‘Battle-tested’ Trevians take care of Wildkits

Entering conference play with a losing record is certainly an unfamiliar feeling for one of the state’s best soccer programs.

Beginning your campaign against the height of competition presents such perils, but it also offers plenty of advantages. 

Fresh off their experience in the inaugural Tournament of Champions, an early season competition hosted by Naperville North that brought together 10 recent state championship winning programs for a run for matches, the New Trier Trevians started the thick of their schedule as a “battled-tested team.”  

Those early, high-level matchups appear to be paying off just fine as the Trevians delivered a masterclass performance Thursday, Sept. 11, during a 2-0 road victory over their archrival Evanston Wildkits.

New Trier’s victory pushes the Trevs to a perfect 2-0 start in Central Suburban League play.  

“It feels early to play a game of this stature … but we felt like we were battle tested coming out of the Tournament of Champions, and that was the point of the enterprise for us, getting tested early,” New Trier head coach Matt Ravenscraft said, adding that the Trevs “got exactly what we wanted” out of the tournament. 

“We feel like we got better … but if we don’t take that learning into our conference games this week, versus a tough Niles North, then a big rivalry game versus Evanston, then it would have been a waste, but these boys turned the dial, and the tournament accelerated our learning and we’ve been able to put in two really strong displays in conference, so I’m proud of the team.” 

The Wildkits started the contest with an onslaught of pressure against the Trevians in the game’s first 15 minutes, generating a couple of strong scoring chances.

Evanston appeared to have broken through in the 16th minute when James Nicolaou found the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside violation against the Kits.

From there, the Trevs took complete control of the match. 

“We’ve been here six or seven times in my career as a varsity coach, and I don’t know if it’s possible to start fast against Evanston — they’re going to throw everything at you in those first five minutes,” Ravenscraft said.

“It does take time here to maybe settle into the game, but when we found the rhythm, we played some of the best soccer we have this season,” he continued.

New Trier opened the scoring in the 28th minute with a successful set piece. Trevians senior captain Ryan Schneider put the ball on net, and after Evanston’s keeper punched it away, New Trier junior Tim Vaughan found the ball at his foot and delivered the opening strike. 

The second half of the match was all New Trier as the Trevians peppered the Wildkits with a series of strong scoring chances. 

That pressure paid off in the 17th minute when New Trier’s midfield played a well-placed ball to senior captain Calyx Hoover, who worked his way through Evanston’s defense and was awarded a penalty kick after being tripped up by an Evanston defender. 

Hoover then rocketed a strike into the bottom left corner, past a diving keeper, to give the Trevians the two-goal advantage. 

New Trier’s defense delivered stellar play throughout the night, but the Trevs’ back line was especially strong in the second half as the Wildkits struggled to generate any true threats at goal. 

“This back line gets better every game,” Ravenscraft said. “They were tested; we’ve seen a lot of attacking talent in the first half of our season. But I thought they played some of their best soccer (tonight). … You’re not going to get out of Evanston without dealing with some moments of being under pressure, but they really dealt with everything well.” 

Ravenscraft mentioned senior centerbacks Quinn Albinson and Lucas Yoshitani as well as Vaughan, Zach Myers and Aman Alakhramsing as pillars of New Trier’s defense early on. 

Sophomore keeper Will Richardson produced the clean-sheet effort for the Trevians. 

“He had a really, really good night and came out and claimed a lot and really took the danger away in so many moments,” Ravenscraft said, adding that Richardson and fellow sophomore Vivaan Jain have been splitting time in net for the Trevs this season. 

New Trier will take on another nonconference traditional powerhouse this Saturday, Sept. 13, when they matchup with Hinsdale Central before they return to CSL South play next week.

Ravenscraft said the team will look to continue improving in transition moments and set pieces but the Trevians coach is excited to see what the team has in store. 

“This team still has a lot of learning but their ceiling is incredibly high,” he said. “It’s an incredibly fun group to coach. They’re very coachable, they’re very hungry and I think just with some space between this season and 2023 it’s kind of allowed this group to sort of form their own identity and it’s been a joy. Every season is awesome, and this is a great group.”

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Become a member of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a member? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.