Late Glenbrook North goal ends
New Trier's conference run
Sabbione score leads to 1-1 tie, leaves undefeated Trevians 2nd
By Michael Wojtychiw
NORTHBROOK -- Soccer is a game of chances. The teams that are able to capitalize on theirs are usually the ones that come out on top.
The ones that can't? They usually struggle to get wins.
Both New Trier and Glenbrook North had numerous chances in their last Central Suburban League South Division match on Tuesday, but both teams failed to take advantage of them. Each converted once for a 1-1 draw.
The tie had unfortunate repercussions for the eighth-ranked Trevians (10-1-5). Coming into the match, they led the South Division with a 3-0-1 record, one point ahead of second place Evanston (3-1-0).
A win guaranteed New Trier its sixth-consecutive league title. But the tie, coupled with Evanston's 5-1 win over Niles West, cost the Trevians the honor, which will now rest in Evanston for the first time since the 2013 season.
To win the championship, the Trevians had to win one of their final two conference games against the Glenbrook schools. But the District 225 schools held the line with two draws.
"This was our only game this week, so we don't have tomorrow or anything left in conference to make it right," New Trier's Evan Kanellos said. "The only way we can make it right is in the playoffs.
"We have to keep our heads up. We haven't lost since early September; Lyons is our only loss. But that's two-consecutive games where we've just gotten leads and needed one to hold one win conference. And we let teams draw us. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is."
The result extended Glenbrook North's unbeaten string to four matches.
"We persevered," Glenbrook North manager Paul Gibbs said. "I thought in the first half, it was very tight, very close. In the second half the wind got going, and it didn't go to plan that we conceded first. But they stuck with it and got our rewards at the end."
After falling to Maine South on Sept. 16, the host Spartans (9-4-2) rebounded with wins over University (Chicago), Glenbrook South and Niles West before Tuesday's result.
"The Maine South game was an eye opener," Gibbs said. "It was a very close game for the first 20 minutes, but then we threw the towel in, and I wasn't happy with it.
"So we aired our frustrations, watched video, worked harder at training, and it definitely benefitted us tonight."
"We knew as a team we had to adjust and help each other get better," Glenbrook North's Vinnie Sabbione said. "It starts in training and the leadership on this team has gotten better. We've seen the underclassmen stand up."
It looked like it'd be all Trevians early as the visitors put three shots on frame in the first 10 minutes. They came close on two but Spartans' keeper Max Bachenheimer, who made great save after great save, stood in the way.
The Spartans got their first really good chance with 10 minutes elapsed, when Trevians keeper Thomas Terry came off his line. Sabbione had an open net, but his ball was cleared just before it crossed the goal line. The resulting corner kick provided no solace.
Both teams' goalies and defenses continued to make great defensive stops in a scoreless first half,
"We'd been really hungry for a goal the whole time," Sabbione said. "We just couldn't score."
New Trier went on the offensive at the start the second half. One try hit the football crossbar a couple minutes after the half.
The Trevians' hard work finally paid off with 18 minutes, 53 seconds remaining when Kanellos was awarded a free kick just inside the box.
"Their goalie caught the ball, went to punt it, dropped it and then picked it back up," Kanellos said. "It became an indirect free kick right inside the box."
Theo Franzen tapped the ball, and Kanellos did the rest.
"The goalie was cheating to the left side, and I just beat him to where he should have been," he said. "There wasn't too much space, so I just hit it and saw what happened."
Glenbrook North thought it had the equalizer nearly eight minutes later, but a shot that looked like it hit the crossbar and went in wasn't ruled a goal by the official, and the teams played on.
Sabbione made sure the home crowd would go home with some satisfaction when he put a shot past Terry with 3:40 left.
"In my mind, I always try to focus on my positioning," he said. "I'd been hungry the whole game for the ball to come to the center. It was a special moment, and I guess I was in the right place at the right time."
"It felt like there was momentum building, and we've got to do a better job of denying space," Ravenscraft said. "We just have to be smarter on how to manage a game when we're up 1-0. But credit to GBN, they continued to work hard. Credit to their set pieces and they got the reward at the end."
Both teams are done with conference play now and have just a handful of games before the playoffs start. Sectional seeds come out Thursday afternoon. Both teams will play in the Glenbrook South Sectional, so there's a chance they'll see each other again before the teams hang up their cleats.
"We've got some time now to regroup, it's going to be really important for the next week or two to take a breath, lean into the principles," Ravenscraft said. "We have to lick our wounds and just move forward. We press on.
"Our training has to be at the highest standard. Our practices are going to be very intense the rest of the week."
Glenbrook North will try to extend its unbeaten string.
"We've got some challenging games coming up, starting with a local derby game with Deerfield," Gibbs said. "We've got some games against CSL North teams. We used to be in tht division, so we want to go out and win those for sure."
Notebook
Included during Glenbrook North’s current unbeaten streak is a 4-3 win over district rival Glenbrook South. The Spartans rallied from a 2-0 deficit to prevail 4-3. … In Glenbrook North’s six remaining games, two come are cross-overs against Deerfield and Vernon Hills. The remaining include St. Ignatius and Amundsen, and ranked Grayslake Central and Hinsdale Central, who have both lost top players for the season due to injuries. … Four of the six games are on the road, where the Spartans hold a 3-1-0 record. They're 6-2-2 at home. … After starting the year 10-1-2, the Trevians have tied their last three contests, including their Sept. 24 match with Whitefish Bay (Wis.), which is the reigning Wisconsin state champion and currently undefeated on the year. … Kanellos leads the Trevians with eight goals and six assists, but the rest of the squad's scoring is evenly distributed. Six players have at least two goals. Matthew Perchik and Karsten Segall are tied for second on the team with five goals each.
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK: Thomas Terry
D: Colin Gottshall
D: Ian Vichnick
D: Liam Myers
D: Kevin Farina
MF: Aryan Krishna
MF: Evan Kanellos
MF: Eli Drake
MF: Theo Franzen
F: Aidan Nicholson
F: Matthew Perchik
Glenbrook North
GK: Max Bachenheimer
D: Ethan Klinghofer
D: Tal Yedlin
D: Ben Melnick
D: Chase Petersen
MF: Chris Sanchez
MF: Steven Rhee
MF: Brian Pekala
MF: Sam Lappin
MF: Ian Lee
F: Vinny Sabbione
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Max Bachenheimer, sr., GK, Glenbrook North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
NT: Evan Kanellos (free kick), 62nd minute
GBN: Vinnie Sabbione (unassisted), 77th minute
New Trier's conference run
Sabbione score leads to 1-1 tie, leaves undefeated Trevians 2nd
By Michael Wojtychiw
NORTHBROOK -- Soccer is a game of chances. The teams that are able to capitalize on theirs are usually the ones that come out on top.
The ones that can't? They usually struggle to get wins.
Both New Trier and Glenbrook North had numerous chances in their last Central Suburban League South Division match on Tuesday, but both teams failed to take advantage of them. Each converted once for a 1-1 draw.
The tie had unfortunate repercussions for the eighth-ranked Trevians (10-1-5). Coming into the match, they led the South Division with a 3-0-1 record, one point ahead of second place Evanston (3-1-0).
A win guaranteed New Trier its sixth-consecutive league title. But the tie, coupled with Evanston's 5-1 win over Niles West, cost the Trevians the honor, which will now rest in Evanston for the first time since the 2013 season.
To win the championship, the Trevians had to win one of their final two conference games against the Glenbrook schools. But the District 225 schools held the line with two draws.
"This was our only game this week, so we don't have tomorrow or anything left in conference to make it right," New Trier's Evan Kanellos said. "The only way we can make it right is in the playoffs.
"We have to keep our heads up. We haven't lost since early September; Lyons is our only loss. But that's two-consecutive games where we've just gotten leads and needed one to hold one win conference. And we let teams draw us. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is."
The result extended Glenbrook North's unbeaten string to four matches.
"We persevered," Glenbrook North manager Paul Gibbs said. "I thought in the first half, it was very tight, very close. In the second half the wind got going, and it didn't go to plan that we conceded first. But they stuck with it and got our rewards at the end."
After falling to Maine South on Sept. 16, the host Spartans (9-4-2) rebounded with wins over University (Chicago), Glenbrook South and Niles West before Tuesday's result.
"The Maine South game was an eye opener," Gibbs said. "It was a very close game for the first 20 minutes, but then we threw the towel in, and I wasn't happy with it.
"So we aired our frustrations, watched video, worked harder at training, and it definitely benefitted us tonight."
"We knew as a team we had to adjust and help each other get better," Glenbrook North's Vinnie Sabbione said. "It starts in training and the leadership on this team has gotten better. We've seen the underclassmen stand up."
It looked like it'd be all Trevians early as the visitors put three shots on frame in the first 10 minutes. They came close on two but Spartans' keeper Max Bachenheimer, who made great save after great save, stood in the way.
The Spartans got their first really good chance with 10 minutes elapsed, when Trevians keeper Thomas Terry came off his line. Sabbione had an open net, but his ball was cleared just before it crossed the goal line. The resulting corner kick provided no solace.
Both teams' goalies and defenses continued to make great defensive stops in a scoreless first half,
"We'd been really hungry for a goal the whole time," Sabbione said. "We just couldn't score."
New Trier went on the offensive at the start the second half. One try hit the football crossbar a couple minutes after the half.
The Trevians' hard work finally paid off with 18 minutes, 53 seconds remaining when Kanellos was awarded a free kick just inside the box.
"Their goalie caught the ball, went to punt it, dropped it and then picked it back up," Kanellos said. "It became an indirect free kick right inside the box."
Theo Franzen tapped the ball, and Kanellos did the rest.
"The goalie was cheating to the left side, and I just beat him to where he should have been," he said. "There wasn't too much space, so I just hit it and saw what happened."
Glenbrook North thought it had the equalizer nearly eight minutes later, but a shot that looked like it hit the crossbar and went in wasn't ruled a goal by the official, and the teams played on.
Sabbione made sure the home crowd would go home with some satisfaction when he put a shot past Terry with 3:40 left.
"In my mind, I always try to focus on my positioning," he said. "I'd been hungry the whole game for the ball to come to the center. It was a special moment, and I guess I was in the right place at the right time."
"It felt like there was momentum building, and we've got to do a better job of denying space," Ravenscraft said. "We just have to be smarter on how to manage a game when we're up 1-0. But credit to GBN, they continued to work hard. Credit to their set pieces and they got the reward at the end."
Both teams are done with conference play now and have just a handful of games before the playoffs start. Sectional seeds come out Thursday afternoon. Both teams will play in the Glenbrook South Sectional, so there's a chance they'll see each other again before the teams hang up their cleats.
"We've got some time now to regroup, it's going to be really important for the next week or two to take a breath, lean into the principles," Ravenscraft said. "We have to lick our wounds and just move forward. We press on.
"Our training has to be at the highest standard. Our practices are going to be very intense the rest of the week."
Glenbrook North will try to extend its unbeaten string.
"We've got some challenging games coming up, starting with a local derby game with Deerfield," Gibbs said. "We've got some games against CSL North teams. We used to be in tht division, so we want to go out and win those for sure."
Notebook
Included during Glenbrook North’s current unbeaten streak is a 4-3 win over district rival Glenbrook South. The Spartans rallied from a 2-0 deficit to prevail 4-3. … In Glenbrook North’s six remaining games, two come are cross-overs against Deerfield and Vernon Hills. The remaining include St. Ignatius and Amundsen, and ranked Grayslake Central and Hinsdale Central, who have both lost top players for the season due to injuries. … Four of the six games are on the road, where the Spartans hold a 3-1-0 record. They're 6-2-2 at home. … After starting the year 10-1-2, the Trevians have tied their last three contests, including their Sept. 24 match with Whitefish Bay (Wis.), which is the reigning Wisconsin state champion and currently undefeated on the year. … Kanellos leads the Trevians with eight goals and six assists, but the rest of the squad's scoring is evenly distributed. Six players have at least two goals. Matthew Perchik and Karsten Segall are tied for second on the team with five goals each.
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK: Thomas Terry
D: Colin Gottshall
D: Ian Vichnick
D: Liam Myers
D: Kevin Farina
MF: Aryan Krishna
MF: Evan Kanellos
MF: Eli Drake
MF: Theo Franzen
F: Aidan Nicholson
F: Matthew Perchik
Glenbrook North
GK: Max Bachenheimer
D: Ethan Klinghofer
D: Tal Yedlin
D: Ben Melnick
D: Chase Petersen
MF: Chris Sanchez
MF: Steven Rhee
MF: Brian Pekala
MF: Sam Lappin
MF: Ian Lee
F: Vinny Sabbione
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Max Bachenheimer, sr., GK, Glenbrook North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
NT: Evan Kanellos (free kick), 62nd minute
GBN: Vinnie Sabbione (unassisted), 77th minute