Boys Soccer Wins Regional Championship, Falls to New Trier in Sectionals

By Paul Harris-Hertel

The coaching staff of Evanston Township High School’s boys soccer team described this regular season as up-and-down. The team’s playoff performance could be characterized the same way. After winning regional games at home against Senn and Niles West, the Kits lost in the semifinals of the New Trier sectionals on Oct. 24, succumbing to the host team.

Evanston won by a 5-0 score in the regional semifinals against Senn on Oct.17. The Wildkits kept the pressure on Senn for most of the first half, as the Bulldogs rarely got the ball out of their half of the field. Evanston striker Chris Henrichs started the scoring, finding the back of the net in just the second minute. Striker Marco Corona added a goal in the 15th minute, and striker Peter Zerbe’s shot went just over the outstretched hands of Bulldogs goalkeeper Ivan Valentin five minutes later to give the Kits a 3-0 halftime advantage.

Evanston added two insurance goals in the second half. Corona tallied his second goal in the 41st minute and midfielder Jovenel D’Haiti capped the scoring in the 47th minute, beating Valentin right in front of the goal.

Assistant coach Andy Mynard said he was happy with the team’s effort, although he acknowledged there was room for improvement.

"We played a little sluggish because of [the muddy] field conditions," Mynard said. "We can definitely play faster.

"But this kind of game, we look to get as many players on the field as possible, because this is a game we should win soundly," Mynard continued. "The first round of the playoffs, you just want to get through and get through healthy."

In the regional final on Oct. 20, the Kits scored two first-half goals, then held off Niles West in the second half for a 2-1 victory. The win was payback for the 3-2 regular-season loss Evanston suffered at the hands of the Wolves. Head coach Franz Calixte said it helped that the Wildkits fielded their full squad in the rematch.

"We were healthy today," said Calixte. "[Defenders David] Pelsoci and [Nat] Keller were hurt the last time we played these guys.

"They [West] have a good team," Calixte added. "They’ve got good coaching and they won conference last year. But like I’ve been saying all year, [our] guys can play. If our guys show up, not too many teams can play with them."

As he did in the first game, Henrichs gave the Kits an early lead. His header in the fifth minute on a cross from Corona got just inside the right post. Defender Thomas Kauffman then beat West goalie Kevin Stone on a penalty kick in the 21st minute with what would prove to be the winning goal.

In the second half, the Wolves’ Ionut Ciocan cut Evanston’s lead in half when he scored on a header in the 70th minute. But West let a chance to tie the score slip away three minutes later. Evanston goalkeeper Brian Schlesinger deflected a shot in front of the net and the home crowd held its collective breath as the rebound went over the crossbar. Schlesinger came up with another key save in the final minute to secure the win for the Wildkits.

The blowout in the season-ending loss to New Trier was something of a surprise considering Evanston had played the Trevians tough in a 2-1 loss during the regular season. But to Calixte, the Wildkits were in trouble once New Trier got the lead.

"I don’t know if we had the confidence to come back if we fell behind against New Trier again," Calixte explained. "We were pretty even for the first 15 minutes. We had a couple chances and they had a couple chances, but they converted on their opportunities. They scored the most beautiful goal I’ve ever seen to go up 3-0 before halftime."

The Wildkits ended their season with a 10-12-2 record. Eleven players from this year’s team will graduate, and the program will be feeling the effects of those losses for the next couple of years, according to Calixte.

"We’ve got a good freshman class," said the coach. "But the next two years, we’ll be rebuilding."

Wildkits Football Falls Short of Playoffs

The ETHS kickoff team races downfield in last weekend’s game against Maine South.

By Paul Harris-Hertel

The Evanston Township High School football team’s 56-21 loss to Maine South two Saturdays ago gave the Wildkits a 4-5 overall record (2-3 in the CSL South) and left them out of the playoffs for the third year in a row.

Maine South scored early and often in a win that gave them a perfect 5-0 conference record.

The Hawks led 23-0 after one quarter, and the Kits didn’t get on the board until nearly a minute had gone by in the second quarter, when Kendale Farlow caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Roveda.

The subsequent two-point conversion cut South’s lead to 15. That was as close as Evanston would get.

"They were the best team we faced all year, unequivocally," Wildkits head coach Tony Johnson said of the Hawks.

South running back David Chao scored the first of his five touchdowns three minutes into the game.

Evanston lined up to punt on the following possession, but instead tried to throw for the first down.

When the pass fell incomplete, the Hawks took over at the Evanston 24 and Chao scored two plays later from 11 yards out.

"We’d seen on tape they rushed everyone [on punt attempts] inside the 30, so we took a chance," Johnson said, explaining why he called for the fake punt. "We tried to get the ball to [Sam Alden]. It just didn’t work."

Behind 36-8 just before halftime, Roveda hit Michael Bolden with a 64-yard touchdown pass to make it 36-14.

It looked like that would be the halftime score after Wildkit defenders John Tinkham and Nickcaro Golding sacked South quarterback Jimmy Coy, forcing the Hawks to punt.

But a three-and-out by the Evanston offense and a bad snap on the punt attempt ended up giving the ball to the Hawks at the Wildkit 22.

South took advantage of the golden opportunity when Coy connected with Anthony Borsellino on a 17-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the first half.

With a running clock after the Hawks scored two early third-quarter touchdowns, Evanston put together one last scoring drive.

A pass interference penalty against the Hawks on a fourth down play gave the Wildkits the ball at the South 45.

Farlow then scored his second touchdown of the game on a 45-yard dash.

Johnson felt a few missed opportunities earlier in the year, not the loss in the season finale, kept the Kits from reaching the playoffs.

"We didn’t capitalize during the Hinsdale Central and Deerfield games (both losses)," said Johnson. "And then we had the GBS game where we turned it over three straight times and they scored three touchdowns."

Although his team will lose a good deal of talent to graduation, Johnson is looking forward to next season.

The coach said the returning players’ off-season work would determine how much next year’s success.

"We’ve got a good group of kids returning, but we need to get in the weight room and get stronger," he said.