Lane gets New Trier again, ending Trevians’ repeat quest

A season filled with jubilance came to a cruel conclusion Saturday afternoon in Northfield.

Lane Tech put an end to the New Trier girls soccer team’s bid to defend its state title with a 2-1 victory on Saturday, May 31, on Robert Naughton Field.

The Champions rallied from behind on the back of a well-struck, second-half goal to knock off the top-seeded Trevians and claim the sectional championship.

Saturday’s defeat was just the second loss all year for the Trevians, both of which came at the hands of the Champions. Lane bested New Trier on penalty kicks in early May to give the Trevians their first loss since April of 2024.

“They’re a good team,” New Trier head coach Jim Burnside said. “They have seniors straight up the middle and they work really hard.”

The match’s opening minutes saw the teams trade threats on goal but neither found a finishing touch. New Trier goalkeeper Annie Fowler thwarted a Lane attack in the ninth minute with a strong save, and the Trevs put forward a solid chance of their own in the 12th minute but sent an attempt just wide.

But it was the brilliance of New Trier’s superb sophomore Addy Randall that delivered the match’s first goal with just over 11 minutes left in the half.

Moments after Lane’s defense won the ball away from Randall, the star midfielder quickly retook possession and fired a perfectly struck shot from 30 yards out that bent into the top right corner of the net.

“That’s what Addy Randall does — she’s a worker, she never gives up, she never lets up and she battled to get that ball back and then hit a bomb,” Burnside said. “That (goal) was typical Addy Randall.”

New Trier’s advantage was short-lived though as Lane Tech’s midfielder Jessica Carlson knocked home a penalty kick just moments later, leveling the score with 6:15 before halftime.

Nearly six minutes into the second half, Lane’s senior forward Grace Carman put her team in front with a stunning strike that sliced into the top left corner of the goal and put the defending state champs on their heels.

“It was a good individual effort and that happens,” Burnside said of the strike. “When you get to this point of the season, you have good players out there trying to make something happen and she did.”

The Trevians then immediately went on the attack in their attempt to find the equalizer.

New Trier found a nice opportunity 11 minutes in when sophomore Claire Gallagher put a solid header toward the net but Lane keeper Cynthia Waller denied the chance.

New Trier continued to put pressure on the Champions throughout the final 20 minutes, but Waller and Lane’s stellar back four denied everything the Trevs threw at them.

A red card issued to the Champions with just under 30 seconds to play gave New Trier one final glimpse at more soccer, but the Trevians could not convert in the waning seconds.

The second-half deficit put a Trevians team that had conceded only four goals all season until the sectional title matchup against Lane in unfamiliar territory.

“The other times we’ve given up goals, we’ve been down 1-0, so we’ve had to battle back, (but) we played the same way. … We pushed forward a little bit, and I thought we created some good chances and it all just didn’t fall for us,” Burnside said.

Lane’s victory Saturday was a history-making triumph as it marked the first time a Chicago Public Schools girls soccer team has won a sectional final.

For New Trier, the defeat brings a sour ending to an otherwise fantastic season. The Trevians followed-up their remarkable 2024 campaign with another dominant year that saw them outscore their opponents 88-6 and allow just two goals before the sectional final.

While the achievements on the pitch certainly resonate, the group’s close bond off the field makes the squad all the more memorable, Burnside said, noting that the “moments together as a team,” the “great fun, hard practices and competition,” are just some of takeaways from the year.

“This is a game and games go your way and games don’t go your way,” he said. “This group is a phenomenal group of young women who carry themselves with pride and are of great character. If I can be around people like that, that’s all that matters.”

And no doubt the Trevians will be back in the fold going forward. While experienced stars such as Honor Dold and Kennedy Colegrove are on to college, plenty is left in the cupboard, including sophomore stars Randall, Fowler, Dami Balogun, Noa Boeing, London McCaffery and Bea Cirulis, and junior starters Eleni Kanellos and Quinn Brahm, among others.

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