Booters Breathe Easier After 3-0 Regional Win

Ask any high school soccer coach competing in the Illinois High School Association state playoffs and he’ll tell you that he never feels at ease until his team scores enough to take a two-goal advantage in any postseason contest.

Only then can those coaches --- and players and fans --- take a deep breath and relax a little, at least.

No. 1 seed Evanston didn’t get the opportunity to take that deep breath in Tuesday’s Class 3A regional tournament opener against Maine East at Lazier Field until Orlando Tobin’s breath-taking play. The senior midfielder’s goal in the 69th minute helped the Wildkits ease past the Blue Demons for a 3-0 triumph.

Now 16-1-3 on the season --- and undefeated against Illinois opponents --- Evanston advanced to the regional championship game set for Saturday at 5 p.m. The Wildkits will host Niles North, a 2-1 winner over Chicago Taft, for the right to move on to the New Trier Sectional semifinals.

The one-loss-and-you’re-done scenario never really allows any team, no matter where it’s seeded, to find a comfort zone until the clock runs out. And the fact that the Kits were clinging to a slim 1-0 lead --- thanks to a goal by Cristiano Hamer in the first half --- and possessed the ball 90 percent of the time wouldn’t have mattered if the Blue Demons had found a way to score the equalizer.

Tobin, who played one of his finest games in a season filled with elite performances by the lanky senior, drilled a shot into the upper right hand corner of the net with 11 minutes, 38 seconds left. That blast from the 20-yard line upped the ETHS advantage to 2-0, and junior Lukas Fox added a third goal when he deked Maine East goalie Zakhar Bets and found the back of the net with 5:05 remaining.

Maine East (4-19) never did put a shot on goal against Evanston keeper Finn Kramer-Mann and didn’t have many opportunities because of Evanston’s offensive dominance.

Calixte didn’t take anything for granted even with his team on top 1-0 after Joseph Sargent rolled a pass to Hamer, who tapped it in. This isn’t the coach’s first rodeo.

“When you have just a 1-0 lead, even when the other team hasn’t been dangerous, all they need is one corner kick, or one bad pass and it’s a 1-1 game,” said Calixte. “I’ve coached a long time and I’ve been on both sides of games like that.

“Everyone (opponents) always thinks Orlando is left-footed (prevalent) only but we’ve seen him score with his right foot, too. When he has an opening, everyone on our team wants him to shoot. We’re always telling him he should shoot more.”

“I knew that 1-0 wasn’t really a comfortable lead,” Tobin agreed after notching his fourth goal of the season . “It really helped our confidence and boosted us up when we got that second goal. Before that, we weren’t finishing great. The coaches are always saying in the huddle that we should shoot, shoot, shoot and something will go in. So when I had some space, and the defense didn’t step up on me, I just left it rip.

“Our finishing was a bit off today, but we kept our composure and we kept the shutout. I thought we played pretty good as a team.”

Tuesday’s contest was just a sample of what the powerhouse Wildkits could face in terms of matchups against defenses that will play low-pressure type soccer in hopes that one ETHS mistake could be converted into a game-winning goal. The Blue Demons did their best to frustrate the winners after losing 6-0 to Evanston during the regular season.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we got through tonight,” Calixte said. “We know people will play low pressure against us in the playoffs. No one comes out here to lose. Maine East believed in their game plan and they were very disciplined. But so were we.

“I think if we were a little more precise about finishing, especially in the first half, it could have been a different outcome. We created chances but we didn’t put the ball in. I think they felt some anxiety and some nervousness, and they had to play through that. And Maine East’s goalie was fantastic.”