Maine South, New Trier
look to get back on winning track
By Michael Wojtychiw
Both Maine South and New Trier look to bounce back from previous setbacks when they meet Tuesday in Park Ridge.
The top-ranked Trevians are coming off of their first loss of the year, a tough 1-0 home nonconference loss to no. 3 Warren on Monday night. Maine South comes off of losses in its previous two contests, Central Suburban League South Divisions losses to Evanston 3-2 and a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Glenbrook South.
New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft talked about his team's tough schedule thus far prior to his team's game with the Blue Devils on Monday night.
"If you look at this in the lens of what a normal season would be, this would be kind of the middle of the season," he said. "That's usually when teams get into the rhythm of players understanding their role and now they start to execute it. We tell guys to be ready at all times.
"We're excited because all these teams represent different tests. We'll certainly take it one day, one game at a time. We're going to really need everybody this week. There are going to be some challenges, and we need to be ready to face some adversity this week. This is going to be a tough test, but I think we're ready."
To get back on the winning track, the Trevians are going to have to rely on senior Will Franzen, who has a team-high 10 goals and nine assists this season.
Luckily for Ravenscraft and his squad, they haven't always had to rely on Franzen alone.
Seven others have at least two goals for the Trevians. That group is led by Ronan O'Neill and Dante Mitchell, who have five each, and Collin Donnelly-Maine, who has four.
"My assistant coaches and I go into games really excited about the idea of who is going to step up," Ravenscraft said. "Sometimes it is Will, other times it's any number of guys. What's great about this team is lots of different guys have had big moments.
"Colin Donnelly-Maine has been big for us in a couple rivalry games recently, Dante Mitchell has had big moments, and Ronan O'Neil has had moments on the front line too. We've had to move him back because guys have been banged up and other players spring break plans recently. The scary this is that Ronan O'Neil hasn't been playing much at forward, and he's one of our most explosive guys up-top."
After getting out to a 5-0-1 start on the season, Maine South has struggled since starting league play.
After playing to a 0-0 draw with Niles West to start the conference season, the Hawks dropped their next two as mentioned above. The loss to the Titans was particularly tough because the Hawks had a 1-0 lead before Glenbrook South rallied for the win. In the game against the Wildkits, it was the Hawks who had to rally back from a 3-0 deficit. Despite their best efforts they came up a goal short.
The winless week dropped the Hawks from no. 12 in the poll to no. 24.
John Cronnolly has been the go-to player for Maine South,, but he's surrounded with other players who are just as capable in giving opponents fits. Jackson Wambach, David Skorupa and Stefan Iricanin have stood out this season.
look to get back on winning track
By Michael Wojtychiw
Both Maine South and New Trier look to bounce back from previous setbacks when they meet Tuesday in Park Ridge.
The top-ranked Trevians are coming off of their first loss of the year, a tough 1-0 home nonconference loss to no. 3 Warren on Monday night. Maine South comes off of losses in its previous two contests, Central Suburban League South Divisions losses to Evanston 3-2 and a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Glenbrook South.
New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft talked about his team's tough schedule thus far prior to his team's game with the Blue Devils on Monday night.
"If you look at this in the lens of what a normal season would be, this would be kind of the middle of the season," he said. "That's usually when teams get into the rhythm of players understanding their role and now they start to execute it. We tell guys to be ready at all times.
"We're excited because all these teams represent different tests. We'll certainly take it one day, one game at a time. We're going to really need everybody this week. There are going to be some challenges, and we need to be ready to face some adversity this week. This is going to be a tough test, but I think we're ready."
To get back on the winning track, the Trevians are going to have to rely on senior Will Franzen, who has a team-high 10 goals and nine assists this season.
Luckily for Ravenscraft and his squad, they haven't always had to rely on Franzen alone.
Seven others have at least two goals for the Trevians. That group is led by Ronan O'Neill and Dante Mitchell, who have five each, and Collin Donnelly-Maine, who has four.
"My assistant coaches and I go into games really excited about the idea of who is going to step up," Ravenscraft said. "Sometimes it is Will, other times it's any number of guys. What's great about this team is lots of different guys have had big moments.
"Colin Donnelly-Maine has been big for us in a couple rivalry games recently, Dante Mitchell has had big moments, and Ronan O'Neil has had moments on the front line too. We've had to move him back because guys have been banged up and other players spring break plans recently. The scary this is that Ronan O'Neil hasn't been playing much at forward, and he's one of our most explosive guys up-top."
After getting out to a 5-0-1 start on the season, Maine South has struggled since starting league play.
After playing to a 0-0 draw with Niles West to start the conference season, the Hawks dropped their next two as mentioned above. The loss to the Titans was particularly tough because the Hawks had a 1-0 lead before Glenbrook South rallied for the win. In the game against the Wildkits, it was the Hawks who had to rally back from a 3-0 deficit. Despite their best efforts they came up a goal short.
The winless week dropped the Hawks from no. 12 in the poll to no. 24.
John Cronnolly has been the go-to player for Maine South,, but he's surrounded with other players who are just as capable in giving opponents fits. Jackson Wambach, David Skorupa and Stefan Iricanin have stood out this season.