Trevians capture another state title thanks to heroic late response

With a state championship just 11 minutes away on Saturday night, New Trier soccer suddenly had to respond to a momentum-swinging, game-tying goal.

Fortunately, the Trevians had the stomach for it — specifically the stomach of junior midfielder Brooke Zabel.

Two minutes after the equalizer, Zabel activated her midsection to bump a loose ball into the goal and givie her team a 2-1 lead that held through the final 10 minutes in the IHSA Class 3A championship Saturday night at North Central College in Naperville.

“That’s all we practice — just putting a body on it and getting in there,” Zabel said about corner kick tactics. “I was in the right spot. It was a great ball by Addy (Randall) and then Dami (Balogun) got on the end of it, and I just hoped and ran to it and it went in. 

“It was not the right part (of the body), but it went in so it was OK.”

Zabel said while it was her first stomach goal, it was also her first game-winner, as the Trevians salted away the final 10 minutes to claim their second 3A state championship in the past three years, following a dramatic shootout victory over St. Charles North in 2024.

It is the Trevians eighth state title overall, all under Burnside, who is also the winningest coach in IHSA girls soccer history with more than 650 victories. New Trier also have three runnerup finishes and three third-place finishes.

Foot, head, knee or stomach — how the game-winner found the net was irrelevant to Burnside.

“Don’t care,” he said grinnign. “That’s what we talk about all the time. The ball that goes over the line (counts). … They all count as one.” 

Powerhouses all season, New Trier (27-1-1) and Naperville Central (22-1-1) seemed destined to meet in the 3A finale and quite a battle ensued.

The Redhawks threatened more in the first 25 minutes, but the Trevians turned things around from there, creating several chances in a 10-minutes span before drawing first blood in the 36th minute.

Balogun impressively worked the ball up the left sideline and then into the goal box. Drawing defenders, Balogun slid a pass to a streaking Randall who, with her left foot, one-timed it far post for a goal — her 32nd of the season.

“That’s what she does. Dami knows when to take the end line and she does a great job of it,” Burnside said.

The lead held for most of the second half, but the Redhawks were serving dangerous ball after dangerous ball in front of the Trevians net. Naperville Central even missed a penalty kick following a New Trier hand-ball in the box.

But the Redhawks finally struck with about 12 minutes to go, when Malia Shen ripped a left-footed boot into the far side net, tying things up 1-1.

While a tough pill to swallow, New Trier was used to a playoff deficit.

“It’s definitely hard, but Lane Tech and Evanston scored first on us in sectionals and we picked each other up and came from behind,” Trevians senior Quinn Brahm said. “We have a saying, ‘Believe,’ so we just yell, ‘Believe,’ and we dig deep and get through it as a team.”

That didn’t take long to accomplish, as Zabel’s goal changed things again just two minutes later.

Other than her stomach, Zabel said, New Trier had plenty more working in its favor.

“It’s our grit,” she said. “We are the closest team ever. We just all love each other so much and all want the best for each other. At the end of the day, we wanted to play for each other.”

Burnside seconded that thought.

“This (group) is so close and so good to each other and works so hard for each other anywhere on the field,” he said. “I cannot state that enough how close this group of kids are. They battle. … This is as close of a group as I’ve ever seen and that’s a lot of groups and a lot of kids.” 

That level of effort embodied itself in the air in the state championship, according to Brahm.

She said that the Trevians have focused even more on winning the first touch in the postseason, and it played a big role in the state championship.

“I think this was a perfect matchup for a state championship,” Brahm. “I think we were better out of the air, which allowed us to push forward and apply pressure on their back line. … Winning 50/50 balls out of the air can change the game and I think we dominated that.”

Brahm, who said it was her last competitive soccer game and she “put it all out there,” is one of six seniors on the junior-heavy Trevians, who also roster seniors Abby Morton (co-captain, injured), Gracie Rickard-Bugel, Maeve Driscoll (co-captain), Mia Ginsberg and Eleni Kanellos (co-captain), the latter of whom earned Burnside’s praise for her defensive work down the stretch.

“Eleni Kanellos is one of the players of the tournament and of the season for us,” he said. “She stepped up to do the dirty work for us. … She was a warrior for four years, for this year, but for this tournament she took on everybody who was coming at us.”

The Trevians likely won’t be going away any time soon. They are expected to return their top seven goal scorers, including juniors Randall, a Northwestern commit, Balogun, Noa Boeing, Claire Gallagher and London McCaffrey, who was injured in sectional play and missed the final two contests. All-State goalie Annie Fowler, a Penn State commit, is also a junior, as are Zabel, Peyton Colegrove and Bea Cirulis.

Additionally, sophomore Catherine Shean was second on the team in goals, and sophomore Gemma Marinello and freshmen Mimi Eynon and Xena Cadet were key contributors.

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