Last Friday, in New Trier’s final event played on grass at the Northfield stadium, the girl’s soccer team routed Maine West 4-0 to win the Class 3A regional finals.

The girls soundly defeated Steinmetz 9-0 in their regional semifinal the Tuesday before. They took the field Friday hoping for similar results.  The Trevs opened up an early lead in the 7th minute after senior Lauren Shellenback netted one off a corner. Jess Weaver, a transferred junior from Pennsylvania who is DePaul-bound, made it 2-0 with a coolly placed shot in the left corner 14 minutes later. Sophomore Maddie Mulford started the second half with a header goal off another corner, and Jess Weaver put in the fourth with a corner kick batted into Maine West’s own goal by their goalie.

New Trier dominated the game. They held a 16 to 2 shot ratio, as Maine West’s only strategy was to play directly over the top of the Trevs backline and sprint after the ball. New Trier, on the other hand, calmly possessed and took care of business. Minus a few sloppy touches and a penalty kick opportunity, it was all New Trier.

“It was strange,” said head coach Jim Burnside regarding Maine West’s penalty chance. “It signified nothing, yet it signified everything.” With a 4-0 lead and 12 minutes left in the game Maine West wasn’t about to make a comeback, but the team wanted to finish the grass field’s legacy with a shutout victory.

Backup goalie Leah Roche had just been substituted into the game minutes earlier, but she held her own. She anticipatorily dove to the left side of the goal, blocking the shot as the packed stadium roared in cheer.

After asking senior captain Aly Marzonie what needed to be done to get the win against Lane Tech, she responded, “It won’t be different than any other game we’ve played. Every team wants to beat New Trier. If we just play our game we’ll pull out a victory.”

If that were to occur, the Trevs would probably take on longstanding rival Loyola Academy this Friday, May 25th at Niles North at 7pm. The Ramblers, ranked first in state and 3rd nationally by ESPNHS Fab50, knocked them out of playoffs last season and gave them a 2-0 loss this season in the Pepsi Showdown. Ranked sixth statewide, New Trier’s last win against Loyola came in the 2010 sectional finals.

Last Friday, in New Trier’s final event played on grass at the Northfield stadium, the girl’s soccer team routed Maine West 4-0 to win the Class 3A regional finals.

The girls soundly defeated Steinmetz 9-0 in their regional semifinal the Tuesday before. They took the field Friday hoping for similar results.  The Trevs opened up an early lead in the 7th minute after senior Lauren Shellenback netted one off a corner. Jess Weaver, a transferred junior from Pennsylvania who is DePaul-bound, made it 2-0 with a coolly placed shot in the left corner 14 minutes later. Sophomore Maddie Mulford started the second half with a header goal off another corner, and Jess Weaver put in the fourth with a corner kick batted into Maine West’s own goal by their goalie.

New Trier dominated the game. They held a 16 to 2 shot ratio, as Maine West’s only strategy was to play directly over the top of the Trevs backline and sprint after the ball. New Trier, on the other hand, calmly possessed and took care of business. Minus a few sloppy touches and a penalty kick opportunity, it was all New Trier.

“It was strange,” said head coach Jim Burnside regarding Maine West’s penalty chance. “It signified nothing, yet it signified everything.” With a 4-0 lead and 12 minutes left in the game Maine West wasn’t about to make a comeback, but the team wanted to finish the grass field’s legacy with a shutout victory.

Backup goalie Leah Roche had just been substituted into the game minutes earlier, but she held her own. She anticipatorily dove to the left side of the goal, blocking the shot as the packed stadium roared in cheer.

After asking senior captain Aly Marzonie what needed to be done to get the win against Lane Tech, she responded, “It won’t be different than any other game we’ve played. Every team wants to beat New Trier. If we just play our game we’ll pull out a victory.”

If that were to occur, the Trevs would probably take on longstanding rival Loyola Academy this Friday, May 25th at Niles North at 7pm. The Ramblers, ranked first in state and 3rd nationally by ESPNHS Fab50, knocked them out of playoffs last season and gave them a 2-0 loss this season in the Pepsi Showdown. Ranked sixth statewide, New Trier’s last win against Loyola came in the 2010 sectional finals.

Junior Maddy McGinnis said, “We know how they play. A lot of them are our club teammates.”

The loss to Loyola in the regular season was one of only three games that marred an otherwise perfect season. New Trier finished as CSL South champions with a 15-3-1 record. Their only other losses came to Naperville Central and Fremd.

“I’m conflicted about our regular season performance,” said junior Jessie Berman. “It was nice to win the conference, but we didn’t always play our best soccer. One game we’d play phenomenally, the next we’d take a few steps backwards. I’m just hoping that sort of inconsistency doesn’t plague our post-season.”

Burnside balances three freshman, five sophomores, seven juniors, and only five seniors. One of the seniors, Allie Farina, wasn’t even added until midseason.

Marzonie commented, “It gives anybody a chance to step up. Essentially, everyone has a leadership role on our team. We’re so tightly knit I have no problem having one of the sophomores pushing me in the game if I’m slacking a little.”

A handful of players on the squad also received honors from the Chicago Sun Times; sophomores Sarah Connors and Mulford plus juniors Nora Mabie, Berman, and Weaver were named all-conference. Rachel Shellenback got all-section and defender Marzonie recieved all-state.

Berman said, “It was an honor to be recognized for our individual performances, but winning state is still our top priority. Everyone’s focused on beating Lane Tech and moving forward. We just have to go one game at a time.”