Kits Bury Payton Prep, Keep Championship Streak Alive

The personnel changes from year to year and so does the starting lineup for the Evanston soccer team.

But they all have one thing in common --- no one, especially in a senior class, wants to be part of the Wildkit team that DOESN’T win the season-opening Evanston Invitational tournament.

Johnny Hunwick and Cristiano Hamer made sure that didn’t happen Saturday as the pair each scored a hat trick in a 7-0 trouncing of Walter Payton Prep. That effort clinched Evanston’s 12th championship in a row at the event, following up on wins over Lake Forest Academy (6-1) and Jones Prep (2-0) earlier in the week.

Saturday’s win marked the fourth in a row for the undefeated Kits after a 1-1 non-tournament tie with Hersey in the season opener. The round-robin tournament doesn’t feature the toughest competition on the schedule --- head coach Franz Calixte and his players would be the first to admit that fact --- and is designed to help Evanston ease into the season as the roster turns over from the previous year.

Hunwick scored his first career hat trick, notching the team’s first goal on a penalty kick and coming off the bench late in the contest when a teammate received a yellow card and had to be replaced. His third goal came with just 3 minutes, 6 seconds left on the clock.

In between those tallies Hamer, the team’s leading scorer a year ago, racked up 3 goals of his own and Joseph Sargent accounted for the other ETHS goal.

Hunwick, a 3-year starter for the Kits, said the motivation for the team each season is to keep that championship streak going.

“It’s important because it is our own tournament and we don’t want to lose it,” said the senior forward. “Because if we do, then Coach (Calixte) would have to go out and buy a trophy for another team.

“Usually this tournament helps bring us together as a team. After the first game (against Hersey) we had no chemistry. Now, after these three games, we have a better idea of where the others want the ball and how they want it (delivered). This year it’s taken a little longer because the tryouts were during school (instead of a preseason period) and we really didn’t have time to bond as a team and have that 100 percent chemistry we want.

“This was my first varsity hat trick and I really wanted that last goal bad. I’ve been around two teams that lost in the (state) playoffs and it’s so sad when you lose that last game. I want this season to end with a championship, and I’m putting in 100 percent effort in every game to try to make that happen.”

Hunwick’s assertiveness on the pitch helped the Wildkits thrive despite what Calixte would agree was an uneven team effort in the three game test.

“Johnny was our leading scorer through the first few games of his sophomore year when he hurt his ankle (and missed most of the season),” Calixte said. “And I didn’t think he was at his best last year, whether it was because of his own expectations --- or others. Now he looks more at home out there. He looks more like a 3-year starter. He’s bigger and stronger, and he’s playing with a lot more confidence.”

Evanston’s uneven performance included falling behind 1-0 against LFA before six different players found the back of the net in that contest. And the Kits were held to a scoreless tie in the first half of Thursday’s matchup with Jones Prep, then prevailed behind goals from Sargent and junior Kervenson Alfred.

The September tourney takes on added significance this year, according to Calixte, because there’s not only an adjustment period for the varsity newcomers, but the coaching staff decided to change Evanston’s formation from the usual 4-4-3 alignment and that’s not a change that is going to succeed overnight.

Add in some injuries that have limited some players that Calixte expects to claim starting jobs, and the Wildkits are clearly a work in progress.

“This year we’re running a different system, and it’s something different for all of them,” said the coach. “We haven’t used it since 2016 when we had some serious speed. This group of guys has the speed and the skills to go with it, and I want to accentuate that speed because it’s one of our strengths and we want to play to it. We have guys on the outside who are very hungry, and very dangerous 1-on-1.

“It’s a more offensive style than we usually play. So far we’ve averaged about 27 shots a game and that’s a lot. We still need to put a higher percentage of those shots on goal. I think we are starting to show a little more depth than I thought we had, too. But it’s a process. We’re just trying to learn something every week.”