NORTHFIELD - Memories both fresh and well-preserved are playing a big role in Evanston’s road through the Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Tournament.

The Wildkits (8-0-1), ranked no. 6 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, used a pair of goals in the first 28 minutes of play to produce a 2-1 win over Lyons (8-1-1) in a semifinal match at New Trier’s auxiliary campus. The Lions sat atop the rankings for just over three days before suffering their first loss.

That result not only avenged Evanston’s lone multi-goal loss of 2023 (by a taxing 4-1 score to the Lions in the Deep Dish final last April 15), but now conjures up a more recent case of deja vu for the Wildkits.

They advance to face Naperville North (7-1-2) in the champion finals at 3 p.m. Saturday at New Trier, after playing the Huskies to a 1-1 tie just this week.

“We played them Monday,” Evanston star freshman Alex Merriam said of their Group B combatants. “We’re going to have to look at what we did, see what we need to work on and what worked, and just take it from there and see what happens when the game comes around.”

Evanston won the group via tiebreaker. Naperville North qualified as the wild card team via a different tiebreaker over Stevenson.

Teammate Mia Darer found reasons for confidence coming off that recent showdown.

“We know how they play, they know how we play,” Darer said. “But I think we were playing well the other day and just couldn’t capitalize on our chances. … I feel like it was all in their half in the second half. If we bring that energy, it’ll be great on Saturday.”

Ironically, considering her school’s huge rivalry with New Trier, Darer even found another reason for optimism.

“We call this our second home field at New Trier,” she said. “I think it’s actually great that we just played them (Naperville North) and can hopefully take that to our advantage.”

Evanston nicely took advantage of its chances early against Lyons on Thursday to surge ahead.

After repelling a Lions corner kick in the seventh minute, Evanston grabbed a 1-0 lead just 45 seconds later when Syd Ross powered home a Merriam cross with 32:05 left in the first half.

“A nice cross from Alex and then Syd finished,” Evanston coach Stacy Salgado said. “I think we were connecting well. We talked about how narrow the field was (playing on the field adjacent to the main stadium), and how important playing to feet was in this space. We came out and did that early.”

Airline delays can usually be a major headache, but proved a blessing in Evanston’s case Thursday.

“Syd’s (departure) flight was delayed or she wasn’t even going to be here,” Salgado said. “We kind of lucked out having her here. And she ended up staying for the whole game, but she left right away (afterward).”

Evanston’s offense continued to take flight in the 14th minute. It forced a nice diving save by Lyons goalkeeper Anna Bigenwald that denied a 20-yard low line-drive shot by Merriam off a Bridget Durkin pass.

After enduring two-consecutive corner kicks by Lyons’ Josie Pochocki in the 21st minute, followed by a Catie Brejcha shot wide left in the 22nd minute, Evanston responded to the rising challenge.

Bigenwald made saves on a Merriam 25-yard shot off a Sydney Johnson throw-in (26th minute) and went above the crowd to snare a Kelly Maizlyn 30-yard free kick one minute later.

But 12:40 before halftime, another quality Merriam shot from the right side resulted in a deflection off a defender that changed the shot’s direction and put the Wildkits up 2-0.

With Bigenwald diving toward the left post to repel the shot’s initial path, the carom deflected the ball inside the near post.

“I think the team moved the ball around well,” MVP of the Match Merriam said. “We built up the play. Instead of rushing things and forcing it in, we tried to see how the play was developing and then who would be open to take that shot. It just came to me, and I was
open.”

Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary praised the effort rather than dwell on the unusual carom.

“You have to give them credit,” Lanspeary said. “They had a lot of pressure on us at that stage of the game. When you have that kind of pressure, things like that (a redirected goal) might happen.”

But if the weird bounce and 2-0 deficit rattled the Lions, they recovered nicely.

After dueling free kick chances by Caroline McKenna (28-yarder saved by Evanston’s Shea Lucas) and Merriam (25-yarder over the net) in the next six minutes, Lyons scored 4:46 before halftime to make the score 2-1.

Peyton Israel’s powerful clear up the right sideline sprung Caroline Mortonson on the 1-v-1 race with an Evanston defender. Mortonson won the dash to the ball, then eluded Lucas (off her line in pursuit of the send) to power a shot into the open net.

“Peyton had a few people on her back so she kicked it down the line,” Mortonson said. “The defender was trying to shield it off, and I stepped in front of her when she was doing that (and won the ball).”

A perennial state contender used to answering challenges from top teams, Lyons knew the task at hand with a multi-goal late-half deficit.

“I just feel it’s harder to score goals in the second half,” Mortonson said. “So we had to put all our effort in at the end of the first half, to at least get one back and then try to finish it at the end of the game.”

Mortonson’s assessment of second half scoring difficulty proved precise. Although it wasn’t from lack of effort or threats by the Lions.

“That goal was a nice play by Peyton,” Lanspeary said, “getting Mortonson the ball. Then she had a nice finish on that.

“It kind of gave us a little momentum before halftime, and I thought after that we kind of settled in and started playing pretty well.”

Evanston did close the first half with a threat, a Maizlyn 47-yard free kick send 25 seconds before halftime that led to two shots in the box.

Then early in the second half, a long Jocelyn Leigh run up the middle was denied by a nice sliding breakup and clear by McKenna. Second half Lyons keeper Nora Ezike then reached high to grab a Merriam corner kick send to the box with 21 minutes left.

But as the second half rolled on, Lyons also began to roll.

“We were connecting well at the beginning, and then I think our tired legs set in,” Salgado said. “Toward the end we fatigued, but we’re all fatigued here (as teams), playing a lot of games and good teams.

“I think we were a little slow, and maybe reacted a little more than we normally do. But we have key players like Mia (Darer) and Maddie Ball who read the ball really well so they were able to intercept passes.”

Darer noted other keys to withstanding the late Lyons push.

“When their players were pressuring us, it was just talking to each other and making sure we were communicating,” Darer said. “A lot of times we played it up to Jos (Jocelyn Leigh) at the top, or playing to the wings was working, because Jos is a player who can turn when her back is to the goal.

“So it was just using our advantages like Jos and working with our forwards to get it up there, and also working with Sydney through the middle and playing it to our attacking mids. Switching the field was working a lot.”

Lyons persisted. A Zibby Michaelson corner kick send with 10:25 left was headed away by Ross.

Then Michaelson nicely won a ball 30 yards out but sent a shot wide right with 9:15 to go. Mortonson and Pochocki combined for rush at 7:55 that ended with a fall near the box but no foul call.

“Our backs did a nice job especially in that second half of limiting their chances,” Lanspeary said, “and I thought we were really pressing in the last 15-20 minutes there. I thought we had some good looks but just couldn’t get that second one in.”

The Lions chances intensified in the very last minutes, when Leahla Frazier’s 28-yarder off a Pochocki pass went wide with 3:20 left.

A nice Darer shot block on a Mortonson try in the box with 2:15 remaining denied an even-higher quality threat. Twenty seconds later Lucas made the catch save on a Jillian Herchenroether 18-yard shot.

The final 25 seconds were no less frenetic. After Damilola Adeniyi cleared the ball to midfield, a final Lyons blitz produced a foul. McKenna’s 40-yard free kick with 10 seconds left saw Lucas charged off her line to grab the over two Lions players to seal a return trip to the pizza final.

“I think definitely playing this team last year and finishing down 1-4 it was motivation,” Darer said. “This time we knew we just had to play to feet, especially on a skinnier field too.

“It was really working for us when we played feet, spreading it out wide and then through the middle. This (Lyons) team is strong in the air . We wanted to make sure we were getting the first ball and second ball, staying strong and holding our ground.

“Every single player has really stepped up this year,” Darer added. “We lost a lot of seniors last year, and everybody has their role. Everybody is bringing something new to the team
this year.”

The speed and scoring ability of Merriam has been one nice new element.

“The team has built up the plays to help me make those runs and to receive those balls,” she said. “The team has been playing them really well, and it’s allowed me to do my job to finish.”

While Merriam earned MVP honors, there were too many strong Evanston contributors to count.

“Truthfully we had a lot of big moments from different players,” Salgado said. “I wouldn’t say it was one player who stood out to me. Obviously getting those two goals, but we had some key defensive plays as well. So not really anyone in particular, just overall a really
good team effort.”

Lanspeary saw a similar variety of key contributors responsible for his team’s unbeaten record entering Thursday.

“Tons of kids,” he said. “Our backline with McKenna and Brennan (Israel), Jillian (Herchenroether) and Abby Brown have been playing really well. Leahla Frazier’s had a great tournament. I could keep going and going. (Izzy) Wirtz and Pochocki in the middle work so hard, win a lot of things and set things up for us, and Zibby had a nice
tournament with a couple of goals. We get contributions from a lot of places, and I think that’s what makes us good.”

Accustomed to late May success, Lyons has good reason for similar hopes this spring.

“We see here that we’re up there with the top teams around,” Lanspeary said. “We can play with them. We’ve learned. We gave up goals in this tournament that we hadn’t given up before, so it’s kind of nice to see us respond really well to that.

“It’s just knowing the pressure you’re under in these tight games. I think that’s good experience for us going forward.”

Mortonson echoed that optimism.

“I think it’s mainly the people on the team," she said of the Lions' success. "Everyone plays for each other and works for each other. Our connection has been really good off the field, which I feel is brought onto the field too."

One close loss won't change that,

“I feel like we have to focus on our response to this, and work hard to not let in early goals in our future games,” Mortonson said. “Monday we have a conference game (vs. Downers Grove North) that really matters, and we want to come back strong.”

Evanston has its sights set on Saturday, and a chance to add a new high point to a great early season.

“The first half (Monday vs. Naperville North) was a little bit more back and forth,” Salgado said, “and the second half I thought we kind of controlled most of the game vs. Naperville.

“But they’re a strong well-coached team so it’s going to be tough. And seeing them again we’re going to have to make a few adjustments, and I’m sure they’ll do the same.”

Starting lineups

Lyons
GK: Anna Bigenwald
D: Jillian Herchenroether
D: Caroline McKenna
D: Brennan Israel
D: Abby Brown
M: Izzi Wirtz
M: Leahla Frazier
M: Josie Pochocki
M: Peyton Israel
F Caroline Mortonson
F: Zibby Michaelson

Evanston
GK: Shea Lucas
D: Kelly Maizlyn
D: Damilola Adeniyi
D: Maddie Varela
D: Maddie Ball
M: Sydney Johnson
M: Alexandria Merriam
M: Mia Darer
F: Syd Ross
F: Jocelyn Leigh
F: Bridget Durkin

Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Alex Merriam, fr., MF, Evanston

 Scoring

First half
E: Syd Ross (Alex Merriam), 8’
E: Merriam (unassisted), 28’
L: Caroline Mortonson (Peyton Israel), 36’

Second half
No scoring