Season recap: North Shore Country Day
By Dave Owen
Jumping from a .500 record in 2018 to a record-setting season in 2019 was no small feat for North Shore Country Day.
And whether the fuse was lit by a key early-season win, an influx of talented newcomers or a rock-steady defense, the results were very impressive for the prestigious Winnetka school.
The Raiders finished with an 18-7-1 record, obliterating the previous school mark for wins in a season (13 set in 2013 and tied in 2014).
Click here to see North Shore Country Day team page
And even more memorably, 2019 ended with NSCD hoisting the Class A fourth place trophy in the team’s first trip to the state finals.
“It felt like every player bought in to what we were trying to do on a daily basis and contributed what they could,” NSCD 12th-year coach Kyle Jones said. “They were all great teammates. When that happens, you can achieve great things, which is what we did.”
After the Raiders had posted a 26-23-8 record over the previous three years (including 9-9-2 last year), the way 2019 unfolded could be summed up in one word.
“Incredible,” NSCD senior Riley Jones said. “If you would have told me at the start of the season we’d be going to state, I probably would have laughed. We set some goals at the beginning of the season, sat down with our coach and went through a list. And not one of them was to make state. We were actually hoping to just get through the sectional rounds.
“But as the season progressed, we kind of got on a hot streak towards the end (a 7-1-0 record to end the regular season). We started feeling really confident, and I remember Vincent Luglio saying after one game ‘You know guys, I think we have a real shot at state this year.’ I didn’t believe him, but here we are.”
Junior co-captain Luglio led the Raiders’ attack with 18 goals. And as for his powers of prediction, he saw clear signs early on that big things were possible.
“At the beginning of the season I wasn’t sure how good we could be,” Luglio said, “but when we played Notre Dame (Niles) we ended up beating them (1-0 on Aug. 31), a school that’s bigger than us at Class AA and tends to be successful.
“We were able to grind out a result,” Luglio added, “and I think that showed the character of the team and how we can play well in really tough games, games we’re not necessarily supposed to win.”
Said coach Jones: “The 1-0 win against Notre Dame High School was a great one. They are a strong AA school who made it to the AA supersectionals. Beating them signified that we were capable of beating strong opponents.”
The Raiders followed that breakthrough win by playing eventual Class A state champion Chicago University to a 1-1 tie in their next game.
Then on Sept. 24, a 4-0 win over Northridge began a seven-game winning streak that saw NSCD outscore its opponents 31-2.
And while that streak ended with a 1-0 Senior Day loss to Schaumburg Christian in the regular season finale, the Raiders were revved up to make a major postseason impact.
“The team was playing really well together, a talented team,” said NSCD sophomore Mason Roberts-Jones, whose 16 assists this season set a school record.
“We kind of went into the playoffs going game by game, and we found ourselves in the state tournament which was obviously pretty crazy for such a small school (an enrollment of 231, the smallest among the four state teams). We went game by game and were surprised by the outcome.”
One thing was less surprising with the Raiders throughout this fall: defensive excellence.
Led by sophomore goalkeeper Nick Potter, NSCD produced a school-record 15 clean-sheets. Four of those came in the first five games of the state run, during which the Raiders outscored their foes by an impressive 18-1 margin.
In front of Potter, the defender corps featured seniors Alex Winslow, Tyler Doornweerd and Riley Jones; juniors John Sprenger and Ethan Stump; sophomore Finn Doornweerd and freshman Tae Won Lillig.
The midfield featured junior co-captain Axel Garcia, Roberts-Jones, juniors Nico Sabia, Augie Gallun and Jacob Sherman and senior Adam Terhaerdt.
Luglio (whose 18 goals included an Independent School League-leading eight in conference play) and freshman Cole Sabia (15 goals, five assists) were the Raiders’ top goal scorers. Kai Barrett-Bennett scored five goals.
“I think we’re all intelligent players,” team assist leader Roberts-Jones said of the Raiders’ offensive prowess. “We knew the game plan really well, and in training sessions we obviously worked really hard in all of them.
“By the end of the year we gained a really good chemistry between the top four up-front. That helped us definitely.”
That offense was part of what would be a record-setting mix.
“I think we had really good team chemistry, as well as a balanced team,” Luglio said. “We had two goal scorers, a good midfield, a solid back four and a good goalkeeper.
“We were very well rounded I would say, and I think that contributed to our success. And everyone bought in to the program and was proud to play for the school. I think that was nice as well.”
That concept of team pride over individual glory was epitomized by an unselfish senior class.
“This year we’ve had some of the greatest talent in the school’s history on one team,” Riley Jones said. “There were players like me who started the season before and didn’t get starting roles this year.
“But the one part of this team that made us so much better than we might have been otherwise is that everyone knew their role on the team. Those coming off the bench or on the sidelines were always cheering everyone on. Then they’d come on and bring a boost of energy, and the starters knew their role. I think that was one of the strong points of the season we had.”
The four seniors on the NSCD varsity did their part to power that concept of teamwork.
“One thing that’s been really special about this senior class,” Riley Jones said, “not to discredit any of the other senior classes, but I thought we did an exceptional job connecting with some of the younger kids.
“We’d hang out a lot with the juniors and sophomores, and sometimes even the freshmen. I think it was the stuff we did off the field that the seniors kind of organized and put together that helped build a lot of our chemistry and helped us grow closer together.”
With an underclassmen-dominated Raiders team on a journey to school history, the seniors’ impact was clear.
“The seniors are a good group of guys,” Luglio said. “They each had their things that they did for the team.
“Alex (Winslow) is a good leader on the team. Tyler (Doornweerd) is also a leader, but he’s more a leader by example rather than words.
“As for Riley (Jones), he’s incredibly tenacious. He’ll sacrifice his body to win the ball, and that I think was really important to us at times. And Adam (Terhaerdt), who was blazing fast, created great chances for us at some big moments.”
Terhaerdt scored five goals in 2019, but three came over a four-game stretch of postseason games.
Cole Sabia and Terhaerdt scored in the 2-0 supersectional win over Richmond-Burton that cemented the 2019 Raiders’ place in school history.
“Obviously we’re really proud to be the first team to do it,” Luglio said. “There have been some really good teams here in the past that weren’t able to get to state. It was an incredible experience for us and the school to send a team downstate.”
On the heels of the NSCD girls team’s trip to state in the spring for their second-straight second place finish, 2019 proved to be a very memorable year for Raiders soccer.
“It felt great also because we saw a lot of North Shore teams get (knocked) out in the sectional finals and regional finals,” Roberts-Jones said. “Just to be able to go past all of them and break so many records in one season was a crazy feeling. It was a really great experience.”
“I was extremely happy to get there (to state),” Roberts-Jones added, “and somewhat surprised, but now looking back at it and seeing the team we had I’m generally not that surprised we got there.
“We worked so hard. We didn’t take games off, and we had such a good mentality going into the playoffs that I think we were destined to do well.”
Rolling into East Peoria with maximum momentum, the Raiders were tied 0-0 at halftime in the semifinals with eventual champion University (Chicago).
While a 3-0 loss in that game and a 2-0 setback to 2018 champion Notre Dame (Quincy) in the Class A third place game gave the Raiders the fourth place trophy, there were no signs of disappointment.
“I just remember my freshman year and sophomore year,” Riley Jones said. “We played Sullivan in the regional final, and I remember both times we lost and seeing the seniors sit there and bawl their eyes out.
“I would think to myself ‘This is going to be me when I’m a senior. I’m going to be so sad that my season is over.’ I kind of had that mindset going into the season, that ‘I’ve had a great run. It’ll be sad to have it all end.’
“But after we lost that second game at state to place fourth,” Jones added, “we went back, huddled up and there wasn’t a single head down or frown on anyone’s face. Cole (Sabia) does an amazing British accent kind of imitating our coach, and he said ‘We smashed the picture, lads!’ and everyone was laughing.
“This season did not end the way I expected emotion-wise. It was really great.”
Having been on a 12-year quest to reach state, coach Jones shared in the joy.
“It means a lot to us all,” he said. “This has been a process this year and in years past to get there.
“We hope this is just the start of these types of trips (to state) and these types of seasons for the program. We’re optimistic that the experience will be crucial for this young team moving forwards.”
Freshmen Evan Fortier (four goals in six games), Benji Loenetti (two goals) and Walter Luglio (two assists) made impacts in limited varsity time, joining Cole Sabia and Lillig (four goals) as likely key components of future Raiders teams.
And whatever success is to come, 2019 set a new standard.
“I think it’s a confidence boost for the whole team to be honest,” Roberts-Jones said of the state trip. “We get to set our goals a little higher next year, because we know now what we’re capable of doing. It was a great experience for us as a team.”
Vincent Luglio also sees this fall’s state experience as a launching pad to what could be a great 2020.
“The difference between this year and next year,” he said, “is that we’ll have an expectation on ourselves to try and go back downstate and try to win it. I think that kind of made the difference in the end, in the Final Four.
“Obviously we were really happy to go downstate, and we worked really hard and tried our best. But we weren’t expected to get that far, so we were OK with whatever happened.
“But I feel like now with that (state) experience,” Luglio added, “we’ll have the expectation of going all the way I think. Hopefully that will lead towards more success.”
Coach Jones hopes the 2019 breakthrough pays off for years and years to come.
“It has our community really excited about soccer,” he said. “We are a K-12 school and had lower schoolers at our games viewing these players as role models, good ones at that.
“Hopefully, they will see this success and want to work towards that.”
By Dave Owen
Jumping from a .500 record in 2018 to a record-setting season in 2019 was no small feat for North Shore Country Day.
And whether the fuse was lit by a key early-season win, an influx of talented newcomers or a rock-steady defense, the results were very impressive for the prestigious Winnetka school.
The Raiders finished with an 18-7-1 record, obliterating the previous school mark for wins in a season (13 set in 2013 and tied in 2014).
Click here to see North Shore Country Day team page
And even more memorably, 2019 ended with NSCD hoisting the Class A fourth place trophy in the team’s first trip to the state finals.
“It felt like every player bought in to what we were trying to do on a daily basis and contributed what they could,” NSCD 12th-year coach Kyle Jones said. “They were all great teammates. When that happens, you can achieve great things, which is what we did.”
After the Raiders had posted a 26-23-8 record over the previous three years (including 9-9-2 last year), the way 2019 unfolded could be summed up in one word.
“Incredible,” NSCD senior Riley Jones said. “If you would have told me at the start of the season we’d be going to state, I probably would have laughed. We set some goals at the beginning of the season, sat down with our coach and went through a list. And not one of them was to make state. We were actually hoping to just get through the sectional rounds.
“But as the season progressed, we kind of got on a hot streak towards the end (a 7-1-0 record to end the regular season). We started feeling really confident, and I remember Vincent Luglio saying after one game ‘You know guys, I think we have a real shot at state this year.’ I didn’t believe him, but here we are.”
Junior co-captain Luglio led the Raiders’ attack with 18 goals. And as for his powers of prediction, he saw clear signs early on that big things were possible.
“At the beginning of the season I wasn’t sure how good we could be,” Luglio said, “but when we played Notre Dame (Niles) we ended up beating them (1-0 on Aug. 31), a school that’s bigger than us at Class AA and tends to be successful.
“We were able to grind out a result,” Luglio added, “and I think that showed the character of the team and how we can play well in really tough games, games we’re not necessarily supposed to win.”
Said coach Jones: “The 1-0 win against Notre Dame High School was a great one. They are a strong AA school who made it to the AA supersectionals. Beating them signified that we were capable of beating strong opponents.”
The Raiders followed that breakthrough win by playing eventual Class A state champion Chicago University to a 1-1 tie in their next game.
Then on Sept. 24, a 4-0 win over Northridge began a seven-game winning streak that saw NSCD outscore its opponents 31-2.
And while that streak ended with a 1-0 Senior Day loss to Schaumburg Christian in the regular season finale, the Raiders were revved up to make a major postseason impact.
“The team was playing really well together, a talented team,” said NSCD sophomore Mason Roberts-Jones, whose 16 assists this season set a school record.
“We kind of went into the playoffs going game by game, and we found ourselves in the state tournament which was obviously pretty crazy for such a small school (an enrollment of 231, the smallest among the four state teams). We went game by game and were surprised by the outcome.”
One thing was less surprising with the Raiders throughout this fall: defensive excellence.
Led by sophomore goalkeeper Nick Potter, NSCD produced a school-record 15 clean-sheets. Four of those came in the first five games of the state run, during which the Raiders outscored their foes by an impressive 18-1 margin.
In front of Potter, the defender corps featured seniors Alex Winslow, Tyler Doornweerd and Riley Jones; juniors John Sprenger and Ethan Stump; sophomore Finn Doornweerd and freshman Tae Won Lillig.
The midfield featured junior co-captain Axel Garcia, Roberts-Jones, juniors Nico Sabia, Augie Gallun and Jacob Sherman and senior Adam Terhaerdt.
Luglio (whose 18 goals included an Independent School League-leading eight in conference play) and freshman Cole Sabia (15 goals, five assists) were the Raiders’ top goal scorers. Kai Barrett-Bennett scored five goals.
“I think we’re all intelligent players,” team assist leader Roberts-Jones said of the Raiders’ offensive prowess. “We knew the game plan really well, and in training sessions we obviously worked really hard in all of them.
“By the end of the year we gained a really good chemistry between the top four up-front. That helped us definitely.”
That offense was part of what would be a record-setting mix.
“I think we had really good team chemistry, as well as a balanced team,” Luglio said. “We had two goal scorers, a good midfield, a solid back four and a good goalkeeper.
“We were very well rounded I would say, and I think that contributed to our success. And everyone bought in to the program and was proud to play for the school. I think that was nice as well.”
That concept of team pride over individual glory was epitomized by an unselfish senior class.
“This year we’ve had some of the greatest talent in the school’s history on one team,” Riley Jones said. “There were players like me who started the season before and didn’t get starting roles this year.
“But the one part of this team that made us so much better than we might have been otherwise is that everyone knew their role on the team. Those coming off the bench or on the sidelines were always cheering everyone on. Then they’d come on and bring a boost of energy, and the starters knew their role. I think that was one of the strong points of the season we had.”
The four seniors on the NSCD varsity did their part to power that concept of teamwork.
“One thing that’s been really special about this senior class,” Riley Jones said, “not to discredit any of the other senior classes, but I thought we did an exceptional job connecting with some of the younger kids.
“We’d hang out a lot with the juniors and sophomores, and sometimes even the freshmen. I think it was the stuff we did off the field that the seniors kind of organized and put together that helped build a lot of our chemistry and helped us grow closer together.”
With an underclassmen-dominated Raiders team on a journey to school history, the seniors’ impact was clear.
“The seniors are a good group of guys,” Luglio said. “They each had their things that they did for the team.
“Alex (Winslow) is a good leader on the team. Tyler (Doornweerd) is also a leader, but he’s more a leader by example rather than words.
“As for Riley (Jones), he’s incredibly tenacious. He’ll sacrifice his body to win the ball, and that I think was really important to us at times. And Adam (Terhaerdt), who was blazing fast, created great chances for us at some big moments.”
Terhaerdt scored five goals in 2019, but three came over a four-game stretch of postseason games.
Cole Sabia and Terhaerdt scored in the 2-0 supersectional win over Richmond-Burton that cemented the 2019 Raiders’ place in school history.
“Obviously we’re really proud to be the first team to do it,” Luglio said. “There have been some really good teams here in the past that weren’t able to get to state. It was an incredible experience for us and the school to send a team downstate.”
On the heels of the NSCD girls team’s trip to state in the spring for their second-straight second place finish, 2019 proved to be a very memorable year for Raiders soccer.
“It felt great also because we saw a lot of North Shore teams get (knocked) out in the sectional finals and regional finals,” Roberts-Jones said. “Just to be able to go past all of them and break so many records in one season was a crazy feeling. It was a really great experience.”
“I was extremely happy to get there (to state),” Roberts-Jones added, “and somewhat surprised, but now looking back at it and seeing the team we had I’m generally not that surprised we got there.
“We worked so hard. We didn’t take games off, and we had such a good mentality going into the playoffs that I think we were destined to do well.”
Rolling into East Peoria with maximum momentum, the Raiders were tied 0-0 at halftime in the semifinals with eventual champion University (Chicago).
While a 3-0 loss in that game and a 2-0 setback to 2018 champion Notre Dame (Quincy) in the Class A third place game gave the Raiders the fourth place trophy, there were no signs of disappointment.
“I just remember my freshman year and sophomore year,” Riley Jones said. “We played Sullivan in the regional final, and I remember both times we lost and seeing the seniors sit there and bawl their eyes out.
“I would think to myself ‘This is going to be me when I’m a senior. I’m going to be so sad that my season is over.’ I kind of had that mindset going into the season, that ‘I’ve had a great run. It’ll be sad to have it all end.’
“But after we lost that second game at state to place fourth,” Jones added, “we went back, huddled up and there wasn’t a single head down or frown on anyone’s face. Cole (Sabia) does an amazing British accent kind of imitating our coach, and he said ‘We smashed the picture, lads!’ and everyone was laughing.
“This season did not end the way I expected emotion-wise. It was really great.”
Having been on a 12-year quest to reach state, coach Jones shared in the joy.
“It means a lot to us all,” he said. “This has been a process this year and in years past to get there.
“We hope this is just the start of these types of trips (to state) and these types of seasons for the program. We’re optimistic that the experience will be crucial for this young team moving forwards.”
Freshmen Evan Fortier (four goals in six games), Benji Loenetti (two goals) and Walter Luglio (two assists) made impacts in limited varsity time, joining Cole Sabia and Lillig (four goals) as likely key components of future Raiders teams.
And whatever success is to come, 2019 set a new standard.
“I think it’s a confidence boost for the whole team to be honest,” Roberts-Jones said of the state trip. “We get to set our goals a little higher next year, because we know now what we’re capable of doing. It was a great experience for us as a team.”
Vincent Luglio also sees this fall’s state experience as a launching pad to what could be a great 2020.
“The difference between this year and next year,” he said, “is that we’ll have an expectation on ourselves to try and go back downstate and try to win it. I think that kind of made the difference in the end, in the Final Four.
“Obviously we were really happy to go downstate, and we worked really hard and tried our best. But we weren’t expected to get that far, so we were OK with whatever happened.
“But I feel like now with that (state) experience,” Luglio added, “we’ll have the expectation of going all the way I think. Hopefully that will lead towards more success.”
Coach Jones hopes the 2019 breakthrough pays off for years and years to come.
“It has our community really excited about soccer,” he said. “We are a K-12 school and had lower schoolers at our games viewing these players as role models, good ones at that.
“Hopefully, they will see this success and want to work towards that.”