Evanston girls soccer coach Marx Succes had his choice of reasons the Wildkits were able to beat longtime rival New Trier 2-0 Thursday before 500 people at the Trevians’ West campus.
He could have pointed to Marisa Brown’s two assists, goalkeeper Louisa Bigelow, the goals by Stacy Omundson and Franny Iacuzzi or the team’s solid defense. In fact, he did. But one thought just wouldn’t go away.
“The key tonight was to keep our composure,” said Succes, whose team remained unbeaten at 16-0-2, 6-0 in the Central Suburban League. “We have played this team before and outpsyched ourselves because, `It’s New Trier.’
“We approached this game saying this is not our entire season–win, lose or draw. I don’t want to win this game and then not fulfill our goal.”
That goal is a state title. For now, Evanston will just have to be satisfied with its No. 1 ranking and unbeaten record.
Succes, who played for the Wildkits in the ’80s, is no stranger to one of the biggest high school athletic rivalries in the Chicago area.
So not only did Evanston keep that composure, Brown kept building up her statistics in her senior season. The team, Omundson said, spent all Wednesday working on corner kicks and set plays.
That paid off with 9 minutes 24 seconds left in the first half on Brown’s corner kick. Omundson came crashing in for a header and a 1-0 lead. Brown and Iacuzzi, the team’s leading scorer with 21 goals, copied that format for a goal midway in the second half on a free kick.
Brown, a senior midfielder, has 15 goals and 18 assists.
“They’re a good team and they took advantage of their opportunities,” said New Trier coach Jim Burnside, whose sixth-ranked Trevians fell to 14-3-2, 5-1-1.
Other than their goals, the Wildkits had only one other shot on goal.
Burnside also knew his team missed opportunities. Nell Compernolle had four solid chances to score in the first half. But Bigelow had seven saves for her 12th shutout.
