NORTHFIELD – At almost one month into the season, Glenbrook South continues to play at an elite level.

The Titans, who have seven starters back from last season, have thrust themselves into the category of “potential state champion” by playing upper echelon soccer and pushing themselves to be among the best in the state with each game.

They entered Tuesday a perfect 9-0-0.

But the Titans, ranked second in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, had a formidable foe standing in their way for win no. 10 Tuesday night – New Trier.

The ninth-ranked Trevians have been a threat in the Central Suburban League South Division for years and ended their state championship drought with the Class 3A state title last season. It was the first top finish since 2008.

Glenbrook South, according to coach Reggie Lara, had not beaten the Trevians since his first season at the Titans helm in 2017.

“This is my eighth year in charge, so the only other time my team has beat New Trier was my first year in a huge upset at our place,” Lara said. “New Trier is the standard. New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft has built a culture and a program; he has my upmost respect.

“I’ve done nothing other than try and chase after what’s he’s able to accomplish there in terms of creating an awesome program.”

Lara and the Titans exorcised some demons on Tuesday night at Robert Naughton Field.

Glenbrook South picked up a set-piece goal in the 59th minute to record a 1-0 victory in the Central Suburban League South Division battle. As the final seconds slowly ticked down, the Titans’ bench held itself back from running onto the field.

When the final buzzer sounded, the bench erupted and joined their teammates in the middle of the pitch.

Senior midfielder Chris Vazquez, a captain and one of the team’s corner kick specialists, pumped his fists at the 40-yard line to celebrate the victory over the defending 3A champions. T.J. Philips, who scored the winning goal via a header with 21:45 left in regulation, playfully pushed a few teammates in the chest to let out some emotions from past losses to the Trevians (5-2-2, 0-1-0).

Celebrations occurred everywhere on the field and were capped with a team picture for the Titans (10-0-0, 1-0-0).

Lara said he was proud his players toned down their post-game exultation, but he didn’t downplay the significance of the win in the conference opener for both teams.

“I’m happy for my guys, and this means a lot to us,” Lara said. “My boys wanted to celebrate, but I kind of paused them at the end. When we’re hungry and driven, good things happen. It was an awesome game.”

Indeed, it was. The 80-minute match between two high-level high school teams and conference rivals was crisp, fast, athletic and inspiring. The Titans showed off their aggressiveness, energy and communication, staying vocal and supporting each other very loudly during the match.

Vasquez said a throng of Titan students, sitting on the side where the team scored the winning goal, played a big factor in the road win.

“We were ready to play, because we knew New Trier is a great team,” Vazquez said. “It was our first conference game, so we knew we had to come out hard and with high energy -- not just in the beginning but also in the end. 

“It felt amazing when we finally scored. We felt relief after that goal. We had chances and chances, so when that went in, we felt so relieved. It was an amazing game with high competition. We stayed focused throughout the game and had high energy.”

Glenbrook South junior forward Jacob Ciszyk set up the winning goal with his corner kick that was perfectly placed. Ciczyk said he was thrilled to finally take down the Trevians.

“I’ve never beat them, so this feels amazing to beat them and also not be the underdog,” Ciszyk said. “We have big expectations for this team and have to keep going into our next game. We want it more.”

Glenbrook South junior midfielder Emil Cerimovic, who played for the Bosnian National team, said the victory lifted the team’s confidence for the rest of the season.

“This one is really special,” he said. “We have a lot of great captains on our team, and our defense is really strong. We want to keep this going. 

“The fans were really loud in the crowd and screaming really high and got the intensity really high for us. T.J. came in and got an easy tap-in header for him. We worked on our set pieces in training and are really strong on them now.”

New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft watched and applauded during Glenbrook South’s brief celebration. Ravenscraft said the loss to the Titans will help his team down the road.

“We’ve been looking forward to this game,” Ravenscraft said. “GBS has really set a fast pace to start the season. 

“We knew they were going to come in and test us. To be fair, the CSL South is always a battle. We’re used to teams coming in and giving their best. GBS played better tonight. I’m really proud of my team’s performance, but there are things we need to clean up. 

“We lost the set piece war tonight. We can’t concede a goal on a corner kick like we did. We will clean up stuff. I truly think our team took a major step tonight, but give credit to Glenbrook South.

“I think we don’t have time to feel sorry for us, because we play Glenbrook North on Thursday. We played them in the state semifinal last year. The CSL South has set a high standard in Illinois high school soccer. That means we have the privilege of playing in a lot of big games. 

“This is the meat of our season. We have to turn the dial and work on things and improve on things.”

The first half featured even play for both teams during a feeling-out process, similar to a heavyweight fight. But a sense of urgency kicked in during the second half. The final 40 minutes were filled with corner kicks, mainly for the Titans.

New Trier’s Noah Capocchi opened the second half by blasting a shot from 11 yards that just missed by a few inches. 

Glenbrook South had three chances to score in a four-minute segment, then the home team countered with a free kick and corner kick.

The Titans went on the offensive, just missing a goal off a corner kick that Paul Scherer headed over the bar in the 55th minute. Two minutes later, Scherer nearly scored again off a header on another set piece before Philips stole the shop.

Tall and strong, Philips, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, is turning into a set-piece master because of his physical attributes and soccer IQ. 

He slowly nudged forward in a crowd of people on the corner kick and headed home the ball with 21:50 on the clock. It was Philips’ third goal of the season, all on corner kicks.

“I did the same thing against Stevenson, and we saw Mt. Carmel do it (to us),” Philips said. “We packed the box and just had to get a good service in and stand on the keeper and move back. This win feels great. 

“Last year we played them at home, and they destroyed us. So, it feels good to beat them at their home. We have a lot of talent, and everyone works really hard and wanted the win.”

Ciszyk, who shares corner kick duties with Vazquez, said he saw an opening that he took advantage of for the winning goal by Philips.

“I knew I can trust myself with corner kicks to put it anywhere I want,” Ciszyk said. “We played a team before, Mt. Carmel, a very dangerous team. So, that helped. 

“We put everybody on the goalie, a ball right down to the middle that went straight to our centerback, and he hit it in. 

“T.J. is very strong. No one is going to stop us when the ball is in the air.”

New Trier’s all-state goalie Thomas Terry, who has five shutouts this season, played a great game and held back the hard-charging and talented Titans all game long. 

The senior said he was disappointed in the loss, but knows the season is just reaching the halfway point.

“They packed it in at the six which limits my movement a lot and restricts me off my line,” Terry said. “He (Philips) got up there and just won the battle. The game is all about winning individual battles in the entire 80 minutes. 

“That was a moment we have to grow from. I think they had a lot of corners in the game. Overall, we did very well on them, but just had little moments that hurt us. 

“Soccer is about the thin margins. Props to GBS. They came out with a great team and momentum and really took it to us. That’s a very classy program, but I’m really proud of this team for fighting so hard throughout the whole game.

“We were really pushing at the end for a goal. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter now, but it matters when we’re playing in a regional or sectional or hopefully beyond that. There’s a lot we can take from this game.”

The Trevians nearly knotted the game on a header by Cole Driscoll with 11 minutes left. Ryan Schneider also came up short on a header that sailed over the crossbar at the 10-minute mark.

Driscoll, who has one goal and three assists this season, said one mistake cost the Trevians.

“At the end of the day, it came down to one person clicking off and their defender getting a free shot at the net,” Driscoll said. “It was basically a 50/50 battle the whole time, but they executed. We have to get better at marking set pieces, but overall, I’m really happy how we battled against a great team.”

 
Starting lineups
 
Glenbrook South
GK: Michael Falk
D: Yianni Biscota
D: Dennis Alickolli
D: T.J. Philips
D: Paul Scherer
MF: Chase Owens
MF: Emil Cerimovic
MF: Chris Vasquez
F: Ronan Kessler
F: Jacob Ciszyk
F: Matheus Carvalho
 
New Trier
GK: Thomas Terry
D: Yannick Vaughan
D: Alex Kolanko
D: Nikhil Prasad
D: Linus Ho
MF: Patrick Shean
MF: Ryan Schneider
MF: Cole Driscoll
MF: Jack Hwang
F: Esteban Iacobelli
F: Noah Capocchi
 
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: T.J. Philips, jr., D, Glenbrook South

 
Scoring summary

First half
No scoring
 
Second half
GBS: Philips (Ciszyk), 59’