Girls focus on state
By Zoe Gutterman

  The varsity girls soccer team has encountered a fair share of problems this year including the loss of many leading seniors who are now freshmen in college. Now the team has been hit with a series of injuries from some of their best players, but they still claim they have to excuse defending last year’s first place title at state.
  The girls just wrapped up the regular season last week with two wins and a loss. Last Monday the 7th, they played Lake Forest and won 2-0. Their next game was Wednesday against Niles West where they dominated with a final score of 4-1.
  Last Friday they lost to Fremd 0-1. They aren’t worried that this will affect how they play in the post season though because Fremd is one of the top teams in Illinois and will likely reach the Final Four at state. The one goal at that game was a free kick scored early in the second half.
  The team’s recent problem, four injuries of major team members, is not something that can discourage the team, but actually more of an opportunity to gain even more strength.
  Jessie McLinden, a junior and sweeper on the team was injured a week from last Monday at practice. “I’ve only missed three games and some practices, but I’ll be able to come back for the postseason. Once we get everyone back, we’ll be just as good if not better,” she said.
  Actually, all but one of the injured players will be able to come back. The one exception is Caroline Kerr, the team’s goalkeeper, who has a separated shoulder.
  The other two injured players are two senior captains, Jenny Samuelson and Aly Wray. They both had foot injuries: Samuelson had a stress fracture and Wray sprained a ligament. There have also been two to three players who have been out continuously during the season with injuries like pulled muscles.
  Coach Jim Burnside said, “Every team has injuries. What you need to have a team who can play through them, and I really think we’ve done that.”
  To accomplish this, the team has put in players who wouldn’t normally have as much playing time. According to Burnside, these players have really stepped up.
  Alex Fraser is one of these players. She has had to play defense out of the blue. When she came in, she helped shut out Lake Forest who is one of the best teams in the state. Another player is Sarah Baccich, a senior, who got more playing time as a forward and has done a great job as well.
  Not only has the team had to put in players that weren’t getting as much playing time, but they’ve had to a lot of repositioning as well. The team has done a lot more adjusting than they would normally do in a season.
  Also, the team as a whole has had to step up. Burnside said, “At this point in the season, you want to have as many players peaking. This is definitely happening because everybody is playing their best.”
  Junior Jessie Wall agreed: “We’ve played some of our best games recently. We had a rocky start, but now we’re playing really well and we’re where we need to be to make a run to win it downstate.”
  This has been in part to fear of ending the season at any time. Wall said, “Everyone is realizing that we’ve got a lot to give and if we lose one game now, we’re done.”
  Normally, a team might start to become tired by the end of the season and lose energy. According to Burnside, the opposite is true of this New Trier team. He said, “The games have been great and we’ve played really well. It’s impressive because they’ve never stopped learning. Sometimes a team can get complacent, but they’ve been playing some of their best soccer.”
  The postseason started last Wednesday with a game against Mather, a city school who they easily beat last year. That game was at Glenbrook North. The next game, if they advance, is today at GBN. Next week is sectionals which New Trier is actually hosting.
  The finals, according to Wall, will be held downstate the weekend of June 2 at North Central College in Naperville.
  Burnside said, “I think we will surprise people, and we’re poised to make a great run at the state tournament. Once we get there, anything can happen. Our seniors and returning players know what it takes, so they’ll carry the team.”
  Last year the team worked hard to win the state title, so this year they might have to work a little bit harder. According to Burnside, there aren’t any excuses as to why the team won’t win.
  Confidence is one thing the team isn’t worried about. McLinden said, “As long as we play well, we can beat them and win state.”