Sporting a pink mohawk and showing a willingness to both take on opposing defenders and shoot from distance, New Trier senior winger Ryan Krueger was the picture of confidence in the Trevians’ 3-2 loss to Evanston in the Class 3A New Trier Sectional semifinals.
When Krueger scored to level the game at 1-1 with less than 10 minutes gone in the first half on Oct. 25, it was the Wilmette resident’s seventh goal in three playoff games. He had previously recorded hat tricks in Glenbrook South Regional games against Notre Dame and Lane.
Krueger admits he plays with a bit of a swagger, but said this bravado stems from years of hard work.
“To be successful, you have to have confidence in yourself. But it comes from constantly training and perfecting your game,” said Krueger, who had the mohawk for the playoffs. “It’s not being cocky and then hoping you’re going to do it, it’s confidence because you’ve done it a million times before in training and you want to bring it to the games.”
The seven playoff goals brought Krueger’s season tally to 23. He added 10 assists for the Trevians (19-4). New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft had high praise for Krueger, a Colgate commit.
“(Krueger is) one of the best players in the state, and one of our best attacking players in the last decade, no question,” said Ravenscraft, who is in his second season as the head coach and has been a coach in the program since 2010.
Ravenscraft continued: “I love (Krueger’s) attitude. I love the confidence he brings onto the pitch. His teammates feed off of it. He’s a guy who everyone trusts. He backs his ability, and was able to put up some good numbers this year.”
Heading into the postseason, Krueger had gone four games without finding the back of the net. A scoring drought by his standards. But Ravenscraft said Krueger was still making his presence felt.
“(Even without scoring) he was still contributing in a significant way,” Ravenscraft said. “Ryan gives us the same quality every single game. Even if he’s not scoring or getting assists, he’s creating, getting on the ball, helping us build our attack. He’s so technically skilled, you knew it was just a matter of time.”
A three-year varsity player, Krueger finished his career with 32 goals and 15 assists.
Krueger said he worked hard this past offseason to improve his less-dominant right foot, and the results were positive. There was even one stretch during the 2017 campaign where Krueger said he scored four or five straight goals with his right.
“I really had to start developing my right foot because defenders were starting to catch on (to me always going with the left),” Krueger said. “I really hunkered down and trained to keep defenders guessing. I went out and hit balls, practiced moves that put me on my right foot and took shots with my right. When I played with friends, I focused on my right more than my left. I did this until (using the right) became second nature, where I didn’t have to think about it and knew I could trust it.”
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press