Dellin, New Trier conquer the wind, Loyola Academy in sectional showdown

Want the wind? That’s a hard pass for New Trier girls soccer.

The gusty conditions on Tuesday evening made a significant impact on the IHSA Class 3A sectional matchup between New Trier and Loyola, but not in the way you might think.

“In these conditions, we play a little better into the wind,” Trevians coach Jim Burnside said. “(Facing the wind) gave us the opportunity to possess a little better. In the first half (against the wind), we were a little frantic.”

New Trier’s more controlled second-half play led to both of its goals — the first coming in the 56th minute and the backbreaker in the 73rd — during the 2-0 victory in Northfield.

In each scoring play, Trevians star midfielder Josie Noble made headway through the Ramblers defensive third and to the outskirts of the goalbox. Each time, she fed fellow senior Charlotte Dellin with a through ball, and Dellin took a touch before beating Loyola’s keeper in one-on-one situations.

“It’s awesome. I don’t even have any words for it. Honestly, I don’t have words,” Dellin said about scoring twice in a sectional victory.

New Trier (21-2-4) has been known to score early on opponents and use its stingy defense to hold them off from there. With the difficult winds and feisty Ramblers defense on Tuesday, the match played out differently, and Dellin said the Trevs were ready for a challenge.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” she said. “Loyola is one of our biggest rivals. They always come in with a great game against us. … We knew it was going to be a good game so we just all made it a point to come in really locked in.”

The Ramblers entered the contest on a five-match winning streak and had gone 8-1-2 since mid-April — quite a turnaround from their 1-4-1 start to the campaign.

Loyola and New Trier played step for step for the first 60 or so minutes.

Ramblers coach Shannon Hartinger chose to play against the wind in the first half and moved to a 4-4-2 formation in the hopes of better controlling the ball in the midfield, she said.

The Ramblers had a near-goal early in the first half, but a shot sent past New Trier’s goalie rolled out of bounds beyond the far post.

“We’re not a team that likes to play in the air; we started to play the ball in the air (in the second half) and I think we saw it just ran out of bounds,” Hartinger said. “…. We were looking to get the ball in different ways, and things just didn’t go our way. We created some great chances … created some corner kicks, but we just didn’t put the ball in the back of the net.”

Loyola’s defense played tough and clean soccer, committing zero fouls in the match to keep New Trier away from restart opportunities.

Hartinger said the defensive play is one of the, if not the, biggest developments as the season developed.

“The biggest thing is the commitment of the girls to stick to the things we try to execute every day at training,” she said. “Our team defensive has improved dramatically. … We were able to put teams under pressure higher up in the field.”

New Trier moves on to the sectional championship at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 20, in Northfield for a rematch of last year’s sectional finale against Lane Tech (20-2), a surprise 5-4 winner over Evanston on Tuesday night.

Last season, the Trevians topped the Champions 1-0 to win the sectional, and earlier this season, New Trier bested Lane 2-0 — the only time Lane has been shut out this year. The Trevians have given up just four goals all season and have not allowed one since April 11, a span of 15 matches.

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