Kits Kick New Trier, Close In On Conference Title

Clutching the game ball awarded to her after Evanston’s most impressive soccer win of the season Tuesday night, Shayna DaSilva couldn’t quite pull off her acceptance speech with her tongue in her cheek.

She cracked up after pontificating to her teammates that “you know, guys, it’s been a long journey for me and I’ve never been able to score until this game” before the post-game huddle erupted in laughter.

DaSilva delivered a pair of goals --- doubling her season total --- and Jocelyn Leigh contributed a goal and an assist as the Wildkits blanked rival New Trier 3-0 and closed in on their second straight Central Suburban League South division championship with the victory at Lazier Field.

Evanston prevailed in a battle of two soccer heavyweights and now only needs a win over Niles West to finish off a perfect conference season. The Wildkits improved to 12-1-1 overall and likely clinched a No. 1 seed for the Evanston Sectional tournament over the Trevians, now 13-2-1 and 3-1 in league play.

Voting for coaches in the Class 3A sectional grouping determining the seeds concluded that same night, as the Kits delivered a statement win in a matchup that had a state tournament atmosphere.

DaSilva, a senior midfielder, is usually a facilitator for her teammates to score and ranks second on the ETHS scoring list to date with 6 assists. But her goal in the 6th minute Tuesday, off a cross from Leigh, gave the hosts the early advantage and allowed them to hold an aggressive Trevian team off for the entire rest of the first half.

The second half? Evanston owned New Trier and followed up with goals from Leigh in the 60th minute and DaSilva (again) in the 63rd minute to round out one of the team’s most complete efforts of the season on offense and on defense.

“This was a really big win for us, because the seeds come out tonight. The timing couldn’t have been better,” said ETHS head coach Stacy Salgado. “Obviously, New Trier is a very strong team so it was really important for us to get this win.

“It’s a fun rivalry but the girls didn’t really talk much about it before the game. Playing New Trier does add a little heat. I liked our confidence --- and the girls showed it early on. We did a good job of sticking to the game plan. We won a lot of balls in the air tonight and we only gave up a couple of corners. That’s important because New Trier is so good on their set pieces (free kicks). We denied them those corners tonight.”

“I’ve never scored 2 goals in a game before,” said DaSilva. “Every game it seems like I’ve been so close to scoring and I’m really happy I was finally able to get one in such a big game.

“We were a little nervous coming in because most years New Trier is our biggest game of the season. Tonight our defense was winning balls (in the air, usually a Trevian trademark) and I know our midfielders can dominate against any team we play. And because we were able to keep the ball (possession in the midfield) like that in the second half, New Trier got tired and everything opened up for us on offense. New Trier’s biggest strength every year is in the air, but the fact we beat them on almost every ball showed we were right there with them and read things better than they did.”

Senior goalkeeper Ariel Kite (13 saves) made that one-goal advantage stand up during a frenzied first half, with many of her trademark knock-aways with one hand adding to the drama of the rivalry showdown. Her most impressive sequence came midway through the first half, when she punched away a free kick by New Trier star Lida Dodge from the 22-yard line, then also registered a save on the subsequent corner kick.

Evanston’s offense turned it up a notch and the best defense for the Wildkits was a juiced up attack that found the Trevians scrambling and back on their heels trying to defend against Leigh and speedy freshman forward Bridget Durkin. Durkin came off the bench to start the second half and didn’t score, but put together several potential scoring runs that kept the visitors settled back on their half of the field.

“Ariel had a really big first half for us, and our defense did a great job of working together,” Salgado explained. “And I thought Bridget had a phenomenal game. So did Shayna. A lot of them stepped up tonight.”

Leigh, who leads the team in scoring with 12 goals and 8 assists, scored the knockout blow in the 60th minute with a powerful shot at the conclusion of a run from midfield against the overmatched New Trier defense. She buried the shot past Trevian keeper Caroline Hague to make it 2-0.

The clincher came a couple of minutes later when DaSilva and Adriana Merriam lined up together for a restart, a play created by Durkin’s burst that resulted in a tripping foul versus New Trier.

Merriam usually pulls the trigger on restarts like that, but this time the Kits changed strategies.

“When New Trier set up on defense, I saw that the right side of their wall was open,” said DaSilva. “Usually Adriana would take the shot, but because she’s left-footed and I’m right-footed I saw that it was open for me. So I took it --- and it worked!”

DaSilva’s shot was initially stopped by Hague, but the New Trier sophomore let the ball trickle off her hands and across the line as Evanston’s Syd Ross crashed in and affected the keeper’s judgement. “I think the keeper got a little frantic when she saw Syd crashing like that,” said DaSilva.

“On my first goal, Jocelyn is so fast that I knew she’d beat her defender. I knew I just needed to get to the back post, and she hit a perfect ball to me.”