No Close Shave As Kits Advance To State

Those playoff mustaches are growing longer every day.

And there was no worry about a close shave Monday night for Evanston’s soccer team at the Class 3A Conant Supersectional.

The mustaches started by the entire ETHS coaching staff at the beginning of the Illinois High School Association state playoffs will be in place at least for another week after the Wildkits advanced to the state finals for the first time since 2003.

Coach Franz Calixte’s team blanked Addison Trail 4-0 and has grown into a state contender along with those mustaches. Evanston is guaranteed a state trophy after earning hardware in previous trips in 1978 (2^nd), 1983 (3^rd), 1990 (2^nd), 1992 (2^nd), 1995 (2^nd) and 2002 (2^nd).

The Kits will face the winner of Tuesday’s Normal Supersectional showdown between O’Fallon and East Aurora on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Rockford Guilford High School. Guilford is the new site for the three-class state finals that begin with the smaller schools on Thursday.

Lockport, a 2-1 upset winner over top-ranked Lyons Township, is matched against the Glenbrook South-South Elgin survivor in the other state semi Friday. The Class 3A third place and championship games are scheduled for Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

Evanston (15-6-1) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first half on a rebound goal by Alex Byrhe, and then capitalized on a “man up” advantage for the entire second half to tack on goals by James Nicolaou, Daniel Melnikov and Jordan Narcisse.

How long has it been since the Wildkits played on the final weekend of the season? None of the current players was even born when Calixte guided the 2003 team to the Elite Eight under the old IHSA format.

“This feels so good. It’s been so long,” sighed the jubilant ETHS coach. “And it couldn’t happen to a better group of boys. This just feels amazing. I know I won’t sleep tonight.

“It’s so difficult to get to State. We’ve been to the quarterfinals a couple of times (in the old format) and had to go home with nothing. Now we’re going home with a trophy, and I hope it’s the biggest one.

“It’s the never-die in them that makes this team special. This is a team of grit, a team of belief (in themselves). Believe me, belief is a powerful word --- and they have it.”

They also have a coaching staff with fuzz on everyone’s upper lip. Calixte suggested growing mustaches as an alternative to the traditional professional hockey superstition of growing beards until your team is eliminated in the postseason.

“No. 1, I was a little selfish about the idea because I can’t grow a full beard. But I knew I could grow a mustache,” Calixte explained. “I just wanted to do something fun for the coaching staff and take the pressure off a little bit.

“The more we win, the longer the staches get. My daughters love it, but my wife? Eh, eh, not so much.’

Goalie coach Matt Frederick bought in, too.

“I had to get clearance from my wife first,” Frederick noted. “But my (40-year-old) son is really upset about it. He’s not used to seeing me like that.

“I had a pandemic beard (COVID-19) like a lot of guys back then, but I’ve never had just a mustache. We’re all superstitious about it and it gives us something to rally around as coaches, and it’s something for the kids (players) to laugh at. I just hope I have it through Saturday.”

Assistant coach Yael Lara, by consensus, has grown the richest mustache. The buy-in also included a couple of parents who decided to join in.

“For me, it’s really convenient,” Lara said. “I believe superstitions are for suckers, but I was on board from the start because it’s something fun to do. We decided to make this our thing and it’s a bond that shows we’re all in this together. Maybe it’s the start of a new tradition.”

Friday, senior co-captain Nicolaou assisted on Evanston’s first goal, on a free kick, and broke the game open with a penalty kick in the 52^nd minute that made it 2-0. He delivered a low grounder past the Addison Trail “wall” on the free kick in the 13^th minute, a move that apparently surprised Addison goalie Omar Teran. He dove and deflected the ball right to Byrhe, who pounced on it and punched it to the back of the net.

He reflected on Evanston’s past frustrations trying to get to State --- and on the fact that the Kits were ranked “about 83^rd” in the preseason following a 2025 season that was one of the worst in ETHS history.

“This is super special, because I know we’ve had some talented teams that fell short in the postseason,” said the senior midfielder, who played one of his best games of the playoffs. “To prove everyone else wrong, and be in the Final Four in the state of Illinois is awesome. I’m just so happy to be here.

“We knew there’d be a lot of chirping (verbal back and forth) in this game so we just had to play relaxed and composed. That red card (against keeper Teran) at the end of the first half definitely helped us.

“I think the big turning point for us this year came after the GBN (Glenbrook North) game. We weren’t scoring many goals at that point, but then we had four in back to back games and we proved we could compete with state ranked teams. That was a pivotal point for us, because then we knew that if we play our game, we could compete with anyone in the state.

“We definitely have exceeded expectations. But we’re all hungry and we know we’re capable of even more. We just want to keep competing.”

A referee who handed out yellow and red cards like they were leftover Halloween candy kept both teams on edge as at least half of the cards issued came because of verbal comments.

A collision between two players from ETHS and Addison resulted in a whistle against the Blazers with only 13 seconds remaining in the first half. And when keeper Teran complained too vociferously, he was ejected and the losers were forced to play a man short for the last 40 minutes.

Evanston co-captain Tommy Gilroy was also a victim of the overzealous officiating, as his two yellow cards added up to an ejection, too.

“I actually thought we played better when the two teams were even,” Calixte said. “We created just like we wanted to with our game plan. When they were down a player, they got it going for a little bit against us.

“When we went into the sectional and I looked at the matchups and saw Taft and Saint Patrick, I knew those were two good teams we’d be up against. Then we showed that next level of play against Taft and we showed we could adjust to the pressure of the playoffs.

“And we’ve been on a roll ever since.”