The good news for the Evanston girls soccer team Wednesday night was that the Wildkits didn’t allow New Trier a single goal — and hardly any shots on goal — even though the Trevians attempted a whopping 9 corner kicks.
The bad news? The Kits still fell out of contention for the Central Suburban League South division championship with a 2-0 loss to their long-time rivals, who have dominated the series since Evanston’s state title run back in 2002.
Two goals by standout Emma Weaver, one in each half, powered New Trier (14-2-5) and kept the Trevs tied with Glenbrook South atop the league standings. Evanston fell to 10-5-1 overall, 2-2 in CSL South play, after failing to generate any offense in the loss at Lazier Field.
Statistics showed the Wildkits with ZERO shots on goal over 80 minutes. Their only real opportunity to score came in the 69th minute, when Keara Kerr delivered a long pass that sophomore reserve Josie Hansen couldn’t quite chase down before the ball crossed the end line and went out of bounds.
Add one corner kick — with no shot on goal as a result — and that sums up the Evanston attack in a game that was postponed from Tuesday night due to inclement weather.
With three games remaining before postseason play begins, ETHS head coach Stacy Salgado knows the Kits need to jump-start their attack if they want to do any damage in the regional and sectional tournaments. Evanston will host its own Class 3A regional tournament and is seeded third, behind New Trier and Glenbrook South, in the New Trier Sectional complex.
“It’s good that we held our ground on all those corners, but it’s bad that we gave them that many,” said Salgado. “And I thought the (time of) possession was pretty even, too. We didn’t take any shots. We weren’t dangerous, not at all, and we’ve seen that happening in practice, too. They know what to do, it’s just a matter of executing it during games.
“It’s just a matter of confidence, and I know that will come. They need to have more confidence in themselves, and they need to have more confidence in their teammates. I know they’ve got a lot of outside stuff going on, with final exams next week, and this is still a young team. But there are no excuses. It’s hard to stay switched on all the time, but you have to find a way to dig down deep and take care of your jobs.
“We have three more games left in the regular season and we need to find our rhythm. We have to take what we’ve learned and piece it together.”