Laser, New Trier stay ahead of Benet
Something had to give when group play began Thursday night at Barrington Community Stadium as a pair of unbeaten girls soccer teams met.
And on the strength of a first-half double from Natalie Laser, it was New Trier (13-0-0) whose record stayed clean after defeating Benet 2-0 in a Naperville Invite opener for both clubs.
The Trevians, who lost to Waubonsie Valley last year in the finals of this high-profile tournament before going 11-0 to close out the season with a Class 3A state championship, started brightly against the Redwings (11-1-1). New Trier senior midfielder Adena Kerzner looked sharp as she ran the show with great pace during the first 40 minutes.
"We attacked very well in that first half - connecting passes while playing quick and creating some quality chances throughout the first 40 minutes," said New Trier coach Jim Burnside, whose team will play for its second consecutive PepsiCo Showdown crown on Sunday at DePaul University. "Unfortunately, we let down in the second half and didn't continue to play with the same energy as we did earlier, but some of that had to do with the way Benet came at us after the break."
Trouble arrived for the Redwings almost immediately after the opening whistle when some confusion in their own end allowed Laser to slot past keeper Emma Hlavin from in close during a scrum inside the 6-yard box.
"It might have been a case of butterflies by our defense at the start, and to give up a goal that early against a team like New Trier is not the way to begin your night," said Benet coach Bob Gros.
New Trier continued to be the more aggressive team after Laser's fifth-minute goal as the Trevians poured forward with Kerzner and her mates leading the charge. New Trier all-state forward Kelly Maday was dangerous with nearly every touch in the Redwings' end.
Hlavin, who was brilliant all evening, had little chance to turn away Laser's second goal to double the Trevs' advantage at 19 minutes, but the senior made her presence known when she turned away Maday's point-blank strike moments later.
"That second goal from No 12 (Laser) was a world-class goal - nothing you could do about that one," said Gros. "But Emma had a great night for us to help keep us in the game."
Despite chasing 2 goals, the Redwings showed their mettle by coming back after intermission to play a nice, free-flowing, determined brand of soccer.
Much of this turnaround had to do with a much higher work rate from the Benet midfield, which won most of the 50-50 challenges, while taking away space from Kerzner and her teammates as with freshmen Ellie Bumpus and sophomore Betsy Keefe made the difference in the middle of the park.
With those two and Jacquie Kaufman giving the Trevians fits, most of the play in the second half could be found in the New Trier end.
Kaufman set up Bumpus, but an alert Dani Kaufman, New Trier's fine keeper, came off her line quickly to stop any potential danger. Kaufman, a senior, was at her best four minutes later with a fearless save on a wicked blast from Katie Gesior.
"I am disappointed with the loss, but not with the effort, and the way we played against the No. 1 team," said Gros. "Jim (Burnside) told me afterward that he thought we outplayed them in the second half, and I am obviously very proud of the girls for that. We showed a lot by coming back and playing a strong 40 minutes after a tough first half, and that's a good thing for us to take with us from this game."
Benet will continue tournament play Friday against Class 2A power Rockford Boylan at 7 p.m.