It was early in the second half of the PepsiCo Showdown final between the Loyola and New Trier girls soccer teams when the Ramblers earned a corner kick.
Loyola senior Lauren Chrisman jogged over to take the kick as most of the Ramblers and Trevians got into position inside, and just outside, of the box. It was an opportunity for Loyola to break through in a scoreless game on Sunday, April 24, and extract a bit of revenge. New Trier ended Loyola’s 2014 and 2015 seasons in the Class 3A sectional finals due, in part, to its ability to generate goals off of restarts.
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Chrisman, a right-footed center back, was in position to take the corner kick when Loyola coach Craig Snower appeared to change his mind. From the sideline, he called for senior forward KK Phelan to take the corner instead. Chrisman ran back onto the field, but seemingly unbeknownst to all 11 Trevians, she had barely nudged the ball into play.
The ball sat there until Phelan ran over to it. All of a sudden, she started dribbling toward the goal. The trick play didn’t work, however. New Trier, which won 1-0 to capture its third straight PepsiCo Showdown title, realized what was happening and the ball Phelan hit went over the end line and struck the side netting of the goal.
When it did, Snower took a few steps down the sideline toward New Trier’s bench and playfully yelled, “You’re the restart king! We gotta have something!” in the direction of Trevians coach Jim Burnside.
The king retained its crown.
New Trier (12-1-1) scored the lone goal of the match, which took place at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, with 11:42 remaining in the second half. It came on a restart.
Senior midfielder Celia Frei took the initial corner kick, but nothing came of it. However, the ball wasn’t cleared completely and it popped out to senior outside back Katie Sadera, who was all alone outside of the box.
Sadera drew the defense briefly, then sent a pass to defensive midfielder Avery Schuldt on the flank. The junior sent a cross back in. It flew right to sophomore center back Sydney Parker, who was positioned in the middle of the box.
“I knew that when I had (the opportunity), I had to put it in,” Parker said. “That was my first extinct.”
Parker struck the ball solidly and placed it perfectly. She elevated it up and over Loyola sophomore goalie Maggie Avery, but not too high. It went just underneath the crossbar and into the net.
There’s “nothing better than that, especially because it was the game-winning goal,” Parker said.
Schuldt, who worked well with Parker and the entire New Trier defense to stop Loyola’s powerful attack, added that the Trevians try to find Parker in the box almost every time.
“She’s a powerhouse,” Schuldt said. “She’s got speed. She’s tall. She can jump. She’s just super powerful in the air.”
Parker is one of the primary targets for a New Trier team that had to replace 2015 graduates Maggie Armstrong and Jackie Welch, its top aerial threats a season ago. In addition, the Trevians were without senior forward Kelly Maday (left ankle sprain) and her immensely dangerous corner kicks against Loyola (13-2-2).
Even with changes in personnel, New Trier’s philosophy and formula for success on set pieces has remained consistent.
“(The mentality) is put the kids in the right spots, where they’re going to be successful, and then run it the way we know how to run it,” Burnside said. “(Restarts are) one of the few things that everybody on our team knows what we’re going to do. You run it right, you’re going to create some chances. And then we talk about, ‘You’ve just got to sell out in the box. Put your body on the line and get the ball over the end line — hopefully between the posts.’ “
Eric Van Dril is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @VanDrilSports