Roller Coaster Ride Continues For Soccer Squad

Evanston soccer coach Stacy Salgado has often referred to the 2026 campaign as a roller coaster.

The roller coaster ride will continue. The Wildkits made sure of that Wednesday night at the Evanston Sectional tournament, holding on for a 4-3 victory over Loyola Academy and advancing to the sectional championship game for the first time since 2022.

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Second half goals from Brinna Fasoranti and Bridget Durkin rallied the home team after they had coughed up a 2-0 advantage in another up-and-down performance that has served as a microcosm for the entire spring.

ETHS will take an 11-7-2 record into Friday’s championship match against top-seeded New Trier. The Trevians topped the Wildkits 2-1 during the regular season.

When their level of play is “up” the Kits can play with anyone. They outplayed New Trier for 60 of the 90 minutes in that regular season matchup, but when they’re down the Kits seem to flounder, especially on defense.

Maybe it’s because they only have four seniors on the roster. Inexperience hasn’t cost them yet in postseason play, however, as ETHS reached the sectional with a 1-0 win over St. Ignatius in the regional title game and showed the ability to win the close ones.

“During the season, we haven’t won the tight ones, but now it’s the playoff season and I think they know they can do it,” Salgado said. “We had nothing to lose today. We haven’t done this (reach the championship game) in a couple of years now. We’re excited to be playing at home and it’s nice to be part of the party.

“Once again tonight we played some brilliant soccer, and then we had some little lapses on defense and some mental breakdowns. It’s just part of the game. I thought we showed a lot of grit up against some talented and quick players. Loyola is a solid team and it was a battle.”

The host team controlled the first half action at Lazier Field. The Ramblers (14-6-2) only put four shots on goal and Evanston owned the scoreboard thanks to a goal by Dami Adeniyi in the 18^th minute, and another by Olivia Jean-Pierre off Leah George’s corner kick in the 30^th minute. It was only Jean-Pierre’s second goal of the season.

But the Ramblers wouldn’t go away. They tallied twice behind Stella Diamandakis and Kate Pakula, pulling even with just under 30 minutes remaining in regulation play.

Evanston replied with the kind of character they hadn’t yet developed during the regular season. Eight minutes later, Fasoranti found the back of the net and Durkin --- who scored the lone goal in the regional for ETHS --- also scored, her team-high 19^th goal of the season to match her jersey number.

Fasoranti’s goal started with a crossing pass from George. Adeniyi made a remarkable effort to keep the ball in play, leaning over the end line when she made contact, and that effort paid off with Fasoranti’s fourth goal of the season.

“I was really nervous (after Loyola tied the game),” Fasoranti confessed. “On that play, I went for the header and missed it, but Dami was able to play it back to me and I tapped it under the keeper. I’m just so happy I could do that and get us up again. I knew we could get it back, but I wasn’t sure that we could hold them off.

“In the beginning of the season we were just getting to know each other, and a lot of girls played a lot of different spots. Then we hit a flow, but we had some injuries and the others had to move around a lot. I even played defense a little. Now we’re really excited and really ready for New Trier. We have to stay locked in and motivated to beat them.”

A frantic finish by the Ramblers kept the outcome in doubt even though they faced another two goal deficit. Evanston junior defender Maizlyn Kelly won every single head ball available in the last five minutes before Loyola tacked on a consolation goal on a shot by Lily Berhalter with 15 seconds left in her season.