Trinity wants to get where
Loyola stands -- at the top
By Patrick Z. McGavin
Kyle McClure had enough going on, or so he always thought. Taking on another full-time soccer job seemed outside the realm of possibilities.
Rachel Meiner proved very persuasive. The athletic director at Trinity invited McClure, the boys’ coach at St. Patrick, every year for three years to talk about how they could elevate the program at Trinity.
“The last three years they had three different coaches, and Rachel reached out the last three years to talk about coaching,” McClure said. “The timing was never right. I was too busy, and I was also coaching a club team. I went in to talk with her just about seeing if it might be a opportunity for one of my assistants at St. Patrick.
“In talking with her she had the same vision I had in how to build a program. I knew it would be a lot of work.”
A month into his new venture, McClure is already seeing positive results. The Blazers are off to a very competitive 6-7-0 start, and have already matched their win total from a year ago.
Coming off a quality run at the PepsiCo Showdown, the Blazers are playing their strongest soccer of the season according to McClure. Playing Niles West in their final game of the PepsiCo Showdown on Saturday, the Blazers rallied with a 78th-minute goal from Natalia Guerra, who scored her second goal of the game on a free kick.
Trinity prevailed in the shootout.
“The Niles West win, against a big program, was a really big one, and just before that, we played Pritzker and even though we lost 2-0, it was scoreless until the 70th minute or so,” McClure said.
“We are playing really well right now.”
Guerra, an all-conference player last year, scored two free kick goals against Niles West. Freshman Bridget Whiteside, who represents the future, also converted a penalty kick goal. Forwards Katelynn Poulsen and Natalie Maine are the attacking players. Guerra, Antonella Rivoir and Josie Poe stabilize the middle.
Isabella Whitlock, Jessica Olmos and Whiteside are the backbone of the defense. Cristina Olmos has been solid on the line.
Now the steepest climb of the Blazers’ quest is about to unfold with the start of play in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division. The brutal conference schedule begins with a matchup against Loyola, ranked at no. 23 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, on Tuesday afternoon at the Munz sports complex in Glenview.
The degree of difficulty ratchets up exponentially, McClure admits.
“The Red is one of the best conferences in the state,” he said. “We are a young team, and we are by far the smallest school in the division. We know it is going to be a struggle. The idea is that we want to become competitive. Last year we did not score a single goal in conference. The closest we came was 3-0 against Fenwick.”
Just as he transformed a St. Patrick program from a two-win team his first year to a Class AA fourth place state finish three years later, McClure is altering the culture, step by step. He is encouraging his players to play year round in club programs. He is starting a summer program.
He is institutioning a training and workout program and is bringing in a nutritionist to talk with the players about their diets and workout programs. Even this year, he noticed something important, the interruption of spring break and absence of multiple players. By his estimate it took more than a week after school resumed for the Blazers to get back to where they were.
“Next year I am going to try to find a tournament out of state we can travel to as part of our spring break, so we can be together and get some games in,” he said.
The development is a process, of curves and digressions and not necessarily a straight line. McClure is certain of one thing.
“As long as I am here, this is team is going to get better every year.”
By contrast, Loyola is the benchmark of the league. The Ramblers have dominated the conference. Loyola has undergone a different trajectory as well.
Loyola (4-4-2) is a program also in transition, with some early difficulties now a thing of the past. The Ramblers have a first-year coach, Shannon Hartinger, and graduated several elite prospects and lost some other players to club.
Significantly the Ramblers have been a different team since the return of Maggie Brett, the team’s leading scorer the last two years and a two-time Chicagoland Soccer all-state forward.
By her own admission, she is only at 70 percent of her peak form. But just her presence has galvanized the Ramblers’ young, gifted roster. Loyola is 4-0-1 since her return, punctuated by victories over Glenbrook South and Fremd when those schools were ranked near the top of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 poll.
Loyola defeated Hinsdale 3-1 Saturday in its final game of Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic.
Hartinger is managing Brett’s workload, and limiting her appearances. Her impact over the rest of the team has been incalculable.
“It has been helpful for me confidence-wise,” Brett said. “It has been pushing me to be a leader off the bench, as I was during training and then the start of the season. It is nice to be in the practices and working really hard to try and set the tone for everyone.”
Lauren Daffada, a two-way standout, has been a revelation of late, earning the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction in both the Glenbrook South and Fremd victories. She alternates between the back and the midfield, a hybrid talent who can score or shut down opponents.
Senior Katherine Jaros has been solid in the net, with able support from defenders Megan Kurtz, Claire Kenny and Maya Basan. Kate Murtaugh and Meredith Phillips have been sharp in the midfield.
The two players that have generated the most excitement, a bridge to the present and the future, are two freshmen, forward Molly Sipe and midfielder Grace Ehlert.
“Our underclassmen have really stepped up this year, and I am inspired by them,” Brett said. “It is really cool to see them push everybody else, even the older players. They are really finding their roles.”
Hartinger has looked to install an uptempo, attacking style and the players are slowly, confidently, assimilating the new directives. The Fremd game was an early start to the Naperville Invitational, and the Ramblers moved directly from the start of conference to the resumption of the state’s toughest tournament.
Brett said they are ready.
“I think we are still finding our groove, but this past week has been a major confidence booster,” she said. “At the beginning of the year, we were a little rocky, and we did not have the start we wanted but now are picking up steam.
“It has been great to see everybody get their energy up and realize what we could do this year that we could not at the beginning.”
Loyola stands -- at the top
By Patrick Z. McGavin
Kyle McClure had enough going on, or so he always thought. Taking on another full-time soccer job seemed outside the realm of possibilities.
Rachel Meiner proved very persuasive. The athletic director at Trinity invited McClure, the boys’ coach at St. Patrick, every year for three years to talk about how they could elevate the program at Trinity.
“The last three years they had three different coaches, and Rachel reached out the last three years to talk about coaching,” McClure said. “The timing was never right. I was too busy, and I was also coaching a club team. I went in to talk with her just about seeing if it might be a opportunity for one of my assistants at St. Patrick.
“In talking with her she had the same vision I had in how to build a program. I knew it would be a lot of work.”
A month into his new venture, McClure is already seeing positive results. The Blazers are off to a very competitive 6-7-0 start, and have already matched their win total from a year ago.
Coming off a quality run at the PepsiCo Showdown, the Blazers are playing their strongest soccer of the season according to McClure. Playing Niles West in their final game of the PepsiCo Showdown on Saturday, the Blazers rallied with a 78th-minute goal from Natalia Guerra, who scored her second goal of the game on a free kick.
Trinity prevailed in the shootout.
“The Niles West win, against a big program, was a really big one, and just before that, we played Pritzker and even though we lost 2-0, it was scoreless until the 70th minute or so,” McClure said.
“We are playing really well right now.”
Guerra, an all-conference player last year, scored two free kick goals against Niles West. Freshman Bridget Whiteside, who represents the future, also converted a penalty kick goal. Forwards Katelynn Poulsen and Natalie Maine are the attacking players. Guerra, Antonella Rivoir and Josie Poe stabilize the middle.
Isabella Whitlock, Jessica Olmos and Whiteside are the backbone of the defense. Cristina Olmos has been solid on the line.
Now the steepest climb of the Blazers’ quest is about to unfold with the start of play in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division. The brutal conference schedule begins with a matchup against Loyola, ranked at no. 23 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, on Tuesday afternoon at the Munz sports complex in Glenview.
The degree of difficulty ratchets up exponentially, McClure admits.
“The Red is one of the best conferences in the state,” he said. “We are a young team, and we are by far the smallest school in the division. We know it is going to be a struggle. The idea is that we want to become competitive. Last year we did not score a single goal in conference. The closest we came was 3-0 against Fenwick.”
Just as he transformed a St. Patrick program from a two-win team his first year to a Class AA fourth place state finish three years later, McClure is altering the culture, step by step. He is encouraging his players to play year round in club programs. He is starting a summer program.
He is institutioning a training and workout program and is bringing in a nutritionist to talk with the players about their diets and workout programs. Even this year, he noticed something important, the interruption of spring break and absence of multiple players. By his estimate it took more than a week after school resumed for the Blazers to get back to where they were.
“Next year I am going to try to find a tournament out of state we can travel to as part of our spring break, so we can be together and get some games in,” he said.
The development is a process, of curves and digressions and not necessarily a straight line. McClure is certain of one thing.
“As long as I am here, this is team is going to get better every year.”
By contrast, Loyola is the benchmark of the league. The Ramblers have dominated the conference. Loyola has undergone a different trajectory as well.
Loyola (4-4-2) is a program also in transition, with some early difficulties now a thing of the past. The Ramblers have a first-year coach, Shannon Hartinger, and graduated several elite prospects and lost some other players to club.
Significantly the Ramblers have been a different team since the return of Maggie Brett, the team’s leading scorer the last two years and a two-time Chicagoland Soccer all-state forward.
By her own admission, she is only at 70 percent of her peak form. But just her presence has galvanized the Ramblers’ young, gifted roster. Loyola is 4-0-1 since her return, punctuated by victories over Glenbrook South and Fremd when those schools were ranked near the top of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 poll.
Loyola defeated Hinsdale 3-1 Saturday in its final game of Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic.
Hartinger is managing Brett’s workload, and limiting her appearances. Her impact over the rest of the team has been incalculable.
“It has been helpful for me confidence-wise,” Brett said. “It has been pushing me to be a leader off the bench, as I was during training and then the start of the season. It is nice to be in the practices and working really hard to try and set the tone for everyone.”
Lauren Daffada, a two-way standout, has been a revelation of late, earning the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction in both the Glenbrook South and Fremd victories. She alternates between the back and the midfield, a hybrid talent who can score or shut down opponents.
Senior Katherine Jaros has been solid in the net, with able support from defenders Megan Kurtz, Claire Kenny and Maya Basan. Kate Murtaugh and Meredith Phillips have been sharp in the midfield.
The two players that have generated the most excitement, a bridge to the present and the future, are two freshmen, forward Molly Sipe and midfielder Grace Ehlert.
“Our underclassmen have really stepped up this year, and I am inspired by them,” Brett said. “It is really cool to see them push everybody else, even the older players. They are really finding their roles.”
Hartinger has looked to install an uptempo, attacking style and the players are slowly, confidently, assimilating the new directives. The Fremd game was an early start to the Naperville Invitational, and the Ramblers moved directly from the start of conference to the resumption of the state’s toughest tournament.
Brett said they are ready.
“I think we are still finding our groove, but this past week has been a major confidence booster,” she said. “At the beginning of the year, we were a little rocky, and we did not have the start we wanted but now are picking up steam.
“It has been great to see everybody get their energy up and realize what we could do this year that we could not at the beginning.”