Kit Girls Punish Trevs, Advance To IHSA State Finals

The best way for the members of the Evanston girls water polo to ease the pain of last year’s season-ending loss to New Trier was to inflict that kind of pain on the Trevians this time around.

The Wildkits did just that Saturday morning in the championship game of the Glenbrook North Sectional tournament.

Evey Harrell scored three goals and Aveen Cunningham added a pair as the Kits scored a decisive 8-2 victory over their rivals and earned a trip to the Illinois High School Association state finals for the first time since 2008.

Tormented by one of the state’s best programs in the sport ever since first-year head coach Maggie Hatcher’s teams ruled the rivalry during her playing career, the Wildkits completed a rare season sweep of their neighbors to the north.

Saturday marked the fifth time this year that ETHS has dumped New Trier in a head-to-head matchup in the same season, a program record.

Sinking the Trevians and advancing to State at the same time proved to be an early Mother’s Day gift for Hatcher, who is expecting her third child soon, and a group of seniors with revenge on their minds following last year’s loss at the sectional.

Evanston will take a 24-2-1 record into the state quarterfinals Friday versus Lincoln-Way East (27-5) at Stevenson High School at 5:45 p.m. The other quarterfinals will pit Naperville North against Hersey, Lyons against York, and St. Ignatius against Stevenson.

The semifinals and finals will take place next Saturday.

Saturday, Evanston dominated by building a 6-0 advantage entering the fourth quarter with another shutdown effort on the defensive end. Both of New Trier’s goals came in the last five minutes of the game.

“Of course, whenever Evanston plays New Trier in any sport, it’s a big event,” said Hatcher. “New Trier has always been a thorn in our side, because no matter how well the teams match up any year, they’re a team that knows how to win. That’s always scary. But after we won Friday (9-5 over Glenbrook North in the semis) and the girls found out we were playing New Trier again, they were very pumped up. This is what they wanted.

“Today we just focused on what we do best. We knew we’d put in the work this season and we’ve proved that this is a team we can beat. We didn’t need a hero, we didn’t need a miracle. We just played four solid quarters of Evanston water polo and we never let up. We took care of business.”

Maya Vincent, Elise Pollack and Libby Quail also scored goals for the sectional champs. Vincent and Cunningham had combined for six goals in Friday’s ousting of host GBN, but every time the Wildkits jump into the pool this year, they hang their hats on their defense.

That’s just the way Hatcher likes it.

“I think our defense is amazing,” she said. “Defense was my favorite part of the game when I was playing. I think defense is more natural in water polo than offense. The confidence you need to take that shot on offense is something you have to build up to.

“Our girls take a lot of pride in the ability to shut down the other team’s top threat. In the past, our help defense --- not really a zone --- has been very good. But we have one of the best 1-on-1 defenders in the state in Aveen (Cunningham) and we always let her go up against the other team’s strongest player. We still have the ability to help, but we’re so strong in 1-on-1 matchups and that’s really unusual.”

Evanston’s only losses this season have come against Naperville North, in the second game of the year, and against Stevenson.

The Kits got that New Trier monkey off their backs and the tears flowed in the aftermath, according to Hatcher.

“There were a lot of happy tears,” the coach said. “It was the culmination of four years of heartbreak. I think the seniors finally felt relief because they got the job done, and they recognized how hard they had worked to get the job done.

“We’re celebrating now and then we’ll get back to work. We still have things to do. I feel good about our chances. This team can compete with any team in the state.”