in, when York’s Ethan Oder sent a left side cross towards the front that was denied on a lunging grab by New Trier goalkeeper Aidan Crawford.
Then combined York defensive effort by Parker Gawne and Sebastian Benavides denied a Powell run towards the box in the sixth minute.
“I thought Parker Gawne played really well,” Majewski said. “I know he’s chomping at the bit to move back to the top (forward), but he did a fantastic job. He possessed any threat that was there. He took the ball and brought it to the middle.
“Defensively he was solid, and the middles did well. Favuzzi is just a workhorse in the middle shutting things down.”
Gawne’s header upfield in the 11th minute repelled a New Trier corner kick (the game’s first). Then two minutes later, a Jake Krueger left side rush was denied as York goalkeeper Mario Aguilar came off his line to block the 15-yard shot point blank.
Aguilar’s nice play on that chance was soon matched in multiples by New Trier netminder and Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Crawford.
The sophomore faced a big test in the 16th minute, when a Benavides throw-in set up a Jack Musial header that Crawford leaped to just tip off the crossbar.
Crawford followed with a low catch on an Erwin Morales shot (18th minute), then Joe Meade tested the Trevians with two rocket shots in quick succession.
The first (a 15-yarder off a Sam Musial cross) went just wide of frame in the 21st minute. Then in the 23rd minute, Crawford’s nice diving catch at the left post denied Meade’s 12-yard laser off a Jack Musial pass.
“We have very talented forwards,” Favuzzi said. “We were really good at working the ball over -- we’re a good possession based team.”
But after that flurry of chances, other York offensive zone threats were largely snuffed out away from dangerous spots.
“The only problem we had moving forward I believe,” Favuzzi said, “is that once we got all the way up and possessed the ball down the field, we were having a hard time crossing the ball and finding somebody in the middle there.”
Crawford and a fast-maturing New Trier defensive unit that includes fellow sophomores James Paden and Ronan O’Neill had a big part in those denials.
“We’ve just stepped up,” Crawford said of the sophomore group, “and with the help of all the upperclassmen I think we’ve really fit in well.
“We were under a lot of pressure in the first half. But we really regrouped, got organized and were able to push them back a bit and were able to build out of the back, which really changed the game I think.”
New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft was also impressed by the defensive effort.
“They are young, but I felt they showed their maturity tonight,” Ravenscraft said. “York is a very difficult opponent. They’re going to have a lot of success this year. They’re fast; they’re physical; they’ve got kids that can really play. I thought we were very composed under pressure.”
The first half ended with dueling set piece chances -- a 40-yard free kick by York’s Boyd Puckett was redirected over the net in the 28th minute, and a corner kick by New Trier’s Ryan Ball with 30 seconds left was deflected just wide by teammate Sunjay Joshi.
After nicely answering York’s first half push, New Trier had to endure another Dukes offensive starting the second half.
Meade’s well struck 35-yard free kick with 38:30 left was deflected wide of the left post by a diving Crawford.
With 27:40 to play, the Trevians keeper made a one-handed punch away above the crowd of a Dukes cross -- a sequence that ended with a 15-yard one timer by York’s Kol Rollins that went just over the net.
Meade again was a force with 26:50 left, racing in on the right side and driving a low 8-yard shot that Crawford smothered at the near post.
“This is the third year in a row we’ve played York in the first week, and they’re a really good test,” New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft said. “They’re a well-prepared team, a good team, organized.
“They’re very good at absorbing pressure and then looking to break. They had a number of times they put our back four under pressure with a big diagonal ball. They know what they’re about. They’re very much on the same page.”
Entering the match at goalkeeper at halftime, York’s James Sampson was also tested mightily starting midway through the second half.
With 22:50 left, Sampson made his biggest save when he blocked a point-blank chance by Julio Mora on a cross to the front. Then one minute later, a right side 8-yard header by Joshi was again denied by a Sampson catch.
York answered with its own near miss with 16:10 left, when Meade’s header off a Morales right side cross went just wide. Then came Crowder’s rush, Powell’s putaway and the deciding goal.
“I felt like we grew into the game,” Ravenscraft said. “The second half I thought was much stronger, just in terms of our ability to manage the York attacking threat. I thought we strung more passes together in the middle third, we broke lines better, and we got the reward.”
The Trevians’ poise was another very positive sign.
“I thought we looked to find space,” Ravenscraft said, “and we were patient in terms of our build out play.
“We didn’t look to launch balls forward when it wasn’t there. We went back to Aidan, I had our center backs pass it back and forth -- we made them chase a little bit. We were really composed. I was proud of them.”
After New Trier’s Peter Kanellos redirected a cross just over the net with 6:55 left, York mounted a final threat.
Crawford’s catch denied an Oder 18-yard one-timer with six minutes left. Then with 1:30 to go, Ball nicely stepped in for a steal and clear from 40 yards out.
Meade produced the final two chances of the night. His right side rush with 55 seconds left resulted in an 18-yard shot saved by Crawford.Then with 35 seconds to go, Meade’s tough angle right side shot off a throw-in went wide.
A long send by Krueger with 10 seconds left then sealed the verdict.
Having already experienced both extremes of late-game emotion, New Trier is maintaining perspective.
“I think we should celebrate this win,” Powell said, “but we have a long way to go. We’re not happy with where we are now. We’re just kind of glad with the result we dug out today.
“I think it’s good to have this experience early in the season, where we can learn from our mistakes against good teams,” Powell added. “That way later in the season we can look back on our games from earlier, grow from that and not make those mistakes in the postseason.”
In a New Trier program with a history of 10 state trophies (including three titles), the bar is high.
“We still aren’t at our full potential,” Crawford said. “We definitely have more to show. And when we play our style of soccer, we’ll definitely be very successful.”
Said Crowder: “It’s a huge win for the beginning of the season. York is always a challenge for us, especially coming here. It’s a different type of field (narrower). They’re used to it, and it’s always a challenge.”
The current main challenge for York is to turn quality early-season play into wins.
“We’re struggling to put the ball in the back of the net right now,” Majewski said. “I’m not happy with the result, but I’m happy with the performance.”
A strong senior nucleus that includes Meade, Gawne, Favuzzi and Jack Musial has hopes high in Elmhurst.
“I absolutely love this team,” Favuzzi said. “Every single player is talented, and I know when they come on the field they’re going to put in the work that we need.”
Said Majewski: “We knew that we were going to be pretty good. How good is still to be determined. We’re trying to get these things out of the way now so that once we get rolling it’ll be hard to stop us.
“We have a good group of kids who have been playing together for quite some time,” Majewski added. “It’s a core that came back, but you have additions and everyone has to fit in, jell and find their place and know their role.”
After two games of quality chances and strong play, one task is paramount.
"We’ve created everything but a goal,” Majewski said. “It’s coming soon hopefully. But we know we don’t play a cupcake schedule. Every team is going to be a good opponent. We want to play those teams, because we want them to make us formidable in the sectional. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK: Aidan Crawford
D: Jack Cudmore
D: James Paden
D: Ronan O’Neill
D: Will Gerstein
M: Julio Mora
M: Ryan Ball
M: Jake Krueger
M: Will Franzen
F: Aidan Crowder
F: Alex Powell
York
GK: Mario Aguilar
D: Kalvin Glodz
D: Parker Gawne
D: Sebastian Benavides
D: Boyd Puckett
M: Jack Musial
M: Paolo Favuzzi
M: Ethan Oder
M: Kol Rollins
F: Erwin Morales
F: Joe Meade
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Aidan Crawford, so. GK, New Trier
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
NT – Alex Powell (Aidan Crowder), 71st minute
Crowder-to-Powell goal produces 1-0 win
By Dave Owen
ELMHURST -- Late game magic works both ways.
Three days after Fremd used a last-minute goal to tie New Trier 3-3, the Trevians (1-0-1) unveiled their own slightly less dramatic but even more effective version of a cliffhanger finish Thursday at York (0-2-0).
Tied with the host Dukes 0-0 and having endured a wave of chances by York much of the night, New Trier, 12th-ranked in Chicagoland Soccer's state-wide preseason poll, broke through with 9:17 left in the match on an Alex Powell goal to win 1-0.
“We struggled with closing out the game in our first game (vs. Fremd),” Powell said, “so tonight was a big step for us in terms of just playing smart and managing the game as time goes along. And having things go our way instead of having to chase the ball and defend heavily.”
The deciding goal was primarily the product of a great individual effort by Aidan Crowder, whose right side rush and end line cross found Powell wide open at the goal mouth for an easy putaway at the left post.
“I want to give all the credit to Aidan Crowder,” Powell said, “because he did all the hard work getting past the center defender and whipping a great ball across the box.
“My eyes just kind of got wide when I saw it coming, and thankfully it went in the back of the net.”
The expressions of 15th-ranked York featured less excitement on the play, as the Dukes contended an offsides call should have nullified the score.
“I heard two completely different explanations (by officials),” York coach Lukasz Majewski said. “One said it was a shot saved by the keeper for a rebound, and the other that the player was in an onside position.
“I think everybody could see it was a pass into the path of a player offsides, standing pretty much inside the goal. I disagree with the call, but we can’t take it back.
“It’s a learning experience,” Majewski added. “Don’t let the ref dictate the game. Take it into your own hands, get the result you want and then things like that are an afterthought.”
Adding extra sting to Thursday’s result was York’s 2019 opener two days earlier. Despite allowing no shots on goal, the Dukes suffered a 1-0 loss to Hoffman Estates on an own goal.
“That was just very unfortunate,” York standout midfielder Paolo Favuzzi said. “We’re definitely upset with the results, but we know that we did show up to play. It’s just one play (in each game) that we slipped, and we just need to make sure that on every play we’re giving 100 percent.”
Offside call or not, Favuzzi kept the match in perspective.
“I just think that at the end of the day we can’t blame the game on the refs,” he said. “We may not have agreed with the play, but we should have still been able to play through it.”
Playing through was Crowder’s only focus on the deciding goal.
“People were saying I might have been offsides, or I might have been on -- I didn’t care,” Crowder said. “I just kept going. You just do what you’ve got to do to get the goal. You just block all that out. And Alex was screaming my name, so I had to get it to him.
“I was just trying to give us a chance late in the game. We needed this win today after having a win stolen from us Monday. We just really wanted it this game.”
The game began with an exchange of early chances for the first 15 minutes, then an offensive advantage to York.
The first chance came just one minute in, when York’s Ethan Oder sent a left side cross towards the front that was denied on a lunging grab by New Trier goalkeeper Aidan Crawford.
Then combined York defensive effort by Parker Gawne and Sebastian Benavides denied a Powell run towards the box in the sixth minute.
“I thought Parker Gawne played really well,” Majewski said. “I know he’s chomping at the bit to move back to the top (forward), but he did a fantastic job. He possessed any threat that was there. He took the ball and brought it to the middle.
“Defensively he was solid, and the middles did well. Favuzzi is just a workhorse in the middle shutting things down.”
Gawne’s header upfield in the 11th minute repelled a New Trier corner kick (the game’s first). Then two minutes later, a Jake Krueger left side rush was denied as York goalkeeper Mario Aguilar came off his line to block the 15-yard shot point blank.
Aguilar’s nice play on that chance was soon matched in multiples by New Trier netminder and Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Crawford.
The sophomore faced a big test in the 16th minute, when a Benavides throw-in set up a Jack Musial header that Crawford leaped to just tip off the crossbar.
Crawford followed with a low catch on an Erwin Morales shot (18th minute), then Joe Meade tested the Trevians with two rocket shots in quick succession.
The first (a 15-yarder off a Sam Musial cross) went just wide of frame in the 21st minute. Then in the 23rd minute, Crawford’s nice diving catch at the left post denied Meade’s 12-yard laser off a Jack Musial pass.
“We have very talented forwards,” Favuzzi said. “We were really good at working the ball over -- we’re a good possession based team.”
But after that flurry of chances, other York offensive zone threats were largely snuffed out away from dangerous spots.
“The only problem we had moving forward I believe,” Favuzzi said, “is that once we got all the way up and possessed the ball down the field, we were having a hard time crossing the ball and finding somebody in the middle there.”
Crawford and a fast-maturing New Trier defensive unit that includes fellow sophomores James Paden and Ronan O’Neill had a big part in those denials.
“We’ve just stepped up,” Crawford said of the sophomore group, “and with the help of all the upperclassmen I think we’ve really fit in well.
“We were under a lot of pressure in the first half. But we really regrouped, got organized and were able to push them back a bit and were able to build out of the back, which really changed the game I think.”
New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft was also impressed by the defensive effort.
“They are young, but I felt they showed their maturity tonight,” Ravenscraft said. “York is a very difficult opponent. They’re going to have a lot of success this year. They’re fast; they’re physical; they’ve got kids that can really play. I thought we were very composed under pressure.”
The first half ended with dueling set piece chances -- a 40-yard free kick by York’s Boyd Puckett was redirected over the net in the 28th minute, and a corner kick by New Trier’s Ryan Ball with 30 seconds left was deflected just wide by teammate Sunjay Joshi.
After nicely answering York’s first half push, New Trier had to endure another Dukes offensive starting the second half.
Meade’s well struck 35-yard free kick with 38:30 left was deflected wide of the left post by a diving Crawford.
With 27:40 to play, the Trevians keeper made a one-handed punch away above the crowd of a Dukes cross -- a sequence that ended with a 15-yard one timer by York’s Kol Rollins that went just over the net.
Meade again was a force with 26:50 left, racing in on the right side and driving a low 8-yard shot that Crawford smothered at the near post.
“This is the third year in a row we’ve played York in the first week, and they’re a really good test,” New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft said. “They’re a well-prepared team, a good team, organized.
“They’re very good at absorbing pressure and then looking to break. They had a number of times they put our back four under pressure with a big diagonal ball. They know what they’re about. They’re very much on the same page.”
Entering the match at goalkeeper at halftime, York’s James Sampson was also tested mightily starting midway through the second half.
With 22:50 left, Sampson made his biggest save when he blocked a point-blank chance by Julio Mora on a cross to the front. Then one minute later, a right side 8-yard header by Joshi was again denied by a Sampson catch.
York answered with its own near miss with 16:10 left, when Meade’s header off a Morales right side cross went just wide. Then came Crowder’s rush, Powell’s putaway and the deciding goal.
“I felt like we grew into the game,” Ravenscraft said. “The second half I thought was much stronger, just in terms of our ability to manage the York attacking threat. I thought we strung more passes together in the middle third, we broke lines better, and we got the reward.”
The Trevians’ poise was another very positive sign.
“I thought we looked to find space,” Ravenscraft said, “and we were patient in terms of our build out play.
“We didn’t look to launch balls forward when it wasn’t there. We went back to Aidan, I had our center backs pass it back and forth -- we made them chase a little bit. We were really composed. I was proud of them.”
After New Trier’s Peter Kanellos redirected a cross just over the net with 6:55 left, York mounted a final threat.
Crawford’s catch denied an Oder 18-yard one-timer with six minutes left. Then with 1:30 to go, Ball nicely stepped in for a steal and clear from 40 yards out.
Meade produced the final two chances of the night. His right side rush with 55 seconds left resulted in an 18-yard shot saved by Crawford.Then with 35 seconds to go, Meade’s tough angle right side shot off a throw-in went wide.
A long send by Krueger with 10 seconds left then sealed the verdict.
Having already experienced both extremes of late-game emotion, New Trier is maintaining perspective.
“I think we should celebrate this win,” Powell said, “but we have a long way to go. We’re not happy with where we are now. We’re just kind of glad with the result we dug out today.
“I think it’s good to have this experience early in the season, where we can learn from our mistakes against good teams,” Powell added. “That way later in the season we can look back on our games from earlier, grow from that and not make those mistakes in the postseason.”
In a New Trier program with a history of 10 state trophies (including three titles), the bar is high.
“We still aren’t at our full potential,” Crawford said. “We definitely have more to show. And when we play our style of soccer, we’ll definitely be very successful.”
Said Crowder: “It’s a huge win for the beginning of the season. York is always a challenge for us, especially coming here. It’s a different type of field (narrower). They’re used to it, and it’s always a challenge.”
The current main challenge for York is to turn quality early-season play into wins.
“We’re struggling to put the ball in the back of the net right now,” Majewski said. “I’m not happy with the result, but I’m happy with the performance.”
A strong senior nucleus that includes Meade, Gawne, Favuzzi and Jack Musial has hopes high in Elmhurst.
“I absolutely love this team,” Favuzzi said. “Every single player is talented, and I know when they come on the field they’re going to put in the work that we need.”
Said Majewski: “We knew that we were going to be pretty good. How good is still to be determined. We’re trying to get these things out of the way now so that once we get rolling it’ll be hard to stop us.
“We have a good group of kids who have been playing together for quite some time,” Majewski added. “It’s a core that came back, but you have additions and everyone has to fit in, jell and find their place and know their role.”
After two games of quality chances and strong play, one task is paramount.
"We’ve created everything but a goal,” Majewski said. “It’s coming soon hopefully. But we know we don’t play a cupcake schedule. Every team is going to be a good opponent. We want to play those teams, because we want them to make us formidable in the sectional. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK: Aidan Crawford
D: Jack Cudmore
D: James Paden
D: Ronan O’Neill
D: Will Gerstein
M: Julio Mora
M: Ryan Ball
M: Jake Krueger
M: Will Franzen
F: Aidan Crowder
F: Alex Powell
York
GK: Mario Aguilar
D: Kalvin Glodz
D: Parker Gawne
D: Sebastian Benavides
D: Boyd Puckett
M: Jack Musial
M: Paolo Favuzzi
M: Ethan Oder
M: Kol Rollins
F: Erwin Morales
F: Joe Meade
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Aidan Crawford, so. GK, New Trier
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
NT – Alex Powell (Aidan Crowder), 71st minute