Stevenson states case against New Trier
Patriots take down Trevians with 2-0 win in Malnati’s finale
By Gary Larsen
NORTHFIELD — Stevenson celebrated wildly after winning 2-0 over New Trier on Tuesday, for reasons that went beyond the fact that the win earned the Patriots the championship trophy of this year’s Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic.
“We wanted to show New Trier what we could do,” Stevenson keeper Jenny Staten said. “We wanted to compete and beat our bigger sisters, because they've been known around Chicago for such a long time. We wanted to make ourselves known today.”
Coach PepeJon Chavez echoed that theme of arrival for Stevenson (8-1-2), which gained the semifinals as the wild card team and lost to New Trier 2-1 in Malnati's pool play.
“It's not about the overall wins and losses. It's about this group coming together and establishing Stevenson as a dominant presence on the North Shore,” Chavez said.
New Trier, ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, of course, has a long-standing stake in that dominance. The Trevians (8-1-5) have won six state titles and appeared in the last five consecutive Class 3A state title games.
Trevians coach Jim Burnside was neither displeased with his girls’ play Tuesday, nor unwilling to give credit where it was due.
“It didn't swing our way tonight, and that happens,” he said. “I thought it was a great game, a great battle. They took advantage of their opportunities, and that's the story of the game. They fought hard, they ran through balls, and I was really impressed with their athleticism. Their kids showed a ton of heart.”
No game is won or lost in the first 10 minutes but Staten made two saves during that span that were as important as any of the plays to come.
New Trier’s Emma Weaver blistered a shot from 18 yards just three minutes into play and Staten dove to her right and got both hands on the ball to make the save. Four minutes later, she did it again.
“I just had to make myself big and be the best I could be,” Staten said.
At 13 minutes, Stevenson’s Kalyssa VanZanten made Staten’s two big saves pay off. The senior forward took a touch to her right near the top of the box on the left side and sent a laser inside the near post from 22 yards.
“That first goal was an incredible shot,” New Trier’s Fallon Warschauer said. “(VanZanten) is an amazing player, and there was nothing we could've done.”
New Trier’s Heidi Bianucci sent a handful of dangerous free kicks in from distance thereafter, but Staten was up to every challenge. New Trier keeper Megan Dwyer saved a long one-hopper sent in by Stevenson’s Krissy Hill at 27 minutes, and no. 5 Stevenson pressured well from there to halftime.
Weaver was her usual infinitely dangerous self Tuesday and elevated her play even more during the first 10 minutes of the second half.
But whenever Weaver turned to take people on, the Stevenson backline of Tess Koleno, Paige Copeland, Kayla Constabilio and Myah Schoolman were there to make life difficult for her.
“They swarmed the ball really well and put pressure when they needed to,” Burnside said. “They back-tackled and it kind of had a us off balance a little bit. Then when you start chasing it and pressing a little bit, it gets tough. And there was never really a true rhythm to the game. It kind of plodded along.”
The relentless Weaver still found space to fire a few dangerous shots on frame in the second half, but Staten never buckled.
“Emma kept throwing shots at her, and she did an incredible job holding them together,” Warschauer said of Staten, who earned Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match honor for her play.
Weaver hit the crossbar with a shot from 35 yards at 52 minutes. One minute later, Stevenson upped its lead.
VanZanten broke up the heart of the field in transition, and Dwyer met her at the 18 and stuffed her shot at 54 minutes. The ball spun sideways to Madison Kim, who calmly placed it into an empty net from 17 yards.
New Trier tried to answer. Bianucci sent a long free kick just high at 60 minutes and Weaver whipped a shot past the far post from right side at 72 minutes, but the Trevians came up empty-handed.
Stevenson’s bench cleared as the final buzzer sounded, and the Patriots met at midfield to celebrate.
“This is a steppingstone because we get to play in a final tonight, but we know we've got more finals to come,” Chavez said. “We've got a regional final, a sectional final a supersectional final, and we’re planning to go downstate. Stevenson has never been there, and the time is now.”
Stevenson plays Libertyville, Zion-Benton, and Maine South over the next five days, while New Trier opens play of the Naperville Invitational on Wednesday at home against Downers Grove South.
“I thought we played well tonight,” Burnside said. “We maybe got a little tired, because it's been a rough road for all of us. But it just keeps going. We've got to shore up some little things but again that's why we play the games. It was a fun game, a beautiful night, and they're a good team.”
Playing in the two toughest regular-season tournaments in Illinois provides an annual gauntlet along the way to where the Trevians always aim to end.
“We do this tournament and the Naperville tournament every year, and it's exciting,” Warschauer said. “You always hope to win, of course, but last year we didn't even get to the semifinals of this tournament. So this was definitely a step up.
“(Burnside) always says this isn't the trophy we're going for in the end, and we’re always going for something bigger. The goal at the end is to definitely be back at North Central College for the sixth year in a row.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK Megan Dwyer
D Heidi Bianucci
D Josie Crumley
D Julia Goldish
D Ava Shah
M Katie Sawdey
M Mia Sedgwick
M Alex Wirth
M Lily Conley
F Emma Weaver
F Fallon Warschauer
Stevenson
GK Jenny Staten
D Kayla Constabilio
D Tess Koleno
D Erin Day
D Paige Copeland
M Krissy Hill
M Lily Mandavian
M Myah Schoolman
M Gavi Nyc
F Abby Kalou
F Kalyssa VanZanten
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jenny Staten, sr., GK, Stevenson
Scoring summary
First half
Stevenson — VanZanten (UA), 13 minutes
Second half
Stevenson — Kim (UA), 54 minutes
Patriots take down Trevians with 2-0 win in Malnati’s finale
By Gary Larsen
NORTHFIELD — Stevenson celebrated wildly after winning 2-0 over New Trier on Tuesday, for reasons that went beyond the fact that the win earned the Patriots the championship trophy of this year’s Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic.
“We wanted to show New Trier what we could do,” Stevenson keeper Jenny Staten said. “We wanted to compete and beat our bigger sisters, because they've been known around Chicago for such a long time. We wanted to make ourselves known today.”
Coach PepeJon Chavez echoed that theme of arrival for Stevenson (8-1-2), which gained the semifinals as the wild card team and lost to New Trier 2-1 in Malnati's pool play.
“It's not about the overall wins and losses. It's about this group coming together and establishing Stevenson as a dominant presence on the North Shore,” Chavez said.
New Trier, ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, of course, has a long-standing stake in that dominance. The Trevians (8-1-5) have won six state titles and appeared in the last five consecutive Class 3A state title games.
Trevians coach Jim Burnside was neither displeased with his girls’ play Tuesday, nor unwilling to give credit where it was due.
“It didn't swing our way tonight, and that happens,” he said. “I thought it was a great game, a great battle. They took advantage of their opportunities, and that's the story of the game. They fought hard, they ran through balls, and I was really impressed with their athleticism. Their kids showed a ton of heart.”
No game is won or lost in the first 10 minutes but Staten made two saves during that span that were as important as any of the plays to come.
New Trier’s Emma Weaver blistered a shot from 18 yards just three minutes into play and Staten dove to her right and got both hands on the ball to make the save. Four minutes later, she did it again.
“I just had to make myself big and be the best I could be,” Staten said.
At 13 minutes, Stevenson’s Kalyssa VanZanten made Staten’s two big saves pay off. The senior forward took a touch to her right near the top of the box on the left side and sent a laser inside the near post from 22 yards.
“That first goal was an incredible shot,” New Trier’s Fallon Warschauer said. “(VanZanten) is an amazing player, and there was nothing we could've done.”
New Trier’s Heidi Bianucci sent a handful of dangerous free kicks in from distance thereafter, but Staten was up to every challenge. New Trier keeper Megan Dwyer saved a long one-hopper sent in by Stevenson’s Krissy Hill at 27 minutes, and no. 5 Stevenson pressured well from there to halftime.
Weaver was her usual infinitely dangerous self Tuesday and elevated her play even more during the first 10 minutes of the second half.
But whenever Weaver turned to take people on, the Stevenson backline of Tess Koleno, Paige Copeland, Kayla Constabilio and Myah Schoolman were there to make life difficult for her.
“They swarmed the ball really well and put pressure when they needed to,” Burnside said. “They back-tackled and it kind of had a us off balance a little bit. Then when you start chasing it and pressing a little bit, it gets tough. And there was never really a true rhythm to the game. It kind of plodded along.”
The relentless Weaver still found space to fire a few dangerous shots on frame in the second half, but Staten never buckled.
“Emma kept throwing shots at her, and she did an incredible job holding them together,” Warschauer said of Staten, who earned Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match honor for her play.
Weaver hit the crossbar with a shot from 35 yards at 52 minutes. One minute later, Stevenson upped its lead.
VanZanten broke up the heart of the field in transition, and Dwyer met her at the 18 and stuffed her shot at 54 minutes. The ball spun sideways to Madison Kim, who calmly placed it into an empty net from 17 yards.
New Trier tried to answer. Bianucci sent a long free kick just high at 60 minutes and Weaver whipped a shot past the far post from right side at 72 minutes, but the Trevians came up empty-handed.
Stevenson’s bench cleared as the final buzzer sounded, and the Patriots met at midfield to celebrate.
“This is a steppingstone because we get to play in a final tonight, but we know we've got more finals to come,” Chavez said. “We've got a regional final, a sectional final a supersectional final, and we’re planning to go downstate. Stevenson has never been there, and the time is now.”
Stevenson plays Libertyville, Zion-Benton, and Maine South over the next five days, while New Trier opens play of the Naperville Invitational on Wednesday at home against Downers Grove South.
“I thought we played well tonight,” Burnside said. “We maybe got a little tired, because it's been a rough road for all of us. But it just keeps going. We've got to shore up some little things but again that's why we play the games. It was a fun game, a beautiful night, and they're a good team.”
Playing in the two toughest regular-season tournaments in Illinois provides an annual gauntlet along the way to where the Trevians always aim to end.
“We do this tournament and the Naperville tournament every year, and it's exciting,” Warschauer said. “You always hope to win, of course, but last year we didn't even get to the semifinals of this tournament. So this was definitely a step up.
“(Burnside) always says this isn't the trophy we're going for in the end, and we’re always going for something bigger. The goal at the end is to definitely be back at North Central College for the sixth year in a row.”
Starting lineups
New Trier
GK Megan Dwyer
D Heidi Bianucci
D Josie Crumley
D Julia Goldish
D Ava Shah
M Katie Sawdey
M Mia Sedgwick
M Alex Wirth
M Lily Conley
F Emma Weaver
F Fallon Warschauer
Stevenson
GK Jenny Staten
D Kayla Constabilio
D Tess Koleno
D Erin Day
D Paige Copeland
M Krissy Hill
M Lily Mandavian
M Myah Schoolman
M Gavi Nyc
F Abby Kalou
F Kalyssa VanZanten
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jenny Staten, sr., GK, Stevenson
Scoring summary
First half
Stevenson — VanZanten (UA), 13 minutes
Second half
Stevenson — Kim (UA), 54 minutes