Kits Aiming High Despite Loss Of Soccer Standouts

Even if Evanston’s soccer team claims the first Illinois High School Association state championship in program history this fall, Franz Calixte still might wonder just what might have been.

On paper perhaps the most talented team ever to don the Orange and Blue uniform --- and that’s saying a lot for a program with 5 state runnerup finishes, more than any other school in Illinois --- the lineup that the ETHS head coach puts together for Tuesday’s 2023 season opener at Elk Grove won’t resemble that potential unit.

Player defections and a season-ending injury have cost the Wildkits the services of four of the top players in the program. But Calixte and Co. still have a goal to reach the state finals for the first time since 2003.

“This is the year I’ve been waiting for, for a long time. I thought sure this was the year we’d make that state championship run,” Calixte said. “But little by little, bad things have been happening.

“We’ll still be really strong. The talent is there, the hard work is there, and the junior class we have is fantastic. I could have 2 completely different starting lineups, and we’d do well with both of them.”

The talent level each year in the program is staggering. Two would-be seniors, Diego Velazquez and Ben Koziura, are seeking opportunities to play professionally in national team programs in Croatia and Spain. Both players were standouts last year for the Wildkits, leading them to the Central Suburban League South division crown and an overall record of 13-5-3. Velazquez scored 7 goals, second best on the squad, and often appeared to be playing at a higher level than his teammates.

Calixte knew they were leaving, doesn’t begrudge them the opportunities in front of them, and figured the depth of talent in the program was good enough to plug those two huge holes. But then the day before preseason drills began, senior center back Chris Alexander was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back and will likely be sidelined for the entire season.

And another potential star, senior Joseph Munyaneza, is listed on the ETHS roster currently but may opt to join an academy (club) program instead of continuing to compete in high school soccer.

All Calixte can do now is pick up the pieces. And there are still plenty of pieces in place for a deep postseason run as the Wildkits attempt to bounce back from watching their string of regional tournament championships snapped at 10 in a row last fall.

Calixte is serious about perhaps following a European model where teams start one unit for league games and a completely different 11 for tournament play. That will be difficult to manage, especially with a huge roster of 26 players of almost equal ability.

“They’ve all been amazing in the preseason,” explained the coach. “Their technical ability is superb. We could play like a European team, with 2 different starting lineups. That would keep them all fresh, and there would be less mileage on their legs by the time we get to the state playoffs.

“They’re all so individually talented, but we’ll still have to work on the chemistry. We’ll see how that works. We may go with line combinations, like they do in hockey, to keep them hungry, to keep everyone on their toes. Once they learn to play for each other, they’ll see some success, and that will drive their buy-in even more.”

Six starters are back from a group that struggled to score most of last year, averaging just over two goals per game. Senior Bryan Maldonado is a more explosive player than his team-best goal total (7) and junior Johnny Hunwick netted 5 goals after missing part of the campaign with an injury.

Munyaneza may --- or may not --- be back to anchor the midfield, along with defensive standout Ben Roman and forward Pascal Calonges. Goalies Cade Likhite and Alex Mahoney both shared time in the net as juniors, but they’ll be challenged by another senior, Milo Slevin.

“We have two goalies who are proven at the varsity level, and not many teams can say that,” noted Calixte. “But Milo had an amazing tryout and we have find a way to play him, too. We have three great goalies who each have different strengths to their games.”

The ETHS coaching staff plans to rebuild the defense around Roman, the only returning regular from that unit. Junior Lincoln Carbray and senior Oliver Hassard could be key ingredients on the back line as the Kits take a different approach philosophically.

Normally one to push the action from the back and pressure enemy defenses --- and Roman might be the program’s best attacking defender since former star Ben Sollinger --- Calixte is taking a more conservative approach on defense until a regular player rotation gets sorted out.

“We lost key guys from the defense last year, and this year we really want to be stingy,” he said. “I think we relied too much on our athleticism, and we got counter-attacked a lot because of that. I think this year we’ll do more sitting back and defending as a unit.”

The Evanston-based club team Jahbat (2006) won the Illinois state club championship last season, defeating academy teams on their way to the title, so there’s no question this group knows how to win.

“We need to find a way to get out of the sectional so we can win the whole thing,” said Calixte, aiming high like every year. “Forget (just) the Final Four. They still have the pedigree to go all the way.”