Wildkits Capture CSL South Soccer Crown

Evanston’s soccer team checked a lot of boxes with a 1-0 victory over New Trier Tuesday night in Northfield.

Coach Franz Calixte’s squad accomplished the following against their rivals to the north.

*Captured the Central Suburban League South division championship.

*Bounced back from their only loss of the 2024 season in a tournament last Saturday in Iowa.

*Avenged two losses to the Trevians last season.

*Reclaimed the fire hydrant trophy that annually goes to the winner of the head-to-head matchup between the two rivals.

*Pulled even with New Trier in the all-time standings in boys soccer. Both schools have posted 45 victories apiece, with 22 games ending in ties.

*Likely secured the No. 1 seed for the sectional tournament when the coaches’ voting is completed at the end of this week.

And, most important, guaranteed Calixte the right to add a T-shirt declaring the Kits “conference champions” to his wardrobe.

The Wildkits rode the golden --- if sprained --- toe of senior George Lewis to victory. Lewis was originally credited with the game-winning goal until teammate Cristiano Hamer explained that Lewis’ crossing pass actually skimmed off the top of his head and past New Trier goalkeeper Thomas Terry in the 30th minute.

That was all the offense they needed. An inspired defensive performance from players like Lewis, Max Gentry, Kingston Scrim, Denis Jean-Pierre, Finn Lennon and goalie Charlie Dillman lifted the Wildkits to 13-1-2 on the season while the Trevians fell to 9-3-2.

Evanston earned the outright league title when Glenbrook North edged Glenbrook South 2-1 in another Tuesday showdown. ETHS and GBS played to a 1-1 tie when the two powers met last week, but nothing could prevent the Wildkits from rising to the top of the toughest conference in the state of Illinois.

“We haven’t always gone all-in to win the conference every year, but this year it was one of our goals,” said a jubilant Calixte. “We were in it to win it. We really wanted this. It was a great game, we played with great effort and great discipline. Everyone did their job tonight. I thought our defense was fantastic.

“New Trier came out really hungry at first, but we played ourselves into the game and got comfortable after that. This is a senior heavy team and tonight they did what they’ve been doing all season. We kept our composure and stayed the course.”

Calixte and his staff had to maneuver the Kits through a difficult stretch in the schedule as they played four games in seven days. Included that stretch was an appearance in the Great River Shootout in Bettendorf, Iowa, where they blanked Waukesha West of Wisconsin 2-0 on Friday, but dropped a 2-0 decision to unbeaten Gonzaga from Washington, D.C. on Saturday.

Calixte stuck to his plan to use mostly reserve players in the second half of that Saturday game, which was tied 0-0 at halftime, in an effort to keep starters with minor injuries healthy enough to count on in the postseason, and to prevent further injuries.

One of those walking wounded is Lewis. Somehow the Kits won 3 of the 4 games they played without their co-captain, who suffered a toe injury at a tournament game in Wisconsin but came through when the Wildkits needed him most on Tuesday night.

Lewis had to settle for recording his 6th assist of the season --- not his 2nd goal --- on what turned out to be the championship clinching play.

“I really think that goal should be mine, not Tino’s,” he laughed. “The ball came out to me after a corner, and I crossed it in just hoping somebody would be able to flick it in.

“My toe didn’t hurt after that one. It did bug me a little in the second half, so that’s why I took 10 minutes off. It’s always special when we beat New Trier. We knew this would be a defensive game, and after we got that goal, we were able to pack it in a little more. I thought we did a good job of not letting up after we scored.”

“That shot skimmed right off my hair,” Hamer insisted. “And then it went back to the right. I was very surprised that it went in.

“I said last week that it would be a blessing to win the conference my senior year --- and we did it! We finished undefeated in conference play and we’re (still) unbeaten in Illinois. I really hope this is our year.”

New Trier just missed the equalizer goal early in the second half when Esteban Iacobelli drove a hard shot toward the goal that a leaping Dillman likely wouldn’t have gotten to. Instead, the ball banged off the crossbar and the shutout was still intact.

The losers couldn’t convert on a half dozen restarts in the second half and Dillman’s only other difficult chance to handle came when he stopped a Ryan Schneider attempt from the right side in the 72nd minute.