Kuhn heads NT comeback over St. Ignatius
78th-minute set piece leads no. 6 Trevians past no. 25 Wolfpack
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The South Loop backdrop of the St. Ignatius stadium is a majestic sight aesthetically with its architecturally imposing sightlines and the pristine and idealized spaces.
It screams tradition, honor and wonder. The quality of the soccer matched this beauty as two superb teams staged a terrific and highly contested game of skill and intensity.
St. Ignatius nearly knocked out New Trier early with a ferocious start until the no. 6 Trevians regained their composure and pulled out the scintillating 2-1 nonconference victory on a 78th minute header by 6-foot-5 defender Andrew Kuhn off a corner kick here Tuesday night.
It was Kuhn's fourth goal of the year -- all on the headers. His size and athleticism is tough for any team to match up with. He has a knack for finding balls. He had two earlier headers in each half that just missed their target.
“It’s a great win and great momentum going into the playoffs,” Kuhn said. “That was one of the best halves we have played the whole year. Offensively we were very organized.
“We just went out and changed our mentality in the second half and decided to relax a little and keep the ball a little more. We are a pretty fit team, and we stuck to our style. By the end of the match, we kept getting a lot of chances.”
Kuhn used his size and length to powerful effect.
“It is going to be hard to defend a guy who’s 6-foot-5, height-wise,” St. Ignatius coach Ryan Kearns said. “I’ve gotten two kids at 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3, but if you don’t match them up perfectly with the guy and the server is able to put it on his head, it is going to be hard to defend something like that.”
New Trier midfielder David Kugler served the game-winning assist after forward Alex Powell created the corner opportunity. The game-winning goal culminated a concentrated stretch of relentless New Trier pressure.
Only the brilliant and athletic play of Wolfpack keeper Keenan Troy kept no. 25 St. Ignatius in the game. He recorded nine saves, including spectacular back-to-back denials of Powell and midfielder Ryan Ball in the 76th minute.
Despite Troy’s brilliance, New Trier never lost faith.
“Maybe a less mature team or our team earlier in the season would have maybe gotten our heads down,” New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft said. “For us to get five or six chances or half-chances that did not come off, but then to keep digging and get that reward at the end is something as a coach you really want to see.”
Just as impressive the Trevians (13-3-2) staged their comeback without the services of their best player, midfielder Logan Weaver. He missed his third-consecutive game with an injury.
“To be honest we did struggle in the first game or two to figure that out because Logan is such a big part of our team,” Ravenscraft said. “I thought this was our most mature performance without him, and we look forward to having him back next week.”
Kuhn earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his game-winner and his superb defense that slowed down a very athletic and talented Wolfpack offense.
St. Ignatius (11-5-0) has been playing its best soccer of the season. The Wolfpack recently shut out no. 12 Hinsdale Central. They play no. 23 Loyola on Sunday in a game set to determine the champion of Catholic League Blue.
The Wolfpack nearly ran the Trevians off the field in the first 15 minutes. St. Ignatius showed the greater cohesion and quickness to the ball. In the second minute, midfielder Daniel Fernandez drilled a howitzer from the top of the box that New Trier keeper James McGranahan stretched out for the spectacular tip.
Midfielder Jaden Rice also blasted a ball off the post. The Wolfpack deployed high pressure and nearly caught the Trevians twice on the counter. McGranahan also jumped off his line to get to a ball and required a defender to help with the clearance.
“This is a very athletic team,” Ravenscraft said. “They have a lot of speed. They certainly came out the sharper side. We struggled to adjust. I actually looked at the clock and the first time we strung five or six passes together was about four and a half minutes into the game. That is too late. We were pretty much on our heels at the start.”
In retrospect the defining action was New Trier limiting the Wolfpack to a single goal. In the 14th minute, defender Jack Galante settled a ball at the top of the box and fired a laser inside the far post for the Wolfpack advantage.
“We could have gone up two or three to nothing, and that would have given us a little bit of a cushion,” Kearns said.
“That has been one of the struggles we have dealt with this year. At other times we put these beautiful goals in, and I sometimes wonder why we can’t seem to put in the easy ones. We have been working on finishing the entire season.”
At the halfway mark of the first half, New Trier finally settled in and began to string passes together and offset the Wolfpack athleticism in open space. In the 22nd minute, midfielder Benjamin Streett controlled a ball and headed to a streaking Powell.
Powell worked off two defenders and blasted home a ball from about 16 yards for his fifth goal of the year. A converted defensive midfielder, Powell has exhibited tremendous burst and speed in his new role.
“It was pretty hard for me at the beginning to adjust to the central attacking player because last year I was so used to dropping in and being behind the ball,” Powell said.
“I like [forward] way more, and it is a lot of fun.”
New Trier had the more serious chances from that moment on. St. Ignatius remained dangerous, especially in the counter and off several set pieces. Forward Keith Bevans and midfielders Matt Griffin and Fernandez challenged the Trevian backline on several chances.
“For the most part I am pleased with how we played for about 65 of the 80 minutes,” Kearns said. “Today simply we did not take care of the ball, especially in the second half. We were not taking care of the ball at our feet, and we were turning it over too easily.
“You are not going to beat a team like New Trier if you don’t keep the ball at your feet.”
This is a tense time in the week before the start of the large-schools state tournament. Teams are naturally eager to refine and sharpen their game and fuse the different pieces together. St. Ignatius hosts a quality Evanston team Friday for its Senior Night.
They meet rival no. 23 Loyola in a game previously postponed twice for the Catholic League Blue title Sunday in Glenview. St. Ignatius is the host of its own Class AA sectional.
New Trier hosts its own Class 3A regional starting Tuesday.
“We have our identity,” Ravenscraft said. “We know who were are and we lean into that. If we do that, we will be successful. Our [Class 3A Evanston] sectional is one of the more dangerous ones. Every single team can do damage. We go into it with eyes wide open. We are going to take it one game at a time. Today was the dress rehearsal for that.
“I asked the boys to dig in as if their season was on the line, and they did just that.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK: James McGranahan
D: Daniel Gunther
D: Andrew Kuhn
D: Jeffrey Urban
MF: Charles Hoholik
MF: Dominic de Boer
MF: David Kugler
MF: Ryan Ball
F: Sean Gooze
F: Alex Powell
F: Jake Kugler
St. Ignatius
GK: Keegan Troy
D: Talcott Malven
D: Jack Galante
D: Christian Telles
D: Ethan Belnap
MF: Aidan Hurst
MF: Maxmillian Hanlon
MF: Daniel Fernandez
MF: Jaden Rice
F: Matthew Griffin
F: Keith Bevans
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Andrew Kuhn, sr., D, New Trier
Scoring summary
First half
St. Ignatius—Jack Galante (unassisted), 14th minute
New Trier—Alex Powell (Benjamin Streett), 22nd minute
Second half
New Trier—Andrew Kuhn (David Kugler), 78th minute
78th-minute set piece leads no. 6 Trevians past no. 25 Wolfpack
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The South Loop backdrop of the St. Ignatius stadium is a majestic sight aesthetically with its architecturally imposing sightlines and the pristine and idealized spaces.
It screams tradition, honor and wonder. The quality of the soccer matched this beauty as two superb teams staged a terrific and highly contested game of skill and intensity.
St. Ignatius nearly knocked out New Trier early with a ferocious start until the no. 6 Trevians regained their composure and pulled out the scintillating 2-1 nonconference victory on a 78th minute header by 6-foot-5 defender Andrew Kuhn off a corner kick here Tuesday night.
It was Kuhn's fourth goal of the year -- all on the headers. His size and athleticism is tough for any team to match up with. He has a knack for finding balls. He had two earlier headers in each half that just missed their target.
“It’s a great win and great momentum going into the playoffs,” Kuhn said. “That was one of the best halves we have played the whole year. Offensively we were very organized.
“We just went out and changed our mentality in the second half and decided to relax a little and keep the ball a little more. We are a pretty fit team, and we stuck to our style. By the end of the match, we kept getting a lot of chances.”
Kuhn used his size and length to powerful effect.
“It is going to be hard to defend a guy who’s 6-foot-5, height-wise,” St. Ignatius coach Ryan Kearns said. “I’ve gotten two kids at 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3, but if you don’t match them up perfectly with the guy and the server is able to put it on his head, it is going to be hard to defend something like that.”
New Trier midfielder David Kugler served the game-winning assist after forward Alex Powell created the corner opportunity. The game-winning goal culminated a concentrated stretch of relentless New Trier pressure.
Only the brilliant and athletic play of Wolfpack keeper Keenan Troy kept no. 25 St. Ignatius in the game. He recorded nine saves, including spectacular back-to-back denials of Powell and midfielder Ryan Ball in the 76th minute.
Despite Troy’s brilliance, New Trier never lost faith.
“Maybe a less mature team or our team earlier in the season would have maybe gotten our heads down,” New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft said. “For us to get five or six chances or half-chances that did not come off, but then to keep digging and get that reward at the end is something as a coach you really want to see.”
Just as impressive the Trevians (13-3-2) staged their comeback without the services of their best player, midfielder Logan Weaver. He missed his third-consecutive game with an injury.
“To be honest we did struggle in the first game or two to figure that out because Logan is such a big part of our team,” Ravenscraft said. “I thought this was our most mature performance without him, and we look forward to having him back next week.”
Kuhn earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his game-winner and his superb defense that slowed down a very athletic and talented Wolfpack offense.
St. Ignatius (11-5-0) has been playing its best soccer of the season. The Wolfpack recently shut out no. 12 Hinsdale Central. They play no. 23 Loyola on Sunday in a game set to determine the champion of Catholic League Blue.
The Wolfpack nearly ran the Trevians off the field in the first 15 minutes. St. Ignatius showed the greater cohesion and quickness to the ball. In the second minute, midfielder Daniel Fernandez drilled a howitzer from the top of the box that New Trier keeper James McGranahan stretched out for the spectacular tip.
Midfielder Jaden Rice also blasted a ball off the post. The Wolfpack deployed high pressure and nearly caught the Trevians twice on the counter. McGranahan also jumped off his line to get to a ball and required a defender to help with the clearance.
“This is a very athletic team,” Ravenscraft said. “They have a lot of speed. They certainly came out the sharper side. We struggled to adjust. I actually looked at the clock and the first time we strung five or six passes together was about four and a half minutes into the game. That is too late. We were pretty much on our heels at the start.”
In retrospect the defining action was New Trier limiting the Wolfpack to a single goal. In the 14th minute, defender Jack Galante settled a ball at the top of the box and fired a laser inside the far post for the Wolfpack advantage.
“We could have gone up two or three to nothing, and that would have given us a little bit of a cushion,” Kearns said.
“That has been one of the struggles we have dealt with this year. At other times we put these beautiful goals in, and I sometimes wonder why we can’t seem to put in the easy ones. We have been working on finishing the entire season.”
At the halfway mark of the first half, New Trier finally settled in and began to string passes together and offset the Wolfpack athleticism in open space. In the 22nd minute, midfielder Benjamin Streett controlled a ball and headed to a streaking Powell.
Powell worked off two defenders and blasted home a ball from about 16 yards for his fifth goal of the year. A converted defensive midfielder, Powell has exhibited tremendous burst and speed in his new role.
“It was pretty hard for me at the beginning to adjust to the central attacking player because last year I was so used to dropping in and being behind the ball,” Powell said.
“I like [forward] way more, and it is a lot of fun.”
New Trier had the more serious chances from that moment on. St. Ignatius remained dangerous, especially in the counter and off several set pieces. Forward Keith Bevans and midfielders Matt Griffin and Fernandez challenged the Trevian backline on several chances.
“For the most part I am pleased with how we played for about 65 of the 80 minutes,” Kearns said. “Today simply we did not take care of the ball, especially in the second half. We were not taking care of the ball at our feet, and we were turning it over too easily.
“You are not going to beat a team like New Trier if you don’t keep the ball at your feet.”
This is a tense time in the week before the start of the large-schools state tournament. Teams are naturally eager to refine and sharpen their game and fuse the different pieces together. St. Ignatius hosts a quality Evanston team Friday for its Senior Night.
They meet rival no. 23 Loyola in a game previously postponed twice for the Catholic League Blue title Sunday in Glenview. St. Ignatius is the host of its own Class AA sectional.
New Trier hosts its own Class 3A regional starting Tuesday.
“We have our identity,” Ravenscraft said. “We know who were are and we lean into that. If we do that, we will be successful. Our [Class 3A Evanston] sectional is one of the more dangerous ones. Every single team can do damage. We go into it with eyes wide open. We are going to take it one game at a time. Today was the dress rehearsal for that.
“I asked the boys to dig in as if their season was on the line, and they did just that.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK: James McGranahan
D: Daniel Gunther
D: Andrew Kuhn
D: Jeffrey Urban
MF: Charles Hoholik
MF: Dominic de Boer
MF: David Kugler
MF: Ryan Ball
F: Sean Gooze
F: Alex Powell
F: Jake Kugler
St. Ignatius
GK: Keegan Troy
D: Talcott Malven
D: Jack Galante
D: Christian Telles
D: Ethan Belnap
MF: Aidan Hurst
MF: Maxmillian Hanlon
MF: Daniel Fernandez
MF: Jaden Rice
F: Matthew Griffin
F: Keith Bevans
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Andrew Kuhn, sr., D, New Trier
Scoring summary
First half
St. Ignatius—Jack Galante (unassisted), 14th minute
New Trier—Alex Powell (Benjamin Streett), 22nd minute
Second half
New Trier—Andrew Kuhn (David Kugler), 78th minute