Trevs find stride to keep bragging rights over Kits

Great rivalries are often the perfect setting for new traditions.

After New Trier soccer’s latest showdown with its longest tenured adversary, senior captain Tim Vaughan feels like a new yearly fixture may have taken shape.

Three seasons ago, Tim’s brother, Yannick, found the back of the net against the Evanston Wildkits. Last season, it was Tim who took the goal-scoring honors. And on Thursday night in Northfield, Tim, for the second season in a row, buried a brilliant finish to sink the Kits.

“My brother actually scored three years ago against Evanston, so it’s kind of becoming a tradition that we’re scoring against [Evanston],” Tim said. “This is the biggest rivalry for us and it just means so much to our team. … Our fans were electric tonight, and it was just a great moment to score against Evanston.”

Vaughan’s second-half goal all but sealed the Trevians’ 2-0 win over Evanston on Thursday, Sept. 17, at Robert Naughton Field. It was the second straight season New Trier bested the Wildkits by a two-goal margin.

The match’s opening 30 minutes offered little to either club as both attacks struggled to generate threats at goal. But New Trier found its rhythm near the end of the first half, pushing several strong chances forward.

A strong run from sophomore midfielder Luke Hoffmeister drew a foul against the Wildkits. Then the Trevs found the opening salvo when senior captain Gordon Evans served a dangerous ball into the box that was ultimately knocked into the net by an Evanston defender.

“I think Evanston is always a tough opponent to play — the emotions are always high — so getting that first goal early is so important for us,” Vaughan said.

New Trier head coach Matt Ravenscraft noted that he felt the Treians played some of their “most calm and composed soccer” of the match in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

Regarding the build up to the first goal, he credited the run from Hoffmeister, who he called the team’s “energizer bunny” off the bench Thursday, and the superb cross from Evans.

The Trevians’ second goal also came off a set piece and was once again set up by a ball from Evans. The ball found the foot of Vaughan, who scored the strike with just under 25 minutes to go.

“Something we talked about before the game that was one the keys tonight was to win the set-piece battle,” Ravenscraft said. “In big games, it comes down to maybe one or two goals at most. Our guys were hungry in those moments and showed their quality.”

New Trier’s goalkeeper Will Richardson delivered several excellent saves throughout the match to keep Evanston off the scoreboard. But the junior’s best moments of the game came late in the second half when he made a series of top-notch saves with the Wildkits pushing.

“It’s a great feeling,” Richardson said of earning a clean sheet against Evanston. “This is the team you circle on the calendar and you want to beat them. There’s a lot of practice and watching film and preparing … for this game.”

Richardson started the lion’s share of matches for the Trevs in 2025. Earning that level of experience as a sophomore is one factor that’s already paying huge dividends this campaign.

“There’s a real benefit of being a returning varsity player as a junior,” Ravenscraft said. “(Will) played the majority of our games last year and I think all of that learning he’s taken into this year.

“He had a great offseason … and I think he’s just trusting himself and trusting his instincts. I love that I’m hearing his voice a lot more over the course of the 80 minutes, so I think he’s feeling just more competent and with that comes confidence.”

Supporting Richardson’s efforts in net was the strong play of New Trier’s back line that featured key contributions from Dimitri Mundzic, Owen Johnson, Brady Maciejewski and Petros Varvitsiotis.

New Trier’s defense this season has been a work in progress Ravenscraft said, but the Trevs coach called Thursday’s play from their defenders “probably the most mature, complete performance” from the group.

The match against Evanston was the second of three games in a week for the Trevs, only the second time all season New Trier had played three games in a week. New Trier defeated Maine East 1-0 on Tuesday, Sept. 15, but fell to Wisconsin’s Whitefish Bay 2-0 on Saturday, Sept. 19.

It has, to this point, been a bit of a “start-stop” year for the Trevians, Ravenscraft said, noting that the team had several early season games canceled due to excessive heat as well as one conference game postponed due to scheduling conflict with an academic event.

“There’s just a lot of learning that happens in games, but, on the flip side, we’ve had plenty of time on the training ground to work on some set pieces and to clean some stuff up,” Ravenscraft said. “I think we’ve put that time to good use but this is the first time we’ve played three games in a week since our first week.”

The Trevs were winners of four straight prior to Saturday’s loss and will now head into the thick of their Central Suburban League schedule. A key reason for the group’s success has been its collective growth and unity.

“I think we’re all just coming together,” Vaughan said. “The team is understanding our roles, we’re trusting each other with the ball and where we have to be. I think we’re just understanding the system as a team better. We’re just learning every game.”

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