Wildkits Boot Maine South In Regional Finals

The Redemption Tour --- otherwise known as the Illinois High School Association state tournament soccer series --- will continue next week in Evanston.

And the Wildkits don’t plan to be genial hosts.

Denied a chance to share the conference championship after tying Maine South 1-1 during the regular season, Evanston eliminated the Hawks from postseason play Saturday afternoon with a satisfying 5-3 conquest in the Class 3A Maine South Regional championship game.

Goals from 5 different players produced Evanston’s best effort in the past month --- just ask head coach Franz Calixte --- and powered the Kits into next week’s sectional tourney at ETHS.

Now the Wildkits can earn some more redemption, having lost to its next foe, arch-rival New Trier, by a 3-2 margin during the conference season. The two teams will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Lazier Field in the sectional semifinal.

Evanston won’t get a chance to avenge its other loss, however. Top sectional seed Oak Park-River Forest was knocked out by Notre Dame 1-0 via penalty kicks, so the Dons will be matched against Leyden in Tuesday’s other semifinal.

The title game is set for next Friday at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the St. Charles North Supersectional against the survivor from the West Chicago Sectional.

Flying to the ball, and winning more than their share of 50-50 opportunities, the Wildkits looked more like the team Saturday that Calixte thought could contend for a state title at the start of the season.

A couple of late season ties, and even the 2-0 blanking of Maine East in the regional tournament opener, seemed to stall Evanston’s momentum.

The Kits snatched it back Saturday behind goals from Cristiano Hamer, Pascal Calonges, Ben Roman, Joseph Sargent and Johnny Hunwick. Sargent was also credited with a couple of assists.

All 3 of South’s goals came in the second half, the last with just 9 seconds to play. Evanston improved to 17-2-3 overall on the year while South bowed out at 12-8-3.

“This really is a Redemption Tour,” Calixte explained, “because we lost the conference with that last minute goal we gave up, so our guys played with a chip on their shoulders today. Now we get to go back home, and whoever we play, they’ll know that we’re start to click on all cylinders again.

“It’s been awhile since we won a regional (actually only 2 years) and these boys were on a mission today. We had 5 different guys score today? That’s what it was like for us at the beginning of the year. We saw people (from opposing schools) scouting us here today and they have to ask who do we come out and try to stop? It’s a beautiful thing to have so many weapons like we do.

“They’re getting that belief (in themselves) back --- and playing playoff soccer now.”

Sargent, who also scored in the regional opener, has definitely made his mark in the first two postseason tests of his varsity career. He earned assists on Evanston’s first two goals with the initial shots on South keeper Alex Gallinger, who deflected his first try only to see Hamer knock in the rebound with less than 3 minutes elapsed.

Fifteen minutes later, Sargent drilled a shot from the left side that Gallinger muffed. It found the back of the net, close to an “own” goal but officially credited to Calonges for his slight touch at the finish.

Sargent also contributed the perfect reply to South’s first score of the game --- by Sebastian Bonifacy, on a long rebound shot that beat ETHS keeper Cade Likhite in the 50th minute --- when he headed home a rebound of his own shot just 3 minutes later.

“(Assistant) Coach Yael (Lara) talked to us a lot about how this could be our last game, so the energy was definitely there today,” Sargent said. “I was really nervous at the start, but once we scored we just kept building and building after that.

“All those different guys scoring? It feels good when there’s not one person who has to do all the work out there. Everyone helps each other out.”

“Sargent is such a free spirit out there,” grinned Calixte, “and when he turns it on, it’s really hard to stop him. That energy he brings is contagious for the other guys. They’re playing for each other, and they feed off each other.”

The Wildkits also received a boost as junior defender Lincoln Carbray came off the injured list for the first time since the first Maine South game and was rock solid on the back line. “Lincoln is so steady back there, he’s a calming presence for us,” praised Calixte. “I don’t think he skipped a step after being out for so long. He did a fantastic job.”