Kits Complete Turnaround With 3rd Place Trophy

ROCKFORD --- Fighters don’t stop fighting.

That’s the message Evanston soccer coach Franz Calixte delivered in his pre-game talk with his players prior to the Class 3A Illinois High School Association state tournament third place game here Saturday against Lockport.

Calixte might not be Knute Rockne when it comes to inspirational speeches. But his message rang true, reminded the Wildkits of just who they are, and helped them bounce back from a devastating semifinal loss on Friday to capture the third place trophy with a 3-0 blanking of Lockport.

That victory finished off a “worst to first” type of run for the Wildkits, who only mustered a total of four wins all of last season --- then improved to a final mark of 16-7-1 in 2026. That’s the biggest improvement in a one-year stretch in the long and storied history of the program.

Two goals by Matthew Gilroy, both coming in the first half, finished off a Lockport team that had shocked the high school soccer world with an upset win over nationally-ranked Lyons Township in the supersectional.

Gilroy and Co. were able to summon up the energy and enthusiasm that are hard to find in third place state tournament games.

And no one knew better than Calixte that the team with the most desire, after losing out on a chance to win a state championship, usually comes out on top in a consolation game.

The Kits fell 2-1 in penalty kicks to another upstart team, East Aurora, in Friday’s semifinals hosted by Guilford High School for the first time despite having a “man up” advantage for exactly 32 minutes (second half and two overtimes) when the Tomcats had a player ejected with a second yellow card.

Bouncing back wasn’t easy.

“I knew they’d do it today, because we didn’t lose Friday with a lack of fight or resolve,” Calixte said. “One of the things I told them was that successful people are the ones who bounce back from setbacks. We had to be able to come back from that setback.

“These seniors are fighters and winners. They’re so good at competing. Only two teams (state champs and third place finishers) get to end their seasons with a win. When I first started coaching with Randy DeRousse 30 years ago, we told the players we expected to be in the conversation every year for the Final Four.

“This year, we are. This is one fantastic crew of boys.”

“To be completely honest, I was heartbroken last night,” admitted defender Gable Holstine, one of 11 seniors who started the final game. “But I think that pregame speech by Coach Calixte brought us together again as a team. Everyone felt the same way about this game.

“Coach said how proud he was of how far we’ve come this season, so why stop now? We just had to go out with a win. He said this is our last game --- let’s make it a good one.

“The brotherhood on this team is just great. These guys were my best friend growing up and coming into high school --- and they still are. It’s a little bittersweet right now, but I’m proud of all that we’ve accomplished. Even the start of the year was a little rocky, but we put together an amazing turnaround from last year. We lost together last year, and then we worked our butts off and came back up.”

Gilroy pointed out that ETHS scored more wins in the playoffs this year (six) than all of last season. He tallied goals in the 6^th and 33^rd minutes for the winners and Noah Thomas added a goal in the second half to put the game out of reach.

“This is definitely not the game we wanted to be playing in,” Gilroy confessed. “But it was important enough for us to be able to end with a win. We wanted to get that one last win.

“From the jump today, I thought we had a lot more energy than Lockport. This is it for me --- I probably won’t play in college --- and to have this last one with all of my buddies was just awesome.”

One of those buddies is his twin brother Tommy, who anchored the ETHS defense while Matt shouldered the offensive burden.

“This was our last soccer game together, although we’ve still got baseball,” Matt Gilroy noted. “I just love that guy so much. He’s been great all year and I’m really proud of him. He’s been a rock in the back for us while I’m scoring up front.”

Tommy Gilroy, who couldn’t play in the semifinals because he picked up two yellow cards (adding up to a red) in the supersectional win, is probably his brother’s biggest fan.

“We started playing together back in kindergarten, when we were 5 years old, and we’ve never been on different teams,” Tommy Gilroy said. “Matt’s played different positions as we were growing up, but during this playoff run he found his spot. He’s been our MVP.

“To put an exclamation point on this wonderful season, we had to finish it off today. We set the tone early because we were so hungry. We weren’t going to roll over against Lockport. We were more hungry than they were right from the start. It’s sad to see this end --- but this is a special group of guys.”

Thomas’ goal was the final nail in Lockport’s coffin as the Porters finished with an identical record of 16-7-1. Calixte was able to use every one of his reserves in the second half and all three goalies --- starter Ben Matsa, sophomore Gavin Short and junior Keenan Ribiero --- shared in the shutout.

Matsa was credited with just one save, on a rolling shot by Lockport’s Christopher Houzar just a couple of minutes after Gilroy’s first goal. Evanston’s domination enabled the losers to get off just four shots according to IHSA statisticians.

“I told the seniors they had 40 minutes to do what they’ve got to do to build enough of a lead to get the younger guys in,” Calixte added. “As great as this trip has been this year, we’ve also got to build for the future and give the younger guys a taste of playing Downstate.

“They just continued to play and improve all season. This is the culmination of their grit, their tenacity, their belief in themselves. This group just has a winning spirit.”

East Aurora, which had never won a sectional championship prior to this season, denied the Kits a chance to be part of an all-Central Suburban League South division potential matchup in the 3A title game --- with eventual champion Glenbrook South --- by prevailing 4-2 in the penalty kick phase of the semifinal battle Friday night.

Tomcats’ goalie Carlos Fabela stopped PK attempts by Dominic Putt and Matt Gilroy to decide the outcome, but Calixte knew his squad’s inability to capitalize in an 11-on-10 scenario prior to that was what ended Evanston’s title hopes.

East Aurora’s Brandon Ramirez was ejected two minutes after his teammate, Daniel Martinez, scored the goal to tie the game at 1-1. ETHS had enjoyed a 1-0 advantage after Gilroy’s goal in the 13^th minute, on a pass from Daniel Melnikov.

Melnikov picked his spot against a deliberate style of play employed by the Tomcats, dashing down the left sideline from his defensive position, faking a defender to the turf and delivering the go-ahead pass to Gilroy.

“If I had known before the game we’d be a man up for that long, I’d have loved my chances (to win),” said Calixte. “I thought we created a couple of good chances, but soccer is just exactly that. If you can’t score, you can’t win.

“We played much better in the overtimes than we did in the second half (after Ramirez’s exit). It took us some time to sort things out. We had a couple of corners that were dangerous, and some throw-ins, but we just couldn’t put it in.”