Tie Denies Kits Share Of CSL South Soccer Crown

Alex Mahoney pounded his fist on the artificial turf.

Johnny Hunwick kicked a wastebasket on the sideline.

Even Evanston head coach Franz Calixte --- who rarely uses profanity --- exclaimed “son of a gun!” after the Wildkit soccer team settled for a 1-1 tie with Maine South Tuesday night in Park Ridge.

All that venting was born out of frustration, because the Kits were 102 seconds away from earning a share of the Central Suburban League South division championship.

Instead, South’s Bartek Galimski scored thanks to an Evanston defensive lapse that denied the visitors a chance to repeat as division champs. Glenbrook North, by virtue of a 4-0 triumph over Deerfield, captured the crown in one of the closest races in division history.

Four teams --- ETHS, GBN, New Trier and Maine South --- had a chance to at least share the crown with the right outcomes on Tuesday. Glenbrook North, which lost to Evanston in that head-to-head matchup, finished 4-1 to beat out Evanston’s 3-1-1 mark.

The Wildkits slipped to 11-1-2 overall after having won their first 11 games this fall.

Hunwick’s goal in the 62nd minute, off a pinpoint pass from Diego Velasquez, looked like it would hold up as Evanston tried to get back on the winning track following a 3-2 loss to New Trier and last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Whitney Young.

But the Hawks played the last minute role of spoiler.

To a man, the Kits reacted as if they had lost.

“I’m very frustrated right now,” Calixte said. “Omigosh, ties are always disappointing as far as I’m concerned because we always play to win. But when you see the opposing team celebrating like it’s a win, you know that’s frustrating.

“I thought everything was great tonight. We were dangerous, we limited their opportunities and we did everything right except for that one letdown at the end. One mental lapse and we’re picking the ball out of the net (after a goal).

“We let it slip away.”

Calixte admitted that he wasn’t happy about Saturday’s draw with Whitney Young, either. But junior defenders George Lewis and Lincoln Carbray both missed that contest with injuries, and Carbray was able to play most of Tuesday’s game.

“I thought this was going to be a really good night for us,” declared the veteran coach. “Our level of play was very good. I’m not overly concerned (going forward) because our level of play was there, it was much better than against Young.

“I thought we did all we needed to do to win this game. But we didn’t put them away. The effort was there, and the intensity was there. We have to find a way to get mentally stronger. We had very few shots on target tonight. The playoffs are coming and we have to put teams away, especially when we outplay them like we did tonight.”

Maine South (8-4-3 overall, 2-1-2 CSL South) wasn’t any more effective on offense than the Wildkits in a scoreless first half. The host Hawks did have one good chance, with 25 seconds left on the clock, when goalie Mahoney had to dive to his left to knock away a scoring attempt by Zach Malinsky.

Mahoney, who finished with 6 saves, also deflected away a header from Dexter Kelleher with 18 minutes left in the game following a Maine South corner kick.

But Galimski got loose and spoiled Mahoney’s shutout bid --- and a lot more --- with 1:42 to play.

Calixte normally downplays the results of the conference race to keep the Kits focused on improving toward bigger goals in the postseason. But he stepped away from that philosophy for at least one night on Tuesday.

“I called it a ‘practice’ must win game when I talked to them before the game,” he noted. “We have to be better in these situations.”