Weaver's flashy finish propels NT past NN
Trevians head to Naperville Invitational semifinals after 1-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- One great play from a great player is often what decides a high school soccer match.
On Thursday, the best play from the girl who is arguably the best player in the state made the difference for New Trier.
Villanova commit Emma Weaver scored on a spectacular one-vs.-three effort late in the first half and the Trevians, ranked no. 4 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, hung on to edge host and seventh-ranked Naperville North 1-0 in a Naperville Invitational quarterfinal.
New Trier (13-1-5) will face no. 2 St. Charles North (12-0-1) at 7 p.m. in the second semifinal Friday at Naperville Central’s Memorial Stadium. No. 1 Barrington (12-1-1) takes on no. 6 St. Charles East (13-5-0) in the first semifinal at 5 p.m.
“It’s exciting,” Weaver said. “I’m happy for my team. It’s a good step for us.”
Weaver somehow got a step on three Naperville North defenders on the decisive play, which began in an instant.
Lilly Frentzel played a long ball out of the back up the left side to Weaver, who was just past midfield.
The ball bounced a split second before Weaver beat the outside defender to the ball, and she accelerated past all three Huskies. That began a 40-yard dribble in which Weaver stayed just ahead of the defenders before beating goalkeeper Amanda Johnson with a 12-yard shot inside the far post with 6:40 left in the first half.
It was the 18th goal of the season for Weaver, who continues to elicit kudos from friends and foes over jaw-dropping plays like that.
“She’s the kind of finisher that only comes along every once in a while in a career,” New Trier coach Jim Burnside said. “I’ve been lucky to have a couple, but none exactly like her.
“I think we have a great team around her and then we’ve got a great player in her. We say she is a great forward, but the last 20 minutes she was in the backline, and then she’s in the midfield and then she’s getting a cross off.
“She’s the kind of kid that is just a true joy to coach, because she works hard every day and is a game-changer.”
This game-changing moment seemed to come out of nowhere. One small miscalculation by the Huskies ended up costing them the game.
“Lilly Frentzel played the ball in the air, and I saw it was going to the outside back,” Weaver said. “So I pressured the outside back, and luckily I got that touch past her. Then I was 1-on-3 with the goalkeeper, and then I toe-poked it with my left foot to the far corner.”
The explosive Weaver made a difficult play look easy, a feat only the best prep players can do. It wasn’t the first time.
“I guess I can say I’m pretty used to it,” Weaver said. “But it’s still pretty challenging, especially when they’re all running at me from behind, like on that play. But I just have to slow down in my mind and relax and then just place the ball.”
That’s all it took for New Trier to get past a team in Naperville North that was playing at home and starting to jell. The only other quality scoring chance the Trevians mustered came 15 minutes before the goal when Weaver fired a 32-yard shot off the left post.
“We made a mistake,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “We should have cleared a ball, and we didn’t.
“Weaver is obviously a fantastic kid, pounced on it and made a play. That’s what great players do.
“Hats off to her. She’s one of the best kids we’ve seen in years. The great thing about her is she truly loves the high school game, and she plays it the right way.
“She’s got a little bit of flash, but she’s hard-working. The last part of the game she’s chasing down our most dangerous kid, and that shows what kind of kid she is.”
The Huskies (7-4-1) actually did well to limit Weaver to three shots. But it wasn’t enough.
“Obviously it was super frustrating,” Naperville North midfielder Taylor Klaiber said. “We knew coming in that if she got one chance, she would take it and score.
“But she’s an amazing player, so props to her. But it was one mental lapse in the game.”
Goletz felt the Huskies, who had played in the last four Naperville Invitational championship games, had the better of the run of play, and he can make a good argument for that.
The Trevians held a 9-6 edge in shots, but the Huskies had seven corner kicks, three more than New Trier, plus several dangerous free kick opportunities.
“I think the most important thing for us was to just continue battling the whole game, and you could tell throughout the game that we were in it,” Klaiber said. “We weren’t taken out of it by them, and we still had just as many chances as them.
“Obviously this is a setback, but we played an amazing game. That’s the best game we’ve played all season, so if we continue to build off of that and just keep getting better we’ll be really good later on.”
The Huskies were plenty good in this one. Leah Shumate was dangerous on restarts and could have had a hat trick. She fired a pair of free kicks just over the crossbar and saw New Trier goalie Courtney Charchut make a leaping effort to tip a corner kick over the crossbar.
Charchut has played the last three matches in place of starter Meghan Dwyer, who is out with a concussion. She finished with three saves to back some excellent defending from Jenna Birdsell, Julia Goldish, Josie Crumley and Ava Shaw. Goldish was subbing for center back Heidi Bianucci, another concussion victim.
“Julia stepped up, and I can’t even say to what extent,” Burnside said. “It was just awesome how she stepped up and then our goalkeeper Courtney Charchut, she’s stepped up the last three games and just been awesome.
“When you have the luxury of that, you can make yourself look pretty good as a coach.”
Burnside loves playing in the invite because the Trevians get to see top-notch teams in every game. Not only does Weaver rise to the occasion offensively, so does the defense, which is improving daily.
“That’s a good Naperville North team,” Weaver said. “We knew that coming in.
“We just had to battle, and I think as a team we all worked well together and that goal just showed what we’ve been working on so hard at practice. It’s clearly showing on the field.”
“(Defensively we’ve been working on becoming more of a unit back there, with Josie and Julia leading that.”
Count Goletz among the opponents whom New Trier has impressed.
“New Trier is amazing. Not only do they reload every year; they’re so organized. They tackle so hard, and Jim does such a great job with those kids,” Goletz said. “To have the best player on the field every game is obvious. But the supporting cast and the way that they’re organized is what makes them what they are.”
That said, Goletz was pleased with how the Huskies performed, especially on offense.
“Tonight, I couldn’t ask the girls for anything more in terms of dangerous chances,” Goletz said. “It was the most dangerous we’ve been in a while.
“We generated some things through the run of play. We were close a couple of times, and the restarts were great.
“Their kids made great plays to win balls off of corners, and that’s what you get in these games. That’s why we play them.
“We love hosting this tournament. As I told the kids, if they give me that effort against any team in the state of Illinois, all we can do is walk off and say we gave everything we had.
“That was the challenge today. If you don’t give that effort against a team like New Trier, you’re going to get embarrassed. Tonight, the kids did a fantastic job of hanging in there.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
Under construction
Naperville North
GK Amanda Johnson
D Paige Sylvester
D Reilly Riggs
D Emily Magee
D Jordan Leonard
M Taylor Klaiber
M Leah Shumate
M Maddie Schlecht
F Hannah Martin
F Emily Dulik
F Katie Murphy
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Emma Weaver, jr., F, New Trier
Scoring summary
First half
New Trier: Emma Weaver, 34th minute
Second half
No scoring
Trevians head to Naperville Invitational semifinals after 1-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- One great play from a great player is often what decides a high school soccer match.
On Thursday, the best play from the girl who is arguably the best player in the state made the difference for New Trier.
Villanova commit Emma Weaver scored on a spectacular one-vs.-three effort late in the first half and the Trevians, ranked no. 4 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, hung on to edge host and seventh-ranked Naperville North 1-0 in a Naperville Invitational quarterfinal.
New Trier (13-1-5) will face no. 2 St. Charles North (12-0-1) at 7 p.m. in the second semifinal Friday at Naperville Central’s Memorial Stadium. No. 1 Barrington (12-1-1) takes on no. 6 St. Charles East (13-5-0) in the first semifinal at 5 p.m.
“It’s exciting,” Weaver said. “I’m happy for my team. It’s a good step for us.”
Weaver somehow got a step on three Naperville North defenders on the decisive play, which began in an instant.
Lilly Frentzel played a long ball out of the back up the left side to Weaver, who was just past midfield.
The ball bounced a split second before Weaver beat the outside defender to the ball, and she accelerated past all three Huskies. That began a 40-yard dribble in which Weaver stayed just ahead of the defenders before beating goalkeeper Amanda Johnson with a 12-yard shot inside the far post with 6:40 left in the first half.
It was the 18th goal of the season for Weaver, who continues to elicit kudos from friends and foes over jaw-dropping plays like that.
“She’s the kind of finisher that only comes along every once in a while in a career,” New Trier coach Jim Burnside said. “I’ve been lucky to have a couple, but none exactly like her.
“I think we have a great team around her and then we’ve got a great player in her. We say she is a great forward, but the last 20 minutes she was in the backline, and then she’s in the midfield and then she’s getting a cross off.
“She’s the kind of kid that is just a true joy to coach, because she works hard every day and is a game-changer.”
This game-changing moment seemed to come out of nowhere. One small miscalculation by the Huskies ended up costing them the game.
“Lilly Frentzel played the ball in the air, and I saw it was going to the outside back,” Weaver said. “So I pressured the outside back, and luckily I got that touch past her. Then I was 1-on-3 with the goalkeeper, and then I toe-poked it with my left foot to the far corner.”
The explosive Weaver made a difficult play look easy, a feat only the best prep players can do. It wasn’t the first time.
“I guess I can say I’m pretty used to it,” Weaver said. “But it’s still pretty challenging, especially when they’re all running at me from behind, like on that play. But I just have to slow down in my mind and relax and then just place the ball.”
That’s all it took for New Trier to get past a team in Naperville North that was playing at home and starting to jell. The only other quality scoring chance the Trevians mustered came 15 minutes before the goal when Weaver fired a 32-yard shot off the left post.
“We made a mistake,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “We should have cleared a ball, and we didn’t.
“Weaver is obviously a fantastic kid, pounced on it and made a play. That’s what great players do.
“Hats off to her. She’s one of the best kids we’ve seen in years. The great thing about her is she truly loves the high school game, and she plays it the right way.
“She’s got a little bit of flash, but she’s hard-working. The last part of the game she’s chasing down our most dangerous kid, and that shows what kind of kid she is.”
The Huskies (7-4-1) actually did well to limit Weaver to three shots. But it wasn’t enough.
“Obviously it was super frustrating,” Naperville North midfielder Taylor Klaiber said. “We knew coming in that if she got one chance, she would take it and score.
“But she’s an amazing player, so props to her. But it was one mental lapse in the game.”
Goletz felt the Huskies, who had played in the last four Naperville Invitational championship games, had the better of the run of play, and he can make a good argument for that.
The Trevians held a 9-6 edge in shots, but the Huskies had seven corner kicks, three more than New Trier, plus several dangerous free kick opportunities.
“I think the most important thing for us was to just continue battling the whole game, and you could tell throughout the game that we were in it,” Klaiber said. “We weren’t taken out of it by them, and we still had just as many chances as them.
“Obviously this is a setback, but we played an amazing game. That’s the best game we’ve played all season, so if we continue to build off of that and just keep getting better we’ll be really good later on.”
The Huskies were plenty good in this one. Leah Shumate was dangerous on restarts and could have had a hat trick. She fired a pair of free kicks just over the crossbar and saw New Trier goalie Courtney Charchut make a leaping effort to tip a corner kick over the crossbar.
Charchut has played the last three matches in place of starter Meghan Dwyer, who is out with a concussion. She finished with three saves to back some excellent defending from Jenna Birdsell, Julia Goldish, Josie Crumley and Ava Shaw. Goldish was subbing for center back Heidi Bianucci, another concussion victim.
“Julia stepped up, and I can’t even say to what extent,” Burnside said. “It was just awesome how she stepped up and then our goalkeeper Courtney Charchut, she’s stepped up the last three games and just been awesome.
“When you have the luxury of that, you can make yourself look pretty good as a coach.”
Burnside loves playing in the invite because the Trevians get to see top-notch teams in every game. Not only does Weaver rise to the occasion offensively, so does the defense, which is improving daily.
“That’s a good Naperville North team,” Weaver said. “We knew that coming in.
“We just had to battle, and I think as a team we all worked well together and that goal just showed what we’ve been working on so hard at practice. It’s clearly showing on the field.”
“(Defensively we’ve been working on becoming more of a unit back there, with Josie and Julia leading that.”
Count Goletz among the opponents whom New Trier has impressed.
“New Trier is amazing. Not only do they reload every year; they’re so organized. They tackle so hard, and Jim does such a great job with those kids,” Goletz said. “To have the best player on the field every game is obvious. But the supporting cast and the way that they’re organized is what makes them what they are.”
That said, Goletz was pleased with how the Huskies performed, especially on offense.
“Tonight, I couldn’t ask the girls for anything more in terms of dangerous chances,” Goletz said. “It was the most dangerous we’ve been in a while.
“We generated some things through the run of play. We were close a couple of times, and the restarts were great.
“Their kids made great plays to win balls off of corners, and that’s what you get in these games. That’s why we play them.
“We love hosting this tournament. As I told the kids, if they give me that effort against any team in the state of Illinois, all we can do is walk off and say we gave everything we had.
“That was the challenge today. If you don’t give that effort against a team like New Trier, you’re going to get embarrassed. Tonight, the kids did a fantastic job of hanging in there.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
Under construction
Naperville North
GK Amanda Johnson
D Paige Sylvester
D Reilly Riggs
D Emily Magee
D Jordan Leonard
M Taylor Klaiber
M Leah Shumate
M Maddie Schlecht
F Hannah Martin
F Emily Dulik
F Katie Murphy
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Emma Weaver, jr., F, New Trier
Scoring summary
First half
New Trier: Emma Weaver, 34th minute
Second half
No scoring