COLUMBIA, Ill. -- When New Trier junior Charlotte Dellin hit her header, she thought it was over the crossbar.

She was grateful she was wrong. Dellin’s header went into the top of the net for the goal that gave the Trevians a 3-2 victory over Columbia on a gray, cloudy Friday early afternoon.

“It’s just kind of what I do,” Dellin said about the shot. “Getting my head on the ball out of the corner has kind of been my specialty for three years. That’s just something I’ve always wanted to do … since I was eight years old. I’ll go for anything that comes my way.”

Junior Annie Paden hit the corner kick to the middle, and Dellin did the rest in the 68th minute.

“I just happened to get the last one,” Dellin said. “I didn’t think it was going to go in to be honest. I thought it was going over. I was falling back, I thought I was going to do a backflip. 

“When I saw it was in I thought ‘Thank God.’ I didn’t want a tie game. We didn’t want to leave here without a win.”

The game was moved up five hours to a noon start. The region faced a late afternoon and early evening severe storm warning with the threat of heavy rain, winds and hail.

New Trier, which is ranked seventh in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, improved to 4-0-1 with the victory in the start of its annual two-game swing to southern Illinois.

Class A Columbia, ranked sixth in the Chicagoland Soccer Illinois 10 poll, took its first loss and fell to 5-1-2.

Last year, the Eagles collected a 1-0 upset win over New Trier on April 1.

Trevians’ coach Jim Burnside said his team enjoys taking the five-plus-hour bus ride for the games. New Trier meets Belleville West on Saturday.

“I wish we were a little more composed,” Burnside said. “Coming out of spring break, we were not quite in synch yet. They took advantage of that. They are well coached and organized. Any time we paused, they were on us.” 

Columbia soccer coach Jamie Bridges thought his team could have played better too.

“We had good moments,” Bridges said. “Then we had moments where we mentally made some mistakes, and it cost us.”

New Trier grabbed a 1-0 lead just over 10 minutes into the match. Senior forward Nora Westol broke the ice with 30:48 left in the first half.

“Nora is a worker,” Burnside said. “She got in the game and really what she does is pester people. She’s got an engine that won’t stop. That puts them under pressure and any little mistake, she jumps on. That’s what she did scoring that goal.”

Soon afterward, Maddie Mauch provided an offensive spark for Columbia. She launched a good shot from about 20 yards but her kick sailed just over the crossbar. Mauch had a good attempt in the 25th minute, but New Trier keeper Caroline Hague made a scoop save to stop the threat.

“I was definitely getting a little frustrated there,” Mauch said. “You only get so many opportunities against a good team with a good defense. It’s not good.”

New Trier had a chance for a two-goal advantage. Westol hit a header that forced Columbia goalie Brooklyn Oestreich to make a diving save in the 26th minute.

Mauch finally beat junior keeper Hauge with 13:04 left in the first half. From the left side, she drilled a high kick that tied the game 1-1.

“Emily (Rose) played it out wide, and I was playing it hard,” Mauch said. “I got on the left wing, and I just knew I needed to get a shot off there. I couldn’t even believe it went in. It was definitely exciting.”

Bridges said Mauch, who scored her  12th goal, has been doing that all season.

“She’s a strong player,” Bridges said. “She was able to break through against the opposition. When she does that, she’s dangerous., From her left to the right, she can do it. It was a great finish on that ball.”

“That kid up-top for them is a dangerous player,” Burnside said about Mauch. “She’s pretty good. Scoring goals is scoring goals. I thought she played great.”

The Trevians went back to work and regained the lead.

Senior midfielder Lida Dodge fired a missile into the upper-left corner with 6:43 left in the half. The shot lifted over Oestreich’s outstretched arms for the go-ahead goal.

“She’s got a rocket of a shot, and she was open,” Burnside said of the returning Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater. “All she needs is a little bit of space, and she put it on frame. Any ball hit like that is hard to save. It was a great shot. That’s what she does.”

At intermission, Burnside told his girls they had to clean up a few things.

“I told them we needed to be more composed in the midfield,” Burnside said. “We needed better possessions and better transitions to defense. We put our backs under too much pressure when they counterattacked us.”

Bridges wanted “better positioning” among other things from Columbia in the second half. 

“We needed better composure,” Bridges said. “Sometimes we go back to old habits of just kicking and running and not possessing and communicating.”

The Eagles heeded their coach and tied the game at 2 when Jade Becker got in front of the net. She took a pass from Mauch and kept her shot along the ground on the left side to beat Hague.

“We played quickly there,” Bridges said. “When you play with urgency, you can score. The ball comes across, and Jade just finished it. It was a great goal.”

Mauch was optimistic after the goal.

“We had really good intensity,” she said. “It’s hard. That team battles hard, and we wanted to give them a good fight.”

With 12:09 to play, Paden sent a corner kick into the middle. Dellin’s header became the game-winner.

“Annie has great kicks,” Dellin said. “She can get the ball where we need it. It just happened to be me today.“

Bridges said a Columbia defensive breakdown led to the goal.

“Unfortunately, no marking,” he said. “The person you’re supposed to mark, gets open. Unfortunately, that’s the second time that’s happened, and it’s cost us. Before it cost us a tie, and this cost us a win or at least a tie. We’ll look at film.”

Holding a bag of ice on her side for a turf burn, Paden said she takes pride in kicking from the corner.

“I was there, so I took that corner kick,” Paden said. “It’s something I practice all the time. Right there with the game tied, I was just thinking ‘Don’t mess up.’ There was time left on the clock, and I wanted to give us an opportunity to score. Luckily Charlotte was there. It’s her thing to get head on the ball.”

Burnside agreed.

“She got a lot of grit on that one,” Burnside said. “She hit it and tried to get it on frame. If you hit it in the right spot, it’s going in; and this one did. A great kick from Annie. She hit it a little shorter, Charlotte was there and the rest is history.”

The two had combined to score off a corner kick as freshmen and sophomores. This was their first combined goal this season.

“It came at a good time,” Paden said. “It was a gritty game. I’m glad we came out of this with the win. Columbia has a lot of good players, speedy players. … Gritting it out and working it out to get this win feels good for us.”

Junior defender Clara Deliduka went down in a collision with 3:30 showing. She had her wrist bandaged after the game.

“I felt contact, and I fell,” Deliduka said. “It’s pretty bruised, but overall I feel okay. This was a hard-fought game. We played them last year, and it’s good competition. Both teams wanted the win. I think we just executed better this year.”

The Trevians managed the game the rest of the way to close out the victory.

“This win today was a team effort,” Dellin said. “Losing isn’t our forte. We like to win. Winning is what we strive for. Our roster is stacked. I’ve got a good feeling about this team for the rest of the season. The idea is to play late in May.”

Burnside praised the play of Hague.

“Our keeper played great today,” Burnside said. “She made big saves for us. Wins like the one over Columbia could help fuel a deep postseason run for New Trier.”

“This trip is a good bonding trip for us,” Deliduka said. “It’s at the end of our spring break. It’s a long bus ride, but we think it’s good. It’s super exciting to still be undefeated. We’re proud of where we are right now, but we know we’ve got to continue working hard going forward.”

Burnside is a fan of his team playing in southern Illinois.

“I love doing this,” Burnside said. “They’re (Columbia) a great team, and it’s a great trip. … We’re grateful today to the Columbia officials for moving this game up because we likely would not have gotten it in (at its original 5 p.m. start due to the weather).”

Bridges would like to continue playing New Trier.

“Any time you can play a 3A school that comes down here is something we can learn from and grow,” Bridges said. “Overall, 100 percent we’d like to continue. I appreciate them coming down. They have a good physical team.”
 
 

Starting lineups

New Trier
GK Caroline Hague
D: Kennedy Colegrove
D: Clara Deliduka
D: Honor Dold
D:  Olivia Wilson
MF: Annie Paden
MF: Lida Dodge
MF: Lauren Caldwell
MF: Sybil Evans
F:  Charlotte Dellin
F:  Josie Noble

Columbia
GK: Brooklyn Oestreich
D: Avery Ellner
D: Riley Matthews
D: Alex Maulding
D: Ava Schmidt
MF: Reese Woelfel
MF: Jade Becker
MF: Samatha Schmuke
MF: Taylor Martin
F:  Lindsey Glover
F: Maddie Mauch
 
Chicagoland MVPs of the Match: Charlotte Dellin, jr., MF, New Trier; Maddie Mauch, jr., F, Columbia

Officials: Jon Marx; Mike Mueller; Jay Stroup

 

Scoring summary
 

First half
New Trier: Westol (unassisted), 30:48
Columbia: Mauch (Rose), 13:04
New Trier: Dodge (unassisted),  6:53
 
Second half
Columbia: Becker (Mauch), 15:47
New Trier: Dellin (Paden), 12:09